36. Brent
Brent
Adirty apartment and last week’s sheets are not how I planned to woo Posey back into my life, so I’m rushing around as though the place is on fire.
On top of schoolwork and training, managing my social media notifications has become a part-time job, so keeping this place reasonably tidy has not been a priority.
I’ve got alerts on her name, alerts on my name, and alerts on the stupid fucking hashtags bitter unknown people created in the wake of Val’s lies.
To say the experience has been enlightening is an understatement.
I’m not sure I ever want to go viral for anything ever again. So much easier to ignore all this shit.
But monitoring the fallout made me realize what Posey faced, and if I ever go through this with her again, I can’t ignore what’s fired at her.
Although I was, according to Val, the one who cheated, Posey was painted as the villain.
I had no idea she was receiving so much harassment because, although mine has been a lot, the comments, memes, shitty photos and general bullshit has been much more toxic for her.
Some people even posted about how great I must be in bed because I had two hot women after me.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that one.
When I talked to my younger sister about it, she called the reaction misogynistic bullshit, and then she sent me a whole bunch of articles to read about how women are often shamed for things men are celebrated for.
It’s the sort of thing I bet Posey has a lot of opinions on, and after I finished reading all of it, I wished I could call her to talk about it.
Maybe someday. Instead, I called Nicole back.
Each time I remember why Posey is coming over, I actually can’t believe she’s suggested we try to talk to Val.
Val’s attempts to spin everything I post are exhausting, and she’s weaponized her followers, mostly against Posey.
Something has to give, but I’m not convinced it’ll be Val.
On the other hand, I’m not letting whatever cracks be my relationship with Posey either, even if I have to stay vigilant and on guard for the rest of the school year.
Assuming I can get Posey to admit we’re in a relationship.
Almost exactly thirty minutes later, there’s a knock on my front door.
My stomach clenches with anticipation and a hint of dread.
We haven’t seen each other in person since she stormed away from here and implied I wasn’t capable of protecting her in the right way.
After a week of notes and latte deliveries, and a crash course in social media PR from Jaxon, I was starting to wonder if I was battling a lost cause.
Apart from her try harder text, my efforts didn’t get much response.
If I didn’t understand how hard it was for her to admit to any kind of feelings for me, I might have backed off or felt defeated.
But I stuck with the full-court press, and if she wants to talk to Val, even if I think that’s a terrible idea, she has to be considering something longer-term between us. Otherwise, why bother?
At the door, I take a deep breath, the same one I normally inhale on the starting blocks when I’m staring down a tough race. When I open the door, I scan her long brown hair, her knee-length winter jacket, and the wariness of her expression.
We’re not on even ground yet. Good to know before I stick my foot in my mouth or spew out everything I’ve been thinking for the last couple of weeks.
I move aside to let her in, but nothing between us feels quite right. From that first weekend, I never held back my affection, never questioned the ease between us. But I’m definitely on the back foot now.
She sheds her coat and her boots at the entry, and she takes a seat on the couch. I stand with my back against the island and cross my arms.
“I know I still have some work to do,” I say.
“No, it’s—” Posey tucks her hair behind her ears. “Thank you for everything you’ve done so far. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
I hate how stilted and formal we are, as though we didn’t spend weeks wrapped around each other. “If we—if you—I’ll never ignore something like this again. I promise. I had no idea they were coming after you so hard.”
She lets out a low laugh, and the tension in her shoulders seems to vanish.
“I pray to god there’s never something like this to ignore again.
” She leaves the couch to stand with her feet between mine.
Slowly, she inches her way into my body, and when she wraps her arms around my middle and places her cheek over my heart, we both sigh.
I smooth her hair, and I breathe her in. There’s probably something I should say, but I’m so relieved she’s here and that she stepped into my arms. Without a negotiation or pleading on my part, she entered my embrace.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispers.
My chest swells, and I draw her tighter against me. “If this is what letting you down is like, I’m not fucking doing it again.”
She lets out a little laugh and glances up. “Never? That’s a high bar, Faulkner.”
