One to Keep (One to Hold 2)

“Hang on,” I said, sitting up. “I’m calling you back on video.”

I ended the call and pulled out my tablet. I wanted to see her face when I heard her answer. Seconds later she appeared on the screen. Her blonde hair still ended at the tops of her shoulders in a little flip, and today she wore a pink sweater. Her brown eyes were open and hopeful, and I thought of how she’d looked the first time I saw her almost three years ago at the University of Chicago. I was fresh out of the military, starting a new chapter in my life, and she’d seemed perfect, a shiny pre-med student. I’d asked her out, and we’d spent two sweet years together, leading up to my proposal. Turns out sweet wasn’t enough for her. Now I knew it wasn’t enough for me, either.

“You look great,” she said in that voice. “So beachy and fit.”

“Thanks,” I said. “You look… the same.”

A little smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “What’s on your mind?”

I was not smiling. “I talked to Ron last night. He said you wanted to get back together.”

That made her brow crease. “You talked to Ron?” Her voice was not so Saturday at the lake now. “How is he?”

“He’s the same loser he ever was, but I wanted to know if what he said was true.”

Her forehead relaxed, and she gave me that smile again. “Well, I did tell him I’ve been thinking about you and us… How would you feel about that?”

“I might’ve felt something not so long ago,” I said. “Now I just want to know what the lesson was.”

“Lesson?” She blinked quickly. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll have to tell me. Ron and Toni only know you were trying to teach me a lesson, but I guess I need to be in the slow class. I don’t get it.”

“This is all too cryptic for me.” She fake-laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“About three weeks ago, a foxy blonde call girl gave me the works. Then she tried to make me think she was married and psycho. She tried to rattle me.” I said. “All of it was courtesy you.”

“Did Ron tell you that?”

“Yes, and I believe him.”

She shook her head. “Well, I don’t know why. I have no idea what he’s talking about. He probably wants drug money.”

“Toni corroborated it, and she has no reason to know about our history.”

“She’s probably one of Ron’s whores. They’ll do anything he says.” She sat back and looked away.

Irritation was stirring low in my gut, and my chest was growing tight with anger. I was sick of this.

“I would’ve agreed with you, but I saw them separately. Toni isn’t doing your brother any favors. So cut the crap and tell me what message you’re trying to send.”

Her head snapped to the screen, and though we were miles apart, it felt like we were in the same room at that moment. “You said I wasn’t worth the time of day.” She dared to sound injured. “You called me a whore.”

My jaw clenched, but I let her finish. I remembered how hurt and angry I’d been when I said those words.

“Now you know what it’s like to be tempted. It’s not so easy to say no when someone’s coming on strong. When you’re weak and not expecting it.”

She seemed to be done, but I waited a few moments longer to be sur

e. When she still didn’t speak, I nodded.

“So that’s why you think what you did to me is okay?” I said, completely calm.

Her eyes blinked down to her lap. “I didn’t say it was okay. I only said you should understand now.”

I pressed my lips together as if that required any thought. “I understand that we were engaged when you cheated on me. I understand that I trusted you when you started screwing 24B. I also understand that when Toni appeared in my office, I was single and broken and still trying to recover from your lies.”

She blinked up at those words. “But you don’t have to recover!”