Page 42 of Random Encounter

He leaned his weight against me. “Aww. I like you too, Addie.” His kindness and sincerity were back. “What about you and the knob who doesn’t realize you’re way out of his league? What’s the story there beyond thank you for not judging me?”

“Not a misunderstanding in my case. I was just dumb.”

“I doubt that,” Phillip said.

Yeah, well… “I met him in college. I’d never had a real boyfriend—yeah, yeah, I know. Who went to college and had never dated before?”

“No one said anything.” Dustin was kind.

They didn’t need to. I had self-flagellation down. “I’d never had a guy pay that kind of attention to me before. My friends were already married and had kids, and I was at the point where I figured something was wrong with me that I didn’t. When he said all the sweet, intense things, including that he was falling in love, I figured he must be right. And then…”

I didn’t want to share too many details, because every moment in that relationship was a reminder of how blind I’d been. “Long story short, he wanted what he couldn’t have. When we were together, he pushed me away, and when I left, he was desperate to get me back. We went back and forth like that for a couple of years, before I got sick of it and finally walked away.”

“In other words, you saw the best in someone, took them at face value, and you regret it?” Dustin asked.

I stared at him, and the painful simplicity of his words reverberated in my skull. “I guess.”

“Don’t. Rather, I know I can’t stop you from feeling what you feel, but it’s not your fault he took advantage of who you are.”

I wanted so badly to accept what Dustin was saying, but it wasn’t that simple.

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