Squeeze the Day

🍋T W E N T Y - T W O🍋

THE CALL WITH Raven surprisingly helped a lot more than I thought it would. I was still beyond confused and felt like a horrible person, but it felt good to let everything out without fear of being judged or scolded. My momentary relief didn't last long when there was a knocking on my door.

"Don't come in," I responded, but that didn't stop them. The door swung open and Shane stepped inside, still clad in nothing but his swimming trunks. He didn't say anything and wordlessly sat on the edge of my bed. "You should leave," I told him.

"I think I have every right to stay," he answered stubbornly, making me want nothing more than to punch him. I didn't answer, realizing he kind of had a point. I mean, I did kiss him and then run away, so I was sure he was confused. "What the hell just happened?" he asked after noticing my compliance.

My face burned, and I looked down at my blanket to avoid eye contact. "I'm so sorry."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Heaving a sigh, I looked up at him, unsure of how to explain any of that. "I don't know, okay? I was mad and hurt, and I don't know, I guess I wasn't thinking."

His brown eyes softened, making my heart skip a beat. "Talk to me."

I dropped my gaze and stared hard at my blanket as I forced myself not to cry. "I know about Zara."

"What?"

"Your mom..." I trailed off sheepishly.

He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "That woman can't keep her mouth shut to save her life."

"What happened?" I prodded, looking back at him.

Shane looked at me incredulously, as if something clicked in his brain. "Wait, is that why you've been so distant? You're mad about Zara?" When I didn't answer, he did the unexpected. Shane burst into laughter. "Oh, Maxy, you never fail to amuse me." He sobered up after seeing my scowl. "Why are you worried about Zara?"

"I'm not jealous of her," I retorted, prompting Shane to raise his eyebrows.

"Who said anything about being jealous?"

"Shut up," I warned before he could make fun of me. "I was upset because you broke up with her when all she did was be there for you. It's like you don't even care about girls and think they're disposable or something."

His eyes shone at me brightly, looking browner than they ever had. His lips were curved up into a slight smile that I knew he was trying to conceal. "Why do you care how I treat other girls though?"

"I don't," I argued.

Now there was a full blown smile on his face. "Really? Because your actions in the kitchen said otherwise." I angrily threw a pillow at Shane, which he unfortunately deflected. "First of all, let me start by saying you're an idiot."

I rolled my eyes. "Great talk. You can leave now."

"I'm not leaving," he said firmly. "Second, the reason I broke up with Zara wasn't because I didn't care about her."

I eyed him suspiciously. "It wasn't?"

"No, dummy, I broke up with her because our relationship wasn't going anywhere." He continued talking when he saw my confused expression. "I thought she was the one, so I gave her a ring."

I gasped. "You proposed to her?"

He shook his head. "It was a promise ring." Shane carefully peered at my reaction before he continued. "She felt like we were moving too fast and rushed into things, so she wanted to take things slow, but I couldn't. I was in love with her." Hearing him say that made my heart sink. "Zara didn't want to commit to the ring, and I was in too deep I couldn't go back to the way things were. We were clearly too different for each other, so instead of continuing a doomed relationship, I decided to end it."