Page 33 of The Pieces We've Lost

isa.bennett

oh?

What has Ellison told you?

isa.bennett

why cowboy? what’d you do to her?

Sweat started to pool on my brow.

Well… It was more that I almost did something and then it didn’t happen. I almost kissed her.

isa.bennett

WHAT

But then my best friend Reid called me so I didn’t. And then she told me it was probably for the best. But I think she’s lying?

isa.bennett

of COURSE she’s lying. she’s hiding from her feelings again *eye roll emoji*

I really like her. And I want to prove to her that I’m not just going to leave Houston and forget about her.

isa.bennett

oh i have just the idea

And that was how I had a—hopefully—foolproof plan to prove to Ellison how much I wanted this. How much I cared and that opening up about her dad wasn’t for nothing.

I had done everything I could for the moment, and it was up to Isabelle to pull through. I just hoped it was enough.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ellison

It had been four days since the almost kiss. Four days since I had even heard from Colter. Maybe I had finally gotten rid of him. Still, it felt weird to not even hear from him. He had been so adamant at the beginning, so what changed?Probably because he felt scorned after all of the times you rejected him.

I still wasn’t sure how to feel or what to do about the situation. The me from a week ago wouldn’t have given this a second thought. But the me from a week ago also would have never met up with him for coffee in the first place, much less show him my dad’s pickup.

The first semifinal round was in two days, and Colter would be gone in four. We would no longer be in the same city and then maybe I could breathe a little better, knowing he was out of sight and out of mind. I could delete his number and never think about the cowboy from Montana again. But even my cold heart knew that wasn’t going to happen. He had come into my life and knocked down a large chunk of my walls, and I knew I’d spend the rest of my life trying to build them back up.

I wished it was as easy as reaching out and apologizing. Asking how I could make up for it. But that wasn’t in my nature, and I had never been good at expressing how I felt. I had tried going to therapy once, but they always assumed my feelings or told me how to feel, instead of helping me work through my emotions and teaching me how to vocalize them in a healthy way.

The only person who had really understood me and didn’t look at me like I needed to be fixed was Colter. And I had already lost him. All because of my stubborn attitude. I was good at pushing people away, though. I had been doing it most of my life.

I hadn’t told Isa what had happened and she hadn’t asked, which was odd for her.

Isa

hey we should get out and do something tomorrow

I don’t know

Isa

i know something happened. you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something fun

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