Page 148 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

“Because I know you,” she continued, softer now. “I know how you love. I know how you give everything. And for the first time I watched you shrink yourself for someone who couldn’t meet you halfway. So yeah, I stepped in. It wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t pretty. But I wasn’t going to sit there and watch you lose yourself again.”

“You didn’t step in,” I said, shaking my head, still holding my ground. “You took control.”

“Because you weren’t in control,” Andre said.

That did it.

Something in me snapped.

“I was healing,” I shot back.

“You were stuck,” Andi said.

“Someone had to make it, James!” Andre said bluntly.

“Not you!” I yelled.

The air shifted.

Passersby started to look our way.

Mel let out a loud sob by the post, covering her mouth.

“Please,” Honey said, moving between us now. “All of you—just breathe⁠—”

“No,” I said. “Because apparently, I don’t get that choice either. I don’t get to feel things at my own pace. I don’t get to make my own mistakes. I don’t even get to decide who comes in and out of my life—because you already did that for me.”

“That’s not what we intended—” Honey said.

“But it is,” I cut in. “You made decisions for me. You played with real people. Real feelings. Mine included.”

Tears slipped down Honey’s face now.

I laughed—soft and bitter. “And the worst part? You thought you were helping.”

No one spoke, because, truth was, they believed they were. And that was what made it unbearable.

I looked at them, and suddenly, I didn’t know where I stood with them anymore.

“I would’ve listened,” I said quietly. “If you had just talked to me. I would’ve listened. But you didn’t trust me enough to do that.”

“James—” Honey reached out.

I stepped back.

Out of reach.

“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head. “Not right now.”

And then I turned.

And this time, I didn’t stop.

CHAPTER 17

IS VICTOR REALLY THE ONE?

The next morning didn’t feel like a fresh start. It felt as though something unfinished carried over.