She moved the pile of clothes off of her bed and onto the desk—she’d put them away later—and then flopped back onto her bed.
All in all, it hadn’t been a bad day. Aside from the barrage of condolences she’d received and getting accosted by Luke on her way back to the car, she almost felt like she’d enjoyed herself.
Tyler had been radio silent all day, which she’d appreciated, though she’d had to block his mom’s number due to the sheer number of messages and calls she was sending.
In all honesty, April had expected to miss him more. She’d spent the past four years of her life with Tyler in New York, and yet she didn’t find herself looking for him, or reaching for him now that he wasn’t there. If anything, she felt … lighter. Though of course she was still upset by his betrayal and the abrupt way things had ended, it made her think that maybe she hadn’t been happy for a long time. And maybe neither had he.
She’d messaged Emma and Izzy in the group chat with a recommendation for her snazzy new laundry stuff, but wasn’t expecting a reply. It was almost eleven and they both had to be up early for work. They’d even pushed their morning coffee date back to lunch instead because of their meetings. Freshly unemployed, April didn’t have that problem.
Figuring she’d scroll on her socials for a bit before trying to sleep, she settled back amid her covers and tapped on her phone screen.
The first post to come up made her falter.
She may not have realized she’d been unhappy with Tyler until just now, but hehadto have known how he was feeling if he’d been compelled to seek out someone else while they were still together. It was strange to see him with another woman, the pain in her chest not quite anger or jealousy, but it hurt just the same.
His hand was around her waist as she balanced on the arm of the chair he sat on. It looked like a party—maybe a work function, judging by the suits and smart looks of the other people in the carousel. But even when she scrolled, she still ended up swiping back to that same photo. The way he leaned into her, the hand spread possessively wide across her ribcage … Shayla. The same woman April had found him with after she’d gotten home earlier than anticipated last Friday night.
She wasn’t exactlythrilledwith the photo, especially when it advertised their break-up so clearly and tackily. But what really enraged her was the caption.
A great weekend with the best people.
So while Tyler had been blowing up her phone all weekend, begging her to reply, to come home, the reality was that he’d been at a party with the woman he’d cheated with.
A great weekend with the best people.
It felt like a dig. The caption, the pose, the fact that he’d posted it to his socials right alongside the photos of her and him together on his grid.
Her jaw clenched and irritation burned hotly in her veins, making her eyes prickle with tears as she stubbornly hitlike.
Asshole.
Two-faced,cowardlyasshole.At least she had confronted him and told him how she felt.
Launching her ring at his head had been thoroughly therapeutic, too.
Maybe it was the anger still burning inside of her, or the universal need to one-up her ex, but her fingers tapped out a message before she could second-guess herself.
Noah replied seconds later: a phone number and a question mark. She ignored the latter and instead drafted a new text.
April:
I changed my mind. Let’s do dinner.
April:
Um, this is April by the way