Maybe we are we just friends now? Have my feelings for him changed?
“I’ll do this transfer, and then when I get back, I’ll only have another three weeks in Melbourne before I’ll come home to Sydney for good.”
My face falls. “Oh, that’s great,” I whisper as my mind begins to race.
“So, is your apartment going to be big enough for all of my things or should I sell them before I come home? Did you say it had a single or double garage?”
I stare at the ground underneath my feet as I try to focus on what he’s saying.
He continues, despite my silence. “Maybe you can send me a list of everything you have now so that we don’t double up on any appliances. If I run some ads to sell things on the classifieds, can you monitor them while I’m away?”
Fuck. This is really happening.
“Erm.” I frown. “Sure.” I collect air in my cheeks as I stare out over the park.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Anyway, I’m at work, babe, so I can’t really speak.”
“When do you leave?” I ask.
“Three days.”
I frown. “How long have you known you were going?”
“I found out a few days ago, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to take it.”
“Why not?”
“I was going to come home and surprise you.”
My eyes widen imagining him finding Brock at my apartment
Fuck.
“See you later, Tull.”
“Si?” I hesitate for a moment.
“Yeah?”
I rub the toe of my shoe into the ground beneath my feet. “Are you still seeing that girl?”
“Ah, nah, she’s nothing, Tull.”
I bite my bottom lip. “That’s not what I asked.”
“I’ve seen her a few times casually over the last few weeks.” He pauses for a moment. “It’s nothing like what you and I have, though, Tully.”
I smile, mollified that he didn’t lie to me. “I’ve been on a few dates, too,” I whisper.
“You have?”
I nod, even though he can’t see me.
“Nobody special, I hope.”
I fake a smile, and I scrunch my eyes shut tight. Oh, he’s all kinds of special.
“You’ll be back soon, and then we won’t have to worry about other people, will we?” I whisper.
“No, we won’t.” He stays silent, and I know he’s hurt about me seeing someone else, or maybe he’s just shocked that I actually admitted it. Why did I tell him? Perhaps I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
“I love you, Tully.” He pauses for a moment. “Don’t ever forget that, will you?”
My eyes fill with tears, and I know he means that I shouldn’t forget him while I’m with someone else.
“I won’t, Si.”
“Are you going to say it back?”
My eyes overflow with guilty tears, and I swipe one away as it escapes onto my cheek. “I love you,” I whisper.
“You do want me to come back, don’t you, Tull?”
“Of course, I do,” I whisper. I run my hand through my hair in frustration with myself. “Go to England and get this over with so we can start again.”
“Okay.” I can tell he’s smiling again now. “I will.”
“Goodbye.”
“Seven weeks and I’m all yours.”
I laugh. “I said goodbye.”
He hangs up and I stare at the phone in my hand for a while.
He’s still seeing that girl casually, but unlike before when I was hurt, I’m actually relieved now. It means I’m not the only one who is seeing someone else, and at least I was brave and honest enough to tell him the truth. Surprisingly, he seemed okay about it. He’s seeing someone else, he knows I’m seeing someone else. Both of us are committed to getting back together, so now that it’s all out on the table, nobody is going to get hurt.
My thoughts turn to Brock.
I’m going to ask to see him tonight so that I can tell him about Simon. That way he knows everything, too.
I’ll have one last night with Brock and then we can go our separate ways.
I smile sadly. It was so fun while it lasted. But gym junkies aren’t the kind of guys you fall in love with.
Brock
We’re sitting in the car at the top of the cliff, watching the police go through their investigations down below. They have their gloves and protective suits on, and they also have absolutely no fucking idea what they’re doing. We’re tuned into the police channel as we listen to their conversations through our radio.
“Do they have any idea who it is?” Jes asks from the backseat.
“Caucasian woman in her twenties. Suspected working girl. Suspected overdoser.” Ben sighs.
“Yeah.” I roll my eyes. “Because everyone who has a drug overdose throws themselves off a fucking cliff seconds before they OD,” I mutter sarcastically.
“Idiots,” Ben whispers.
I shake my head and start the car. “That’s the seventh girl this year.”
“They’ll probably not even investigate it because she’s a hooker.” Jes sighs.
“They won’t, but we will,” I assure them as I reverse the car from the parking lot. “Who’s hungry?”
“Yeah, let’s eat.”
Half an hour later, we’re sitting the coffee shop, waiting for our lunch.
“So, how did the weekend go with that chick, anyway?” Ben asks.
I sip my coffee. “It was okay, I guess. I don’t think I’ll be seeing her again, though.”
“Why not?” Jesten frowns.
I shrug. “I can think of a thousand reasons.”
“Such as?”
“She’s too high maintenance.”
“Why?”
“Where do I start?” I exhale heavily. “I sat out the front of her apartment on Friday night hoping to catch her, and she didn’t go out. So then I went back on Saturday night and waited another two hours, and fortunately for me that time, she did go out. I followed her and called the guys, staged a whole ‘accidental meet up’ in the club.”
Ben frowns, confused. “Why didn’t you just call her?”
I look at him, deadpan. “I’m blocked, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right. You are.” The boys chuckle as they recall her blocking me, clearly finding it hilarious.
“Anyway, the boys and I go out and then I do the whole oh what a coincidence to see you here skit.” I roll my eyes, realising how lame this story sounds. “Things are going great until she asks me to dance. I say I don’t dance. Then she gets the shits, fucks off, and dances with other dudes for two hours.”
Ben smiles around his coffee, loving this story.
“I lost my shit and left, only to go home and pace for another three hours and find myself back outside her apartment again waiting for her to come home.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Your stalking is next level.” Jesten shakes his head.
“Right?” Ben chuckles.
“She doesn’t get home until four-o-fucking-clock in the morning, and then she has this whole sexy, passive aggressive thing going on.”
“What do you mean?”
“She doesn’t want to fight but then she doesn’t want to talk to me.” I shake my head as I think back. “She puts me in time out and tells me to go sleep on the couch.”
“What?” Ben frowns. “Time out?”
I nod. “Uh-huh. I had to sleep on the fucking couch.”
The boys burst out laughing. “Why did you stay?”
“Because she’s sneaky and she promised me a trip to the beach the next day where I could rub sunscreen all over her.” I widen my eyes as I remember something. “This is after she announces that she’s the boss of us, by the way.” I shake my head. “No shit, like she would be the boss of us.”
The boys throw their heads back and hoot with laughter. “She sounds like the fucking boss to me.” Ben laughs.
He and Jesten high five each other.
“Whatever. Stupid guy here stays on a fucking bed of concrete, doing as he’s told, and then he goes to the beach for the day, following her around like a little puppy dog. My back is fucked by this stage. The two of us end up making out for what feels like eighteen hours straight until my balls are blue and take over my pea sized brain. Some voodoo shit happened and next thing I know, I promising to be monogamous while with her just so that we can have sex.”
The boys’ faces both drop in shock.
“Basically, I put in seventy-two hours of work to be tied to one chick who makes me sleep on the goddamn sofa. And then, when we did have sex, I couldn’t even last long because I kept blowing too fucking quick because she’s that ridiculously hot.” I shake my head. “I could go out, pick up, and fuck two different girls and be back home and done in two hours. This chick’s way too much fucking effort.”
They both chuckle again.
My phone rings and the name Tully Pocket lights up the screen. “Speak of the devil.” I answer it. “Hey, Tully Pocket.”
“Hey, you.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
The sound of her sexy, husky voice brings a smile to my face. “I thought you blocked me.”
“That’s over now. You’re clear.”