Chapter 31 #2
“But what about us?” The question comes out small and pathetic.
“There is no us.” His voice is kind but firm. “There never was. This summer was just... fun. Right? We both knew it wasn’t serious.”
“That’s not what you said—”
“Pipes.” He reaches for his jeans, starts getting dressed with efficient movements. “You’re a great friend. One of my best friends. But that’s all this ever was. Let’s not make it weird, okay? We were both just getting it out of our system.”
I sit there in his t-shirt, watching him put his life back together like nothing happened. Like I’m not sitting there half-naked and completely devastated.
“You said you couldn’t wait to be with me properly,” I whisper.
“Look, I can’t remember every stupid thing that I said and besides, it doesn’t mean I meant them the way you heard them.” He pulls his shirt on, won’t meet my eyes. “Look, we both got a little carried away this summer. But now it’s time to go back to reality.”
“Reality.”
“You’re my friend, Piper. My good friend. And I need you to be okay with that.” Finally, he looks at me, and his expression is almost pleading. “Promise me you won’t make this complicated when Harper gets back. Promise me we can just go back to how things were before.”
Before. When I was just the girl who helped him pass his classes.
When I was useful but not wanted.
“Right ok,” I respond. Embarrassed, ashamed and feeling more na?ve than ever. He’s chosen her. He was never going to break it off with her. Maybe I had read into everything too much, too deeply.
I can’t trust my judgment because I was sure, I was so sure he liked me and that we were going to be together.
I spent the next few months ignoring him and all of our old friends, I shut myself away in my room, barely eating and talking only to Riya. I spent days working on an app idea to make sure this never happened to me or anyone else ever again.
“You used me,” I say now, the words cutting through the diner’s ambient noise. “You knew I was in love with you, and you used that. All summer. You kept saying just enough to keep me hoping, but never enough to actually commit to anything.”
“That’s not—”
“You told me you were in an open thing with Harper. That you were basically just texting her casually until she got back, that what we had was real and what you had with her was just... existing habit.”
Miles’s jaw clenches. “I never said that.”
“Yes, you did. You liar! I trust my memories now. I’m not crazy.
You said you couldn’t wait to be with me properly once you figured things out with her.
You said she wouldn’t understand if you broke up with her over text while she was abroad, that you wanted to do it right.
” My voice is getting louder, but I don’t care anymore.
“You said all of that, and then when she came back, you slept with me one last time and told me it never meant anything.”
“Because it didn’t.”
The words should hurt. A year ago, they would have destroyed me. But now, looking at him across this table, all I feel is a strange kind of clarity.
“You’re right,” I say quietly. “It didn’t mean anything. To you. But you knew it meant everything to me then, and you used that.”
“I didn’t use—”
“Yes, you did.” I lean forward, meeting his eyes. “You used my feelings to get what you wanted all summer. Sex, companionship, someone to make you feel interesting while your girlfriend was away. And when she came back, you discarded me like I was nothing.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Am I? Because I remember that last night very clearly, Miles. How different you were. How you couldn’t get away from me fast enough. How you made me feel like I’d imagined everything that came before.”
He has the grace to look uncomfortable. “I thought you understood—”
“I understood that you’re a coward.” The words come out steady, sure. “You’re still a coward. That’s why you’re here, asking me to help you lie to Harper instead of just being honest with her about what happened.”
“Nothing happened—”
“Everything happened!” I slam my hand on the table, causing other diners to look our way. “We happened, Miles. For three months, I was in your bed and in your life and you let me believe it meant something. You encouraged me to believe it meant something.”
“I never—”
“You did. And now you want me to help you pretend it never happened so you can keep your perfect relationship with Harper.” I shake my head. “She deserves better than that. She deserves to know the truth about who she’s dating.”
His expression hardens. “If you tell Harper about last summer, you’re a vindictive bitch. I invited you to chat because I thought we could figure something out, but it turns out you’re too immature for that.”
The insult should sting, but instead it just confirms everything I already know about him.
“If I tell Harper the truth, I’m being honest. Something you’ve never been with either of us.”
“She’ll leave me.”
“Maybe she should.”
Miles stares at me like I’ve slapped him. “You really want to destroy my relationship out of spite?”
“I want Harper to have all the information before she decides whether she wants to stay with someone who’s capable of what you did to me.” I stand up, throwing a five on the table. “That’s not spite, Miles. That’s basic human decency. You should try it sometime.”
“Piper, wait—”
But I’m already walking away, and for the first time in over a year, I don’t look back.
Outside, the afternoon air feels crisp and clean. My hands are shaking, but not from nerves anymore. From relief.
From finally, finally seeing Miles Carver exactly as he is.
And realizing that what I thought was love was just trauma bonding with someone who never deserved me in the first place.
My phone buzzes. A text from
Riya
How did it go?
you were right. He’s an asshole. But I’m finally free.
THANK GOD. Come home. I have wine and the desire to hear you drag him.
I laugh, surprising myself. For the first time in days, the thought of home—of Riya, of our apartment, of the life I’ve been building that has nothing to do with Miles Carver—feels like enough.
More than enough.
It feels like everything.