Page 67 of Offsides

“Oh my fucking god,” I mutter, staring up at the cloudy sky. “Of course he did.” Refocusing on Luke, I shake my head. “You broke up with me, Luke. Remember? What was it the fifth or sixth time? And then you brought your new girlfriend home. Where is she? Why aren’t you with her?”

“Look, I know I hurt you.” He takes another step, and I shake my head.

“Don’t come closer to me.”

“Dani, please. You know I wouldn’t hurt you.”

Another harsh laugh. “You’ve done nothingbuthurt me. Our whole entire relationship was you hurting me!” I look him over, the sneer I know is on my face entirely involuntary. I’m so disgusted by him that I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to. “Even if we both know I could drop you like a sack of potatoes if youtriedto lay hands on me, that doesn’t mean I want to. Mostly I just don’t want you anywhere near me.Youended things between us. For some stupid reason, you had me convinced I couldn’t do better. Didn’t deserve better. And so I always took you back. But why should I? Before you at least had the decency to break it off with whoever you were hooking up with by the time you came crawling back to me.”

A look of guilt passes over his face, and I still.

“I see,” I say quietly. Apparently I was wrong about that assumption. “Are you even broken up with whatever her name is? Sydney or Sandy or whoever?” I wave a hand, brushing away the annoyance of trying to remember her name.

“Yes.” The word is a protest, aggressive and combative all at once. “Of course I am.”

“Well how should I know it’s ‘of course’ when your face basically just admitted you were cheating with me on your other girlfriends?”

“That’s not—”

I cut him off, uninterested in whatever he has to say. “It really doesn’t matter, Luke. At all. You moved on, many times it seems. And now, at long last, I have too. I would’ve thought that a text telling you to leave me alone plus blocking you everywhere I could would’ve clued you in, but I guess you need me to tell you to your face.” I lean over the hood of my car and enunciate clearly. “We are over. You are not welcome here. Leave before the police arrive and arrest you for trespassing and harassment.”

He sneers. “If you’ve moved on, where’s your boyfriend? Why isn’t he here defending your honor? I never would’ve let you face your battles alone like this.”

Rolling my eyes, I step around the back of my car to head up the driveway to the front door. I keep my eyes on my roommates, but have all my senses on high alert to make sure that Luke doesn’t try to do anything to stop me from passing.

“Don’t even try it, buddy!” shouts Piper when he takes a couple of steps toward me on the sidewalk.

He stops and holds up in his hands.

“Go home, Luke,” I call as I walk up the front steps. “We’re over. You should know. You decided it a long time ago.” Turning around, feeling stronger with my friends flanking me, I stare him down. “We should’ve gone our separate ways years ago. You were right.” That statement provokes some jostling and mutters behind me, unhappy with me giving him any credit, I guess. But I ignore them and give Luke an icy smile. “A long distance relationship is too much work. I’m not sure why you think that would be any different now.”

I turn around and head inside, my roommates making way for me to pass.

“You stupid bitch!” he yells as they’re filing in behind me.

“Ignore him,” I murmur, gesturing for them to come inside.

“I was only ever with you out of pity! No one thought you were hot. You were completely unfuckable until I came along! But I knew that would just make you an easy lay!”

I tense at the horrible things coming from Luke, and Autumn steps closer, rubbing my back in comforting support.

“Maybe if he screams loud enough, the neighbors will call the cops too and they’ll come sooner,” I mutter, hating that his words have the power to hurt me. But they hit me in that deep, wounded part of me that’s only starting to heal.

“That’s a good point, actually,” Autumn says, wrapping her sweater around her again. “I hate listening to that bullshit, though.” She examines me. “You know he’s just mad at you for rejecting him, right? It’s a classic narcissist move—insulting and belittling the person who won’t serve as their supply anymore.” She glances at the closed front door that Piper deadbolted when she closed it. “None of it’s true.”

Jackson appears in the doorway from the kitchen, nodding at me, then frowning. “Where’s Eli?”

“At your apartment,” I answer, still distracted by Luke’s vitriol. I can’t hear it as well, but every once in a while a few words and phrases make it through. “Cunt … stupid whore … can’t do anything … should just do what you’re told. Your dad and I know what’s best for you … go home.”

That last part has my blood boiling, and I barely notice the anger on Jackson’s face before he disappears down the hall.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” suggests Ellie. “Have you had coffee yet? Or breakfast? Do you want something? I can make some coffee cake. That sounds good. Piper, you start the coffee. I’ll put on the kettle for Autumn’s tea, and then we’ll have coffee cake, okay?”

Ellie best expresses her care and concern through baked goods, and I smile and nod, the four of us heading into the kitchen, where we can still hear Luke’s voice, but the specific words can’t be picked out, and I can finally relax. At least a little.

True to her word, Ellie puts on the tea kettle while Piper gets coffee going. I sit at the table, grateful to have my friends around me and supporting me. I honestly don’t know how I would’ve handled any of the drama with Luke since Christmas break without them, and I’m once again intensely grateful that chance brought Piper to my dorm and we actually became friends. I never would’ve thought I’d appreciate female friendship so much after avoiding it for so long, but I’m glad I’ve changed.

Once the kettle is on the stove, Ellie pulls out a mixing bowl, a square glass baking dish, and the ingredients to make coffee cake. Jackson appears a moment later, gives me an inscrutable look, then bends and kisses Autumn on the head before taking the seat next to her.

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