A Twisted Love Story(97)

HEATH: We were never friends. Probably because I kept trying to get her away from him.

MILO: Tell us about that. What kinds of things did you do?

HEATH: I tried to get her into therapy. I thought maybe she needed to hear it from someone else. A professional. Someone who could tell her she deserved better and this thing she had with Wes was not love. It was everything love shouldn’t be. I believed that. I really did.

BROCK: That’s it? Therapy?

DIEGO: I feel like we aren’t getting the whole story here.

HEATH: Um . . . I definitely did some things I shouldn’t have. Like, not too long ago I was supposed to be out of town, but I came back and sent some things to . . . Well, the details don’t really matter, but I did some things that were a little crazy. She wanted to get back together with him, and I just . . . I couldn’t believe it. After everything, she still wanted him.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I interfered in their relationship far more than I had a right to. But it was coming from a good place, because I cared about Ivy. I didn’t want to see her in a relationship like that.

DIEGO: But it didn’t work.

HEATH: Not at all.

MILO: I’m not sure I’m buying that brother-sister thing. Sounds like you were a little bit in love with her.

HEATH: I don’t know. Maybe I had a crush on her.

DIEGO: Just a crush?

HEATH: I genuinely believed she was in a bad situation. And I wanted to get her out of it. To me, everything about their relationship was wrong. It was obsession, lust, addiction . . . whatever you want to call it. But not love. Wes and Ivy were like a human tornado that destroyed everything in its path.

BROCK: That’s actually pretty deep.

HEATH: The thing is, I was the one who was wrong. I actually understand them a lot better now.

MILO: Why is that?

HEATH: I met someone.

DIEGO: Uh-oh.

HEATH: Yeah. And it made me realize a few things.

MILO: Such as?

HEATH: Whatever I might’ve felt for Ivy, I know it wasn’t love. Not real love, because I had no idea what that was. Now I do.

MILO: Wow, that’s huge. Tell us about her.

HEATH: Her name is Bianca, and she’s like . . . Okay, wait. First, I never would’ve met Bianca if it wasn’t for Ivy and Wes. She saw the same interview you did, the one on the local news, and she contacted me on social media to ask a question.

BROCK: What do girls call that? Serendipity or something?

DIEGO: Luck. It’s called luck.

MILO: So what happened? You started seeing her and fell in love?

HEATH: Basically, yeah. Bianca knew Wes, I knew Ivy, and it turned out we had a lot to talk about. Given everything that happened, neither of us were in a good place and we had a natural bond or something. I know this sounds weird, but my life has been a lot better without Ivy in it.

MILO: Funny how that happens.

HEATH: I know, right? It’s impossible to describe how it feels, like words just aren’t enough. Ivy used to say that all the time about Wes.

DIEGO: You’re comparing your relationship to Wes and Ivy’s?

HEATH: To be clear, Bianca and I aren’t anything like Wes and Ivy. Neither one of us is that dramatic. Our relationship is based on respect and trust, which Wes and Ivy never really had. At the same time, I’ve realized it wasn’t my place to judge. Everybody has to choose what’s right for them.

MILO: So you’ve changed your opinion about Wes and Ivy?

HEATH: They were, and probably still are, one hundred percent in love. I have no doubt that they’re somewhere out there, breaking up and getting back together ten times a day. And I bet if you could talk to them, they’d say they’re happy.

MILO: But is that healthy? Or is it toxic?

HEATH: I don’t know. I don’t even know what toxic means at this point, that word is so overused. But who does know? And who can judge something like that, because who’s really in a “functional” relationship? Honestly, do you know anyone who is?

MILO: No.

BROCK: Definitely no.

DIEGO: Not a hundred percent functional, no.

HEATH: Exactly.

MILO: So is that what you’ve learned? That no one is in a functional relationship, and we’re all just screwed up and screwing everyone else up?

HEATH: It’s bigger than that. You know how they say love makes the world go round? That’s not quite right. Love runs the world.

MILO: It doesn’t care who you are, either. When love comes for you, you’re done.

BROCK: Like the grim reaper?

DIEGO: More like a psychopath.

HEATH: Doesn’t matter what you call it, the result is the same: Love always wins.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


So many people to thank for making this book happen, starting with my agent, Barbara Poelle, and my editor, Jen Monroe. They let me throw out the terrible book I wrote during the early days of the pandemic and I wrote this one instead (which hopefully is not terrible).

Many thanks to the whole team at Berkley, including Lauren Burnstein, Dache’ Rogers, Jessica Mangicaro, Jin Yu, Jeanne-Marie Hudson, Craig Burke, Candice Coote, Tawanna Sullivan, Emily Osborne, and so many more. I appreciate everything that you do.

A special thanks to my incredible copyeditor, Elizabeth Johnson, who keeps me on point.

Much gratitude to my UK publishing team at Michael Joseph, including Joel Richardson, Grace Long, and the whole team across the pond for doing such a wonderful job.