Page 40 of Mountain Freedom
It was perfect.
“I’m having a great time,” I answered sincerely. “I really appreciate you guys including me. Daphne, Willa, and I are having a girls’ lunch together next week.”
“Good,” he said, smiling in approval.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket automatically, frowning when I saw Mike’s name on the screen.
Jackson raised his eyebrows. “Is that the ex?”
“Yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes and hitting the “end” button on the call.
It didn’t matter. He immediately called again.
“Listen,” I said, glancing back at the party. “Maybe I should take this. I’ve been ignoring him, but he just keeps calling. He even called my mom this week. I think he’s going to keep it up until I tell him to stop. I’m just going to slip inside real quick.”
“Take all the time you need.” He gave me a look I couldn’t quite read, but that almost seemed to have a trace of regret in it.
“Thanks,” I said, giving him a half smile.
I answered the call and walked inside.
“Mike,”I said when I had closed the door behind me. “I’m only answering to tell you to stop calling. I know I said we could try to be friends, but honestly, I just can’t. Please. Give me some space, okay?”
“Allison.” His voice was broken. “I’m sorry. I screwed up in ten thousand different ways. Is that what you want to hear? Because I did, and I know it, and I’m sorry. But I miss you.”
I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see it. Because I couldn’t say the same. “What do you want?” I asked again, sighing.
“I want you. We were together for three years. Can’t we fix this?”
I paced the room, trying to figure out how to explain it. “No, Mike, I don’t think we can. We were together, but let’s be honest, it’s not like our relationship was that great, was it? We barely saw each other, and neither of us even minded.”
“I thought it was perfect,” he said.
“No,” I said, looking out the window at my new friends. “It was easy. And easy was what we both wanted then. But I don’t think it’s what I want anymore.”
He was silent on the other line.
“Besides, aren’t you dating Dr. Fountain’s daughter?” A tiny bit of the anger tried to flare, but the truth was, I cared too little for it to even matter that much.
“Not anymore.”
“What happened?”
“Dr. Fountain picked someone else,” he said, his voice hollow.
I stopped my pacing and sighed. “So the only reason you were dating her was because of him.” It wasn’t a surprise, not really. But with me gone, I had expected him to continue on with her anyway. After all, the photograph I had seen suggested they had chemistry. Or something like that.
“Of course it was,” he said, his voice earnest. “Allison, you’re the one I want. You always have been. My whole family misses you. They’re giving me hell about screwing this up.”
I couldn’t help a tiny smile. I had liked his family—more than I had liked him if I was being honest. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“Can you not forgive me? I just needed to play the game. Get an edge. You know how the world works.”
I stared out the window again at the little group on the deck and realized he was wrong. “We get to decide how the world works,” I said softly. “And I choose a different kind of world than the one you live in.”
I hung up and walked back to my new friends.
Chapter Sixteen
