Page 47 of Always? Forever.
She took it, and didn't look at me for a second. And then, voice softer than it had been all evening, she said, “Thanks.”
I sat next to her. Close, but not too close. “You know I would’ve stayed if you told me you needed me, right?”
She glanced sideways, raising one brow. “Kartik, your emotional availability isn’t exactly your brand.”
I winced. “I’m trying something new.”
She sipped. “Hmm. Growth.”
And even though she was still mad and hurting, she didn’t move away when our knees brushed.
And I didn’t say anything else, because for now, her being here, on my couch, in my hoodie, drinking my coffee,was enough.
I didn’t know why she was mad. Maybe I did know. She was mad at me for leaving her alone when she clearly needed someone. It wasn’t hard to read her.
I wrap a blanket around Samaira. She is shivering—I don’t know why, but it makes me feel helpless. I wish I could do something to ease her pain. When she finally speaks up, it breaks my heart.
Chapter 33
Samaira
“We were together for less than a year. Talking stage was maybe a month, cute texts, late-night calls, playlists, the usual.” I gave a soft scoff. “Everything seemed disgustingly perfect, like I was living inside one of those Pinterest-core relationships. But even in the beginning, I had this weird gut feeling. You know? Like…this can’t be it. This is tooeasy. Too smooth. Like I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
I glanced at Kartik, his eyes fixed on me, saying nothing.
“And oh boy, itdroppedlike a chandelier in a soap opera.” I rolled my eyes, then continued, quieter this time. “He changed. Just…morphed. Like someone swapped him out for his evil twin. We’d fight all the time, and not the cute kind where you bicker and then make out after. The kind where I couldn’t even recognize the person standing in front of me anymore.”
I paused, swallowing the lump in my throat. “But I was so in deep, so infatuated, I just convinced myself it was a phase. That he’d come back to the version of him I fell for. Spoileralert: he didn’t. And that was my biggest mistake, ignoring my intuition because I wanted him to be someone he just…wasn’t.”
I exhaled slowly. “He started pulling away. Making excuses. Bailing on plans. Hanging out with his friends more than me, which would’ve been fine, except he stoppedwantingto be around me. He started flirting with other girls too. Not even subtle. And here’s the joke, I wouldn’t have cared that much, really. If he hadn’t completely stopped flirting withme. I brought it up, and he gaslit me so well I almost applauded. Then gave me just enough attention to make me stay. I think there’s a word for it—love bombing? Breadcrumbing? Manipulation with a side of charm?”
I laughed bitterly, dabbing at my cheeks with my sleeve. “But wait, it gets better. He started flirting withAria. Mybest friend. I didn’t think much of it at first because, duh, Aria isAria. And we were a trio. It all felt normal…until it didn’t.”
I sipped the lukewarm coffee, then set the cup down. Kartik gently took it from me without saying a word.
“One day, I just wanted to be by myself. That was my crime, apparently. Because topunish mefor taking a mental health day, he went and dropped some girl from his work home. And fine, I didn’t mind that either, trust, right? But the kicker? I’d given him a hickey for the first time a fewdays before that, and I kept asking if anyone had noticed.” I shook my head, the corner of my mouth lifting in something too sad to be a smile. “It was so small. Basically invisible. But I was excited. Stupid, right?”
I looked up at the ceiling like it held answers. “When I asked if he just dropped her home and left, he said no. That he did it toget back at me. Like I had done something unforgivable by not inviting him to sit beside me while I mentally recharged.”
I sniffed, finally letting the tears fall freely. “And that was it. The moment I realized love wasn’t supposed to feel like begging someone to choose you every day."
Kartik
She chokes a sob, and all I want to do is hit that guy because I anticipate what’s next. It’s not hard to guess. I set the coffee cup down on the coffee table, gathering her in my arms. She instantly melts at the contact. The woman who is my fiancé, who wouldn’t even let me hug her is melting in my arms, that man fucked her up real good, bastard. Fake or not, she is mine…till she will let me be hers. She takes a deep breath before she continues,
“He said she told him her parents were home and asked if he could help carry her stuff in. Turns out, no parents—just a conveniently empty house. She goes, ‘Oops, sorry,’ and then asks him to stay for coffee. And the idiot says yes. Because apparently, he was ‘too tired to drive.’ LikeStarbucks doesn’t exist. Ortaprisjust stopped selling chai. I asked him why he couldn’t just grab something on the way. He went silent. Dead silent. Then muttered something about how he might’ve fallen asleep at the wheel otherwise. And I remember thinking… that’s not love, that’s not even effort.”
Her voice was breaking but her words were sharp, like each one had been held in for too long. I watched her hold back tears that were already halfway down her cheeks.
“And then,” she said bitterly, “he continues, like this was a fun story, saying the girlsaw the hickeyI gave him and had the audacity to say, ‘Should’ve been a bigger one.’ With a wink. A fucking wink, Kartik.” She let out a shaky breath and shut her eyes, like reliving it was physically painful. “And this man had the nerve totell me that. Word for word. As if that wouldn’t gut me.”
She was unraveling and trying so hard not to fall apart, but her eyes, they were screaming.
“I told him she was flirting with him. And he…he looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘But nothing happened. We didn’t kiss or anything.’” Her tone shifted from broken to furious. “I hadn’t even thought about kissing until he said that. Who says something like that unless they’re guilty or unless thatexactthought was playing on a loop in their head?”
She pulled out of my arms then, just enough to look me in the eye.
“I’m not crazy, am I?”
