Page 96 of Love or Leave

For more crying.

She opened her door and listened but heard nothing. Hopefully everyone was too busy with their own lives to be hanging around, thinking about her. She climbed down the stairs and went to the kitchen. But as soon as she turned the corner, she found Willow at the island, working on her laptop.

"Hey!" Willow said, immediately closing her computer. "I was about to come check on you."

A headache formed behind Cara’s eyes. She loved her friends, but she really just wanted to be alone. "I don't need to be checked on."

Willow deflated.

"Be nice."

Cara whipped around to find Max on the chair in the living room, working on his own laptop.

"Why are you here?"

Max set aside his computer on the coffee table and walked over, taking the seat next to Willow. "Willow was feeling sick, so we're working from here. And we're worried about you."

"I'm fine."

Willow narrowed her eyes. "You just slept five hours in the middle of the day. You're obviously not fine."

Cara turned and grabbed the kettle, filled it with water, and plugged it in.

"Please tell me what happened," Willow said.

Cara sighed and sat on the stool next to her. She knew she wouldn't get away with ignoring the whole thing. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"When did it start?"

She turned to her brother with a wince. "A few weeks ago."

"Weeks?" Willow asked, her eyebrows creeping up.

Cara sucked in a deep breath. How much should she reveal? Probably all of it. Maybe it would be somehow therapeutic to get it all out.

"I actually sort of…"God, this was embarrassing."Asked him out at the grand opening."

Willow whipped her head toward Max, eyes sharp. "I told you."

Cara raised a brow. "Told him what?"

"He assumed Antonio was trying to get with you."

Cara slowly shook her head before dropping her chin. "It was me."

"Adam said he was using you," Max said.

Another heavy shake. She thought back to the night in Montreal when she'd thrown herself at him, hoping he'd catch her.

"If anything, I used him," she said.

Max's nose wrinkled. "Tell me what happened. Without the details."

"Well, I asked him out at the grand opening, but he said no, that he was getting back together with…" She trailed off, not even wanting to say her name.

"Right," Willow said.

"Anyway, I had tickets to this concert, but no one else could go, so I asked if he'd come—just as a friend—and he said no."

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