First message
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, a cheap, ugly shot meant to build a wall between us. That dress is doing you no favors, you know.I said it to hurt her, to make her walk away, because every second she stood there looking like that made it harder to remember how to breathe. I expected her to shrink, to finally give me the distance I kept pretending I wanted. But she didn’t. She turned on me, her eyes like fire, and sliced me open with six perfect words: Why don't you just date a man?
The world tilted. Date a man? The sheer, breathtaking wrongness of it, the absolute failure of my entire pathetic strategy, broke something loose in me. A laugh, bitter and sharp, ripped out of my throat. A man? I took a step forward, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted to escape. I can't even look at anyone else, and you think that's it? I have been in love with you since we were fourteen, you idiot!