Page 99 of Commitment Issues
The man who hurt Freddie. In France, Freddie had said without saying… The bitterness in his voice when he’d spoken of trust in a relationship. Paul Stringer, the man he’s never talked of, and I’ve never asked about.
“He let Freddie down. Badly. That’s all I’m going to say, you need to get the rest from him.”
I look at Cosmo, and stare into his watchful eyes. “I didn’t know, or not the detail. But I was — easing myself away, for his sake. He’s leaving, and that kills me inside, but he can’t know that, because he’s got everything in front of him. But us? We were only ever meant to be—”
“Fuck buddies?”
The words are hard and ugly, a club to beat me with. Because as much as I’ve told myself we were never more than a loose arrangement, Freddie had me tied in knots from the moment I saw him across the crowded café.
“No,” I whisper, “he was never that to me. Whatever I’ve told myself, he could never be that to me.”
“Then you have to tell him. He needs to know, because he’s breaking up. You’ve got to debunk all Gavin’s shit.”
“Then what—?” I rasp, but I already knowwhatbefore Cosmo tuts, shakes his head and stares down at me for the fool I am.
“Tell him. Tell him that you love him.”
