Page 101 of If We Were Young
“Uh.”
I think the two letters said it all.
“Oh God, please tell me you haven’t? You haven’t gone and opened up that can of worms again, have you?”
“What do you mean?” I turned my back and walked away, conscious of him overhearing her barbed vitriol. “It’s never been opened before.”
“Yah, yah, and then when he breaks your heart again who will be the one picking up the pieces? Admit it, Ronnie, it was never meant to be.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Of course I do. I mean, Ronnie is he even divorced yet? He’s always strung you along while he’s had better things on the back burner.”
“Hey.”
“Tell me I’m lying, and I’ll apologise.”
“It’s all just been bad timing, that’s all. This time though we are both free. We can both make something of it.”
Angela snorted her most derisive laugh. “So silly. God, I hope Hannah has more brains than to spend half her life in love with someone who has never actually told her he loves her. Has never been brave enough to speak up.”
“It was me who wasn’t brave enough, Angela.” I held myself back from blurting what he’d told me on the train.
“Was it, Ronnie? Was it?”
“Anyway, if he hadn’t seen you snogging that random all those years ago, we might not even have ended up in this mess.”
“Sweets, you are so blind when it comes to him. The mess is him. It’s always him.”
“No. I’m the messed up one.”
“Listen, I don’t want to row, you’re my best friend. I wanted to know if I could take Hannah out somewhere as you’ve blown me off as per usual.”
“What? As if. I’m always with you. Always was until you moved away.”
“Well can I or not?” she snapped.
“Sure. Where are you going?”
“Crack house.”
Just like that she softened the ire between us. “Make sure it’s a good one.”
“Darling, I know all the best crack houses.”
“I’ll be home…” I cast a glance at Matthew who still stood down in the utility. “Tomorrow I guess.”
There was a pause, and for once it wasn’t filled with the drag of smoke. “Enjoy it, Ronnie. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I hung up and tossed my phone back into my bag before closing the gap between Matthew and me again.
My arms fit just perfectly around his chest and I pushed my face into his bare back; like I did just days ago when we walked into his rented apartment and I’d cleaved myself to him up the stairs.
Was that really just days ago?
Everything had changed in such a short amount of time.
Angela’s words rang in my ears. Not because I thought he would hurt me, but because I knew I had to move on from this. How could we get our worlds to meet?
