Free Calling Me Back by Louise Bay Page B

him.
    “Was it a popcorn and pajamas evening?” he asked, grinning at me in a way that felt more flirtatious than he meant it to. It was just tortuous.
    I laughed. “It doesn’t mean that you didn’t disrupt things.”
    “I’m sorry. I just went for a few beers after work and . . . I’m trying to distract myself.” He scrubbed his face with his hands.
    “Are you okay? You and Emma?”
    “Yeah and you know, I know it’s the right thing, but breaking up is always difficult. We were together a long time.”
    My stomach flipped over. Breaking up? I didn’t respond.
    “Haven told you, right?”
    “Told me what? I’ve not spoken to her for a few days.”
    “Emma and I split last night. I moved out. I’m staying with Haven and Jake.” He took a bite of his sandwich while my stomach took a dive and my head started to spin. “This is really good,” he said, pointing to his snack. “You are Ashleigh Franklin? I’m in the right house?”
    I tried to act normally. I pushed his shoulder and headed back to the living room. “Don’t act so surprised. I can make a sandwich. Tell me about Emma.”
    “Call me thoughtless and naïve, but I’d never realized that she wanted a husband and kids.”
    “You’re thoughtless and naïve.”
    He grimaced.
    “You told me to call you that,” I said.
    “I know.” He sighed. “Do you believe it? I mean, I feel horrible.”
    “I think when one person feels more than another in a relationship it’s hard to get it right on either side. It’s like you’re are using the same map to get to different places. If she was honest with herself, Emma probably knew that you didn’t want the same things she did, and that she should have walked away sooner. But you could have been more sensitive too.” It was easy to empathize with Emma. We both had a level of feelings for Luke that weren’t reciprocated.
    “I feel horrible.”
    I felt happy, and maybe a little hopeful, which I knew was wrong. Luke and I weren’t together because he didn’t feel that way about me—it had nothing to do with Emma.
    “So you’ve split?”
    He nodded.
    “Maybe you’ll work it out.” I was trying to see how resolved he was. Would being away from her allow him to see what he was missing?
    “She’s not what I want. It’s over. So I need to find somewhere to live.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t be. It’s the right thing, and now that it’s done I’m relieved and a little guilty. But there’s no sadness or longing.”
    I understood. It was how I felt about my breakup with Richard.
    “I’m so pleased you were in and not out with your boyfriend.” He sighed as his head sagged back onto the sofa. He closed his eyes. “What would I do without you?”
    His words rang in my ears as I took his plate from his hand, just before he fell into an alcoholic sleep.
    Didn’t he realize he hadn’t just been torturing Emma all these years, but me too?

 
    Luke
    I scanned the dimly lit hotel bar, but I couldn’t see her. Fucking hell, I knew she’d be late. Irritation prickled at my collar. I’d started to type out a text when I glanced up to see her walking toward me. She smiled at me with that wide, infectious smile she had, and I could do nothing but grin back.
    My eyes wandered down her body. “Ash,” I said because I couldn’t think of anything else. She looked . . . well, beautiful. Like, model beautiful. Words stuck in my throat. Jesus, had she always been this pretty? The lights flickered off her cheekbones and lit up her face as her hair tumbled across her exposed shoulders.
    “You’re looking very handsome,” she said as she fingered my bow tie. I took in her familiar scent as she came closer. I filled my lungs, wanting to inhale the way she smelled. It always calmed me. She’d been wearing the same perfume since college—it mixed with her warmth to make a scent that was bespoke to her. I’d dated a girl who had worn the same perfume, but it was different on her. It