“I’ve got all your favorite lattes and orgasms memorized in case I fuck up again. What’s your favorite flower as a backup?”
“Ooh. I do like flowers. Roses. Any color of roses.”
“Noted,” I say. Part of me feared she’d name some pretty plant that only flowers once every ten years but looks gorgeous in a white room. “Are you sure you want to talk to Val?”
“I want all this to stop, don’t you?”
“I want her to stop,” I say, “but I don’t want this to stop. We can ignore Val or confront her, whatever you want, as long as we’re on the same page about what comes next.”
She doesn’t go tense in my arms like I expect. Instead, she gives me a quick squeeze. “Can we figure out you and me after we’ve called off Val and her dogs?”
It’s not a no, so I’ll take it, but I’m concerned Val won’t call off her pack of wolves, and going to speak to her might just make them bite down harder. Before we go, we need a plan.
We’re in the food court of the athletics building, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure meeting with Val is a bad idea. Up ahead, Val is seated at a four-person table, and she’s on her phone, so she hasn’t seen that I’ve brought Posey for the conversation.
I can already picture the steam coming out of her ears when she realizes she’s been ambushed.
My we need to talk text was answered immediately, and when she offered her place for the location, I suggested here after my practice.
She must think I’m really stupid to get lured into any ploy that puts me in a position to be alone with her a second time.
Val glances up, and she rises from her seat, gathering her purse and phone. She storms toward us. “This isn’t happening,” she says.
“Hold up,” I say. “We just want to talk.”
“Talk?” Val huffs out a breath. “Why would I want to talk to either of you?” She eyes our joined hands, and her jaw tightens. “You must have been fucking around behind my back.”
“I never cheated on you.” I rear back at her comment.
“Bullshit. You can’t expect me to believe this is all a giant coincidence.
The little interest you showed me disappeared in the final few weeks we were together.
You break up with me at the last minute, and Posey appears out of nowhere to attend the wedding with you?
Please. I was not born yesterday. Red flags everywhere. ”
I’m momentarily stunned. She’d been spewing accusations over the holidays, but I never thought she believed them.
“It wasn’t out of nowhere. I posted in the campus chat server for a date to the wedding. Posey responded. You can probably search for my post if you don’t believe me.” For the first time, I don’t see her as vindictive but as genuinely hurt.
“I spent a year and a half with you. You never held my hand or posted photos of us or did anything sweet or romantic. A year and a half.”
We were on and off the whole time, which to me, answers her question.
Why would I want to do anything sweet or romantic when we were often steeped in a battle of wills over something she wanted that I wasn’t prepared to do?
As a couple, we didn’t work, but I was too lazy or too routine oriented to break things off for good.
At the time, being with her felt easy, but looking back, now that I know what a real relationship feels like, there was nothing easy about being with Val.
We were a bad combination from the start.
“You wanted those things?” I ask. Posey squeezes my hand, but she’s been a silent bystander so far.
“What girlfriend wouldn’t want those things?” Val scoffs. “And then to see you giving them so freely to her.” She tosses her hand in Posey’s direction. “After you’ve known her for five minutes.”
A twinge of annoyance rises at her casual dismissal of Posey. “You cannot pretend like you and I had some great love affair. None of the shit you posted was true.”
“So that means I couldn’t have wanted it to be true?” Val crosses her arms, and her purse bangs her thigh.
“But you didn’t,” I say. “Even you said in Bermuda that we had an arrangement that worked for us. That’s not a relationship.” I fumble for the right word. “It’s a transaction, a business arrangement.”
“I couldn’t get what I wanted, so I took what I could get,” she says.
The food court is starting to get busier, and more people are beginning to take an interest in our conversation. Not a good look for any of us.
“That wasn’t the impression you gave me,” I say. Sponsorships, branding, follower counts, and the mysteries of the algorithms were the only topics Val ever discussed with me. We had a partnership, but it had nothing to do with romance.
“Desperate isn’t a good look on anyone.” She gives a pointed stare at where I’m still clinging to Posey’s hand.