36. Simone #2
His jaw flexes. “You’re really going to do this? Just act like everything we had meant nothing? You can’t just give me a couple of minutes?”
I laugh bitterly. “You made it mean nothing. You did that!”
He steps closer again, and my chest tightens.
I wish my heart would catch up to my brain and know that he’s no longer a safe space…no longer my best friend…no longer mine in any way.
“Simone,” he pleads, like he’s the one hurting here, like he’s the victim.
“We’ve been together since we were kids.
You can’t just throw all that time away.
I love you. I don’t want to lose you. Coming out here—that was big for me.
I’ve been so messed up over you that I’ve given up on just about everything.
I’m even on academic probation with the team, and I could lose my spot by being here. But you’re worth that.”
The words hit me like a slap. Because there was a time I would’ve folded into his arms and told him I forgive him, simply because I didn’t want to lose everything we built. I would’ve felt guilty. I would’ve been afraid to be alone.
But I’m not that girl now.
“Yet I wasn’t worth not cheating on?” I say, staring at him like a stranger, like someone I don’t even know.
My voice sounds so small that it embarrasses me. I’m Simone Edwards. I’m strong. I’m outspoken. I’m a fucking force to be reckoned with. But right now, in this moment, he has me feeling smaller than I’ve ever felt before.
That’s not who I am. I don’t make myself small for anyone. Yet there’s a very dumb part of me that wants him to beg for me back until I give in, while the other part of me never wants to see his face after today, never wants to hear my name on his lips again.
“I was stupid,” he says, getting so close he could reach out and touch me.
I don’t know how to be this close to him. It feels too heavy, like he’s something I know I should let go of, but don’t know how to when he’s staring me dead in the face, pleading for forgiveness.
I hate how I want nothing to do with him, yet still feel this need to make sure he’s okay.
He reaches his hand out, and I back away.
There’s a look of disappointment on his face, but I force myself to stay strong.
“I made a mistake,” he continues. “I let my fears of the future and what I wanted in life mess with my head. I got distracted and let dumb temptation cloud my judgment.”
“A mistake is forgetting my birthday ‘cause you were busy…not finding your way inside of another woman.” I have to pause and shake off the mental images of him with another girl.
“We had never been with anyone but each other. Do you know how much that fucked with my head that you could even do that? The fact that you thought we could just stay together after you ruined something so special.”
“We were supposed to be the power couple, remember?” he says, his voice getting firmer now. “We’re the ones who are supposed to make it through everything. Everyone wanted what we had.”
Had being the keyword.
“What we had is gone, and I don’t want it back. It’s ruined. It would never be the same.”
Tyler’s gaze flicks over my shoulder, and his mouth curls. “Is that why?”
I look back to see Mason leaning against the house pillar, arms crossed, watching us. I catch his eye, and he gives me the smallest nod, a silent ‘You’re okay, I’m here.’
I slowly turn back to Tyler. “What does Mason have to do with this?”
“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other.”
I fight to roll my eyes.
“I saw the way he was with you over Thanksgiving. What…you just went and replaced me with him that quickly?”
My cheeks burn, humiliation and fury tangling together.
“I didn’t replace you,” I say. “I’m not with anyone.”
Tyler laughs. “Sure.”
He looks back over my shoulder and gets louder now. “What does someone like him even have to offer someone like you? He’ll never know you like I do.”
Mason takes a step off the pillar and walks closer to us now. He moves to stand beside me, close enough that his shoulder almost brushes mine.
Tyler’s eyes narrow. “Who are you supposed to be? Her bodyguard. She’s safe with me. She doesn’t need your help.”
Mason’s voice is calm. Deadly calm. “Someone telling you that you need to let it go,” he says. “She said no. So just leave with whatever dignity you have left.”
Tyler huffs in disbelief. “This is between Simone and me.”
Mason doesn’t blink. “It stopped being between you and her when you decided to bring someone else into the relationship.”
“You’re so eager to get my leftovers, huh?”
The words hit like a punch.
He’s letting his mask finally slip, letting the cruelty replace the pleas after his ego has taken enough hits.
Mason’s expression doesn’t change. But I feel it—the way his body tightens. The way his jaw locks. He steps closer, not threatening, just close enough to make Tyler understand he’s serious.
“You never deserved her to begin with,” Mason says, voice low and steady. “You’re the only trash left from that relationship.”
