“I warned you this was a bad idea,” she fumes. “I said it was cruel to play with someone like that. But you didn’t listen because Oh that Heidi, she’s just jealous. Right? Isn’t that what you thought?”
A sliver of guilt pricks my chest, because, yeah, it’s precisely what I thought when she’d protested Evan’s revenge scheme.
“Well, I’m sorry it blew up in your face exactly how I knew it would.” She jabs her index finger in the air. “Don’t put that on me.”
I jab my finger right back. “No, you only made Mac miserable every second she was around until you finally got your chance to drive her away.”
“She was eavesdropping. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
I’m so goddamn over Heidi and her attitude. For six months, I’ve made myself grin and bear it, but there’s a limit.
“You made it pretty clear you hated her from the second we got together. I asked you, as a friend, to do me this one favor. Instead you stabbed me in the back. Honest to God, I thought we were tighter than that.”
Heidi launches forward and chucks a sanding block at my head, which I manage to catch before it wallops me in the face. “Don’t pull that loyalty card nonsense on me. All you’ve done since the summer is act like I’m the heartsick psycho who can’t get off your dick, but it was you who showed up at my door drunk and horny one day, and the next you’re treating me like a stalker.”
“Where did this come from?”
“You, jackass.” Heidi paces around the table. Too close to my chisels and mallets for my liking. “Yes, okay, sorry, I made the unforgiveable mistake of catching feelings for you. Fucking crucify me. I don’t remember you telling me our shit was over. I don’t recall a conversation where you said, Hey, it’s only sex and we’re cool, right? One day I’m getting the brush-off and that’s it.”
I falter, forcing myself to look back to last summer. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the details. I’m not even sure how we ended up in bed the first time. Can’t say I remember having a meeting about the particulars either. There’d been no what are we talk. No discussion where we laid out some ground rules. I just …assumed.
And that’s when I realize, as I feel the color drain from my face and guilt twist up my insides, that maybe I was the asshole.
“I didn’t realize that’s how you felt,” I admit, keeping my distance because another violent outburst is not out of the question. “I thought we were on the same page. And then, yeah, I guess I felt kind of cornered and took the easy way out. I didn’t want to make it awkward.”
Heidi stops. She sighs, slumping down on a stool. “You made me feel like some random hookup. Like, even as a friend, I didn’t mean anything to you. That really hurt, Coop. Then I was so mad at you.”
Fuck. Heidi’s always had my back. I was so up my own ass I didn’t think for a second how I did her wrong.
“Come here,” I say gruffly, holding out my arms.
After a second, she comes forward and lets me hug her. Though she does slug me in the ribs before wrapping her arms behind my back.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. If I’d seen someone else treat you that way, I’d have beaten him senseless. It wasn’t cool at all.”
She peers up at me, and there’s moisture clinging to her lashes. She hastily wipes her eyes. “I guess I’m sorry too. I should have put on my big girl pants and cut your brake lines like an adult instead of taking it out on your girlfriend.”
Ah, fucking Heidi. Never can tell with this one. I wouldn’t for a second put it past her.
I give her another squeeze before releasing her. “Are we good?”
She shrugs. “Eh. We will be.”
“If you need me to grovel some more, say the word.” I flash a self-deprecating grin. “I’ve gotten damn good at groveling these past couple weeks.”
Her lips twitch with humor. “The flowers on your porch say otherwise. But sure, I’ll take some groveling. You can’t act like a fuckboy and expect to get away with it.”
I wince. “God. No. Definitely don’t let me get away with it.” A groan slips out. “I just realized something. I’m Evan. I fucking Evan’d you.”
Heidi starts to laugh uncontrollably, bending over to clutch her side. “Oh my God, you did,” she howls. When she regains her composure, her cheeks are flushed and stained with tears of laughter rather than pain. She grins at me and says, “I almost feel like that’s punishment enough.”