Bad Seed

“I was,” I said. “Just went to grab us some food.”

“Oh,” Josh said. He smiled nervously. “Great. I’m starving.”

We went inside and sat down in the living room to eat. We didn’t speak much at first. The food was a nice distraction from each other, but eventually, we ran out of things to eat, and the conversation began to pick up.

“So,” I said. “How’s the residency?”

“Exhausting,” Josh said. “I’m ready for a break, but that won’t happen for a while.”

“But you still like it?” I asked.

“Definitely,” Josh said with a nod. “I love being a doctor. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

I nodded and stared out the window. Josh followed my gaze and then looked around the room. Neither of us knew how to be around each other anymore. It was as if Julie had wedged a permanent gap between us, and yet, it wasn’t even her fault.

“Have you talked to her?” Josh finally asked.

I couldn’t believe he would dare ask me about Julie. After taking her to dinner and selling me out, I thought he had enough sense to avoid saying her name around me.

“Yes,” I said. “I went to her place on Friday, and she promptly kicked me out.”

“Oh,” Josh said. A smug satisfaction crossed his face, but he quickly wiped it away. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Bullshit,” I said with a snort. “I know what you said to her.”

“What I said?” Josh asked innocently.

“She told me everything,” I said. “That you texted her to meet up. That you told her you still loved her and begged her to take you back.”

“I never begged her to take me back,” Josh said defensively. “I don’t beg.”

“She told me you wanted to be with her,” I said. “And that you insisted this thing between her and me was nothing more than pretend. You said I was only with her because of her connection to you.”

“That’s a lie,” Josh said. “I didn’t say those things.”

“You’re saying Julie lied?” I asked.

“Yes.” Josh’s eyes locked on mine. “She did.”

“So, you didn’t tell you her loved her?” I asked.

“God no.” Josh scoffed. “I dumped her, remember?”

“And you didn’t tell her that she shouldn’t be with me?” I demanded.

“No,” Josh said. “I didn’t say anything like that.”

I just stared at him. I knew he was lying. It was written all over his face. I’d never hated anyone more than I hated him at that moment.

“Did you tell her that I knew?” I asked. “About you and her?”

Josh opened his mouth, but he let it fall shut quickly. I wanted to see how he would deny that one. Julie couldn’t have found out the truth unless Josh told her.

“I did,” Josh said with a sigh. “I told her that you knew who she was.”

“Why?” I asked. “What was the point?”

“Because you weren’t going to tell her,” Josh said. “And she needed to know.”