Tyler cocks his head at Mason. “You think you’re some kind of hero, swooping in and saving the day for her?”
Mason’s mouth twitches. “No. I just think you’re just wasting her time, and she’s way too good to—” He looks him up and down, “do this kind of charity work.”
Tyler looks back at me, like he’s still trying to pull me into whatever twisted version of the past he wants me to remember.
“Simone,” he says, softening his voice. “Come on. Don’t do this. We’re—”
“We’re nothing, Tyler,” I tell him as the tears start to sting my eyes. “Not anymore.”
“I want to fix this.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “You just want to try to undo the consequences of your actions.”
Silence stretches.
Tyler’s eyes flick to Mason again. Then back to me. “You’re gonna regret this,” he mutters.
Mason steps forward just a fraction. “She won’t. Now fucking leave.”
Tyler’s nostrils flare, but he backs up slowly like he doesn’t want to look weak.
He gives me one last softened look. “When you remember how good we are together, and the future we were supposed to build together…I’ll be here, waiting for you. I’ll keep waiting for you, Simone.”
I turn to face the house, not being able to watch him walk away, knowing it’s the last time I’ll probably ever see him, and see the future he ruined.
Mason stands there, waiting for him to be completely gone before he moves in front of me, scanning like he’s looking for a way to fix this for me.
He places his hands on my arms and whispers, “Look at me.”
I look up, trying to keep the tears down, but it doesn’t work. I close my eyes, trying to hide from the embarrassment until I feel fingers on my cheeks, wiping the tears away.
“Hey,” he says softly. “Talk to me.”
I just shake my head, not being able to get any words out.
“Are you okay?”
I swallow hard, giving myself a moment before I speak. “Yeah.”
It’s a lie.
But it’s a different kind of lie now. One that feels too scary to admit out loud.
“I really wanted to punch him in the face.”
A laugh escapes me—small, but it feels like relief. “That’s…that’s the most effort I’ve seen from him in over a year. And it was only after he fucked everything up.”
Mason’s face softens. He quietly wraps me in his arms, and I relax into it, as if all the tension melts away because I feel safe here—with him.
“Don’t let yourself feel guilty for turning him away,” he murmurs into my hair. “He made his own bed. You don’t have to lie in it with him.”
My eyes sting. My throat burns.
I pull back just enough to look at him, just as his hands lift to my face, cupping my cheeks. “You do understand that you deserve better?” he asks quietly.
His eyes are locked on mine. And my heart does something stupid again. Because all I can think is—
Kiss me.
Make me forget.
Make me feel wanted, like you couldn’t think about wanting anyone else.
But that’s not fair to him. Because Mason isn’t a distraction; he’s a person—a good one. And I will never use someone like Mason to numb a wound Tyler carved into me.
So I just nod.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I’m trying to believe that.”
Mason’s thumbs brush gently over my cheekbones. His gaze flicks to my mouth—so fast I almost miss it.
Then he lets go.
And somehow, that restraint is what makes my chest ache the most.
We stand there for a beat, the space between us feeling tense, before the world around us comes back into focus.
I hear Lani’s loud voice from across the lawn and try to pull myself together.
I look back up to Mason with pleading eyes. “Don’t say anything to them, okay?”
He nods, stepping back and exhaling, forcing a lighter tone like he’s giving us both an exit.
“Thanks…again—”
Lydia slings her arms around me before I can finish the sentence, looking between Mason and me—curiously.
“For helping me with our gutters, too,” I finish, lying and feeling bad for doing it.
Lani scrunches her nose up as she hands me my coffee. “Ew, that sounds like labor for men.”
Mason smiles at me and then looks to the girls. “Oh, trust me, she was merely moral support. She wouldn’t dare break a nail, no matter how great the cause.”
Lydia nods. “Sounds like my Simone.”
Mason hikes his finger to point over his shoulder. “I’m…gonna go finish up our gutters now. I’ll see y’all around.”
They both tell him bye, and then he lets his eyes land on me for a moment. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
I just nod, not wanting the emotions to come back up.
“There are so many hot guys around here,” Lani whispers. “Maybe I do need to join a sorority.”
I see Mason’s grin as he turns and walks back to the Sig house, and I can’t help but smile too.
How can one person make things feel so easy and simple in the midst of all the chaos?
I let the girls drag me away as I steal one more look over my shoulder at Mason, who’s already stopped, looking back at me too.