Break Up with Him, for Me (You Belong With Me 1)

He pressed a hand against my forehead, sending every nerve in my body wild with that mere touch. “Do I need to call a medic for you?”

“No.” I couldn’t think straight with him this close to me. “I’m more than fine. I’m—Hi.”

“Hi.” He laughed and moved his hand. “Where are you headed today?”

“New York City.”

“Really?” He crossed his arms. “Are you visiting someone there?”

“No, I live there.”

“What?” He looked dumbfounded. “I’m in the process of permanently moving there. Well, I’m going back and forth to Florida to get all my things.”

I glanced down at his left hand, where a wedding band should’ve been, but nothing was there.

There wasn’t even a tan line.

“She and I didn’t work out,” he said, reading my mind. “Six months before the wedding, she told me that she was still in love with her ex, so she broke up with me.”

Oh. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be.” He looked me up and down. “I’m not.”

Silence.

“Attention passengers who are flying on flight 3505 to Miami International, the door at F-7 will be closing in fifteen minutes.”

“That’s my flight,” he said, sighing. “I’m having a private ‘Welcome to New York’ party for my company two weekends from now,” he said. “I’d love to see you there. If you’re interested in me making you come, of course.”

“What did you just say?” I was certain I’d heard that wrong.

“If you want to come, I’d love to see you there.” He smiled. “What did you think I said?”

I didn’t answer that. “I would love to go to your party.”

“Good to know.” He reached into his pocket. “Shit. I left it back at my gate. Can I give you my number?”

I nodded, pulling my phone from my pocket. I tapped the screen and it vibrated a few times, the tell-tale sign of battery death.

He laughed. “Maybe this is an omen.”

“Yeah, I guess we should never speak again.” I quipped. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

“I hope you’re joking, Penelope.” He motioned for me to follow him to the condiment stand outside of Starbucks.

“Here. We’ll do this the old-fashioned way.” He grabbed a napkin and uncapped a pen, scribbling down his number. “Call me whenever you’re free, and I’ll give you more details about the party.”

“Okay.”

He looked as if he wanted to say more, as if he wanted to pull me close and finally put an end to a fantasy I’d had years ago, but a reminder about his flight sounded over the speakers once again.

“I’ll be waiting for your call.” He looked me over one more time before walking away. “I’m so glad I ran into you again.”

“Me too.”

I waited until he was out of sight before rummaging through my purse for my phone charger. Plugging it into the closest socket, I connected to my phone and waited until it reached five percent to power it on.

Scrolling down to Hayden’s name, I hit call.

It didn’t ring once.

His voicemail sounded instead.

“Leave a message at the sound of the beep, and I’ll think about getting back to you.”

Beep!

I sighed and sent him a text.

Me: Just landed in Charlotte. Call me when you see this.

I made it to the other gate and switched my flight before finding another Starbucks with a vacant socket.

Impatient, I ordered a cup of coffee and waited for Hayden’s name to cross my screen via phone call. It never took him longer than ten minutes to get back to me, and even in those rare cases when he couldn’t pick up, he’d have Sarah or his advisor Lawrence send me an “He’ll call you back in a few” message.

Confused by his silence, I sent an email to his business inbox just in case he had his personal alerts off.

Subject: GAHHHH! CALL MEEE!

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

Too impatient to wait another second, I called Tatiana.

“Oh my god!” She answered on the first ring. “I’ve been waiting for you to call me. Are you back in New York yet?”

“Still in Charlotte on a layover,” I said. “You won’t believe who I just saw.”

“I bet I can guess,” she said. “Did he make your panties wet?”

“Um, maybe.” I laughed. “I’m sure if I’d stared at him any longer that probably would’ve been the case.”

“Maybe? You might be the only woman in the country who feels that way. I guess that’s why you two have remained platonic for so long.”

“Wait, what? What the hell are you talking about?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Simon Gaines,” I said. “A guy I went to college with. I think I’ve told you about him before. I showed you some of our pictures in my college scrapbook. He’s the guy with the—”

“I’m talking about Hayden’s dick.” She cut me off.

“What?”

“You haven’t seen it? It’s all over the news right now. Deservedly so, might I add.”

I tapped my fingers against the table, realizing that he was probably in another mini-crisis meeting with Lawrence now. The last time his “nudes” leaked, it was a few grainy pictures and the guy turned out to be an extortionist.