Page 91 of Sizzle
“I’m good. Freezing,” she says with a smile. “Can I come in?”
“Ah, I’m actually on my way out right now.”
“Oh,” says Diana, clearly disappointed. “Well. I just thought I’d stop by. You didn’t return my calls. Or my message.”
I stay busy, zipping up my coat and pulling the door shut behind me.
Shouldn’t I bet upset right now? We haven’t seen each other since she screamed and called me a freak and threw her engagement ring back in my face. I was depressed for months after she left. Looking back now, our breakup wasn’t the reason I was so upset—which is a pretty terrible thing to realize about someone I’d once planned to spend my life with.
“What do you want, Diana? I have somewhere I need to be.”
She bites her lip, just the bottom left corner. She only does that when she’s really nervous. It used to make me hot. Now all I want is for her to spit out whatever she came here to say so she’ll leave and I can go find my lovers.
Lovers. Lovers plural. Who’d have thought? I can’t help the grin and Diana spots it immediately. It prompts her to speak.
“Okay. Okay. Alex, I came here because I want to give us another shot.”
I’d been watching the road just in case Elliot was on his way back, but that declaration gets my full attention.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” she says, lifting her chin, regret all but written across her face. “Before we talk about that, though… I owe you an apology.”
I can’t even speak because my surprise is so great.
“I messed up,” she says, dropping her gaze briefly before meeting my eyes again. “I should never have said those things to you, or called you… those names. It took me a long time to realize it, and I’m so sorry for that. For all of it.”
“You’re saying you’ve changed your mind about me being bisexual.”
Diana nods. “It should never have taken me so long. I’m not a bigot. I have nothing against gay men, or lesbians, or whomever anybody wants. It’s none of my business, you know?” She wraps her arms around herself, hugging tight against the cold.
I could invite her in. But that will take longer, and I need Joelle. I need Elliot. But Diana’s not finished yet.
“I had no business judging you. Of all people, I should have supported you, and I hated that you felt you couldn’t tell me.” She meets my eyes again. “I hate it even more that you were right not to trust me. I’m so sorry.”
She wraps her arms around me and I hug her back, closing my eyes at the peace I feel after what she just said. I didn’t think I needed it, but it puts that last of my self-doubts to rest. Diana tips her pretty face back to peer up at me—
And an obnoxiously loud horn blares from the side of the road where an ugly, battered food truck jerks to a stop.
It’s Elliot.
27
Joelle
“That neighborhood is absolute trash. You can’t live there!” Dad tugs the printout across the table to read the listing.
“The price is right,” I say, taking his coffee cup to the counter for a refill. “It’s close to the college. And the neighborhood’s not that bad.”
“Two of the windows are boarded up.”
I don’t have a good comeback for that one. “Maybe they’re weatherproofing?”
Dad rolls his eyes and balls up the paper, pitching it into the trash atop all the other discarded candidates.
“You know, you could always just stay here,” says Dad. His tone is casual, but his shoulders are practically covering his ears. I set his coffee mug down on the table in front of him and lean over to kiss his cheek.
“I know, Dad,” I say, patting his shoulder before taking my seat again. “I appreciate that, I really do. I won’t rush into anything, I promise, but it’s time I at least started looking for my own place.”