Unbreakable(55)

“You want credit? Forgive Will and let me lead my own life. Then I’ll give you credit.”

He lets out a long, suffering sigh. “You could have had your choice of any guy. Why did you have to pick him?”

“Sully, you act like I did this to spite you. We’re grown-ups, okay? When you make a decision to have sex with a woman, do you worry about what the hell I think about it?”

“I would if that woman was your best friend!”

“You’d be lucky to get with Violet. And honestly Sully, I’d be thrilled if you picked an awesome woman like her to go out with instead of running around with a bunch of puck bunnies.”

“Don’t drag Violet into this,” he warns. “Besides, I never thought Will would look at you like…”

“Like a woman?” I finish. “A woman with needs and not your sister?”

“Ugh. Well, yeah.”

“Sully, if you could hand pick any one of your friends for me, I would think that you would have chosen Will above everyone else.”

“I wouldn’t choose any of them! Fuck. Do you think I want to hear one of my buddies talk about his sex life when I know he’s sleeping with my sister?”

“Will would never talk about me like that to you, Sully.”

“Okay, but what if you guys did get together, and then later on you end up breaking up? Then what? Whose side am I supposed to take? I can’t choose between my sister and my best friend.”

“And I’d never ask you to! Look none of this even matters, so just forget about it. Will hasn’t talked to me for two whole months.”

Sully falls silent for a few heartbeats.

“What do you mean he hasn’t talked to you?” he asks finally.

“That night at the cottage, he told me he couldn’t be my friend anymore after everything that happened. So all of your worrying is for nothing.”

My throat aches with unshed tears. This is the most I’ve talked about Will since that awful night, and it’s obvious I still can’t handle any of it.

“Look, I’ve got to get back to work. I can’t talk about this anymore.” I don’t wait for him to answer before I end the call.

Over the past two months, I’ve picked up my phone to call Will so many times that I’ve lost count. But his harsh words on that August night still chill me, and it’s been enough to stop me from following through. I hoped he’d realize that he made a mistake and contact me, but so far, he hasn’t.

Sometimes, late at night when I’m lying in bed, I can’t help but replay our night together over and over again in my head. I guess he was right all along. I’m not the kind of girl who can handle hooking up, because no matter how much he told me it was just sex and nothing more, it seemed exactly the opposite.

It was the first time in my life that I ever felt like I had made love with someone. I felt whole. Complete. And so, so cherished.

When I slept with Aidan, especially during the last month of our relationship, that felt like just sex. There weren’t any soft words or gentle touches, and no consideration. Just wham, bam, slam, not even a thank-you-ma’am, we’re done here.

How can I be so wrong about this? And how could Will cut me out of his life so easily?

Staring down at the phone, I take a deep breath and press his name in my contact list. I need to hear his voice. After six agonizing rings, he finally picks up.

“Emmy?”

Yeah, he definitely doesn’t sound like he wants to hear from me.

“Hi, Will.” My voice breaks along with my heart again, and I quickly clear my throat.

“Why are you calling?” His voice is flat and emotionless, and I’m not sure what to do.

“Um… well, I just wanted to say hello,” I manage. “And see how your season is going.”

“It’s going fine.” He doesn’t offer up any more details. He’s so formal and distant with me; it’s like talking to a complete stranger.

Well, screw it. I found the courage to dial the number, and I’m not going to let this go. There’s too much at stake.

“Will, I miss you.”

I hear him suck in a breath. “Emmy—”

I interrupt him before he has a chance to brush me off.

“I wanted to let you know that I did everything that we discussed. I’m living in Toronto. I’m staying with my mom for now, and I’m working on my ZeeTube channel. Helene, my dad’s girlfriend, helped me work everything out with him. I think things are going to be okay. And I’ve already made a little profit since I’ve been here. In fact, I’ve made more in the past two months than I did in the last eight, so I’m growing my audience. Plus, I’ve enrolled at a makeup school for spring semester, and I’m going to take business classes online in the fall.”

I pause to take a breath, because I’m pretty sure I didn’t breathe during that entire little speech.

“That’s great.” He sounds a little friendlier, so I continue.

“I just wanted to tell you that I couldn’t have ever done this if you hadn’t suggested I talk to Helene. It made all the difference in the world. My dad is still pretty pissed at me, but I’m so glad I decided to get things out in the open with him. I had to try.”

“Yeah, you did,” he says quietly. “If you didn’t take that chance, you’d always wonder what could have been. And that’s no way to live.”