Page 158 of Unloved

Rhys snaps his finger at her, face serious as he orders, “You need up, you tell me.”

“Wanna bet?”

She looks like a feral kitten facing off with a calm, stern labrador.

“Walk and see what happens,kotonyok.” He accents the Russian heavily, and I melt a little. Even Sadie’s eyes go a little hazy before she can help it.

“Hey,” Matt snaps, pulling out of the hug he’d just granted his friend. “Not cool—either of you. No foreign language shit, that’s cheating.” He points toward Bennett. “And you? No cooking in front of my girlfriend—that’s… that’s even worse, I think.”

I nod with a beaming smile, biting into the waffles with a groan.

“See?” Matt says with an annoyed huff.

Sadie is giggling next to me, snatching my food and nodding along with me.

“Definitely the food, that’s the most romantic.”

Rhys and Matt stare over at us, arms crossed. Bennett blushes and excuses himself from the room.

“We’ve got practice tonight,” Rhys says to Matt. “Wanna catch a ride with me? The girls can hang out here.”

The words alone make me giddy—my best friend and me having a girls’ night, while ourboyfriendsgo to hockey practice. It feels like a movie, but better because it’s Sadie and it’s Matt. They’re better than anything I could’ve made up in my head.

It feels like the warmth of being home. For the first time since I left California, I don’t feel homesick.

The COSAM offices are quiet Monday morning, which gives me some time to go over my speech a few times. Fortunately, I don’t have to speak directly to Dr. Tinley in order to withdraw.

Unfortunately, I have to speak to Tyler Donaldson, head GTA of the program.

Clearing my throat, I finally work up the courage to walk over to him.

“Can I speak with you a minute, Tyler?”

He’s surrounded by his friends, his posse, which is basically everyone we work with. I tried for years not to feel isolated and alone. Because I was dating Tyler, I thought maybe I could count these guys as my friends, but they aren’t. They never were.

That’s okay. I have real friends—people who care about me. Sadie, Matt, Rhys, Bennett.

Real people who support me. Who like me exactly as I am.

“Now?” Tyler grumbles, turning to say something condescending—no doubt about me. I ignore it, staying focused on my task.

“It’ll only take a minute.”

He sighs heavily, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as he turns to me. “Whatever it is, go ahead.”

“Okay.” I move my eyes over his group. A few of them look awkwardly away from me, not really wanting to be part of this. Mark smirks, mimicking Tyler’s stance entirely. “I’m withdrawing my application to Tinley’s internship track. I just wanted to let you know, formally.”

Tyler frowns. Mark’s smile only grows.

“Why?” my ex-boyfriend blurts, catching himself off guard. I watch him slowly regain his composure; I’m sure it wasn’t what he expected me to say. “I mean, clearly you weren’t going to make it into the program anyway, but you were so determined to try. So, please, RoRo, enlighten us. Why the change of heart?”

“First,” I snap, watching my attitude shock him back a step. “Don’t call me that. We aren’t dating. And I’ve always hated that name. Second, it’s actually none of your business why I’m withdrawing.”

Fury paints his cheeks and the tips of his ears bright pink.

“You know what, Ro? I tried to be nice to you, togentlylead you down the right path. You’ve never been at our level. You were never a serious contender to Tinley or me, so good for you for figuring that out soon enough not to be embarrassed by the rejection.”

I swallow, my throat tight. Shame bubbles in my stomach like acid.

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