Sweet Talk (COMPLETE)

38 - Maybe Forever

I pulled into the familiar neighborhood and parked in Michelle's driveway. Her sedan was here. Theo's truck wasn't. That was good. I'd been hoping to talk to her alone—my humiliation didn't need an audience.

Texting her was my first thought, but that would've been the easy way out. A call would be too easy for her to hang up. So instead, here I was, afraid to leave my car.

As long as I went no farther, there was the possibility we were still friends. Once I saw her, that was it. She could tell me to kick rocks, and that'd be that. I'd lose someone I loved like family.

The door of the house swung open, and my pulse skyrocketed. I considered throwing the car in reverse, but it was too late. Michelle stood there with her arms crossed and raised her eyebrows in question. I took a deep breath before stepping into her driveway.

"How long are you planning to sit there?" she asked. The teasing tone in her voice surprised me and gave me the courage to cross the distance separating us and join her on her porch.

"Just until I work up the balls to talk to you, so maybe forever." I wrinkled my nose and peered at her from under my lashes.

She stepped back. "Come on in."

Theo's house was just as cute as I remembered, but now it was clearly both of theirs. Michelle took his utilitarian style and added little touches everywhere that made the place feel cozy. It was comfortable and welcoming and smelled like Michelle's laundry detergent.

My throat tightened. "I'm so sorry." I faced her and forced myself to meet her gaze. "You've always been there for me and I was so stupid. I said awful things when I should've listened. I missed you so much, but I just kept pushing you away like an idiot."

Standing there, I did everything I could to control my breathing and keep the tears stinging my eyes from falling. "If you don't want to be my friend anymore, I understand. I just needed you to know I see now that you were trying to help me and I'm sorry."

"I'm so pissed at you, Camilla."

"I know." Staring at my shoes, I studied the grain on her hardwood floors. I used all my courage up.

"It's been weeks! How the hell could you wait this long to talk to me?"

I looked up at her as her cheeks reddened with frustration. Her blonde ponytail swung as she shook her head. "Jake drove me crazy! Give her a break. She's not ready."

Her Jake impression made me grin, but she wasn't finished. "If he told me to let you work it out one more time, I was gonna punch him. It's easy to insist on giving you time while he's with you. What about me? I'm just supposed to hear that my best friend had the crap beat out of her and not do anything about it!" Her voice cracked and the tears I'd been holding back rolled down my face.

"Is that what Jake said?" Hearing it described that way sent a fresh wave of shame through me. It wasn't wrong necessarily, just hard to hear.

"No." Michelle's shoulders drooped, and she led me to the couch where we sat beside each other. "When he told me about your face, he was sick over it. I think if you hadn't agreed to go with him, he might've just kidnapped you." Her giggle made me smile.

"Then, after that." She let out a low whistle. "I've never seen him so pissed. He stopped by on his way to work, just fuming. I guess he'd gotten used to the bruises he could see, but then he found out you had more."

The night he'd accidentally hurt me when he bumped into my hip sprang to mind. He wasn't thrilled, but he didn't get mad—at least not in front of me. "I didn't know he was angry about that."

"Of course he was. It's a good thing Evan fucked off out of here. Jake was ready to kill someone." She tilted her head, watching me. "I guess he didn't want you to know he was mad. He's been worried about you. Probably afraid to upset you."

"Great." I huffed. "So besides crashing at his place and taking his bed, he was also walking on eggshells around fragile, broken Camilla." I rubbed my palms over my face.

"Nah. Jake wouldn't see it that way. He just wanted to protect you. Like he's always done." Reaching out, she ran her fingers through my long hair. "This is pretty, but you look so different. Are you going to keep it?"

"I hadn't really thought about it yet." The image of Evan's hands wrapped in my hair filled my mind. I'd grown it out for him. He said it was sexier, longer. "I want to cut it."

"That was fast." Michelle smiled.

"I should've done it already."

"If I didn't have to work this afternoon, I'd say let's go now."

"Oh, do you need to go?" I moved to stand, and she pulled me down.

"Nope. I have an hour and we're going to spend it catching up."

Looking down where her hand rested on her leg, my eyes widened on the new engagement ring. "Whoa! That's beautiful! You got an upgrade?"

"Yep!" she beamed as she held the ring up, making it sparkle in the light. "Theo insisted on getting me something bigger after we set the date. I loved the first one, but he said that ring was good enough when we were kids, but I deserved something better."

"That's so sweet!" My heart ached knowing I'd missed an important step in her life. "I'm sorry I wasn't around to—"

"You're here now! And you're not doing that shit again, right? No more blowing me off for some guy?"

"Never. I promise."

"Good. Then I guess you better start planning my bridal shower. I'm getting married in October."

"Oh! An autumn wedding! That's perfect!" I pulled her into a hug. When I leaned back, my brow furrowed. "But that gives us almost a year to plan. There's no hurry for the shower."

"You'll have plenty of time, but I know you'll want it to be extra special. I'll send you the Pinterest boards I've started." She fluttered her eyelashes, and I giggled.

"It's going to be the best shower anyone has ever seen." I hugged her again. "Thank you for including me."

"You're my best friend. Who else is going to do it?" Cupping my cheeks between her hands, her expression became serious. "I was so mad at you. And then I was hurt. Then I ran into you at the store, and you looked terrible." Her eyes filled with tears. "It broke my heart. I could see you weren't happy. Why couldn't you see it?"

My stomach turned, but she deserved an answer and there was no one I'd rather talk to. "I thought I was happy."

I leaned back and pulled one of her throw pillows onto my lap, wrapping my arms around it. Michelle snuggled in beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. "How, Camilla?"

Did I stop mid conversation? Yep. The chapter was getting way too long, lol!