Page 158 of Buy Back My Love

“Fifteen years, Van!”

That shut me up. Lee looked like she hadn’t meant to yell, but once she started, she kept going.

“Fifteen years. I been with that man since I was fourteen years old. I went to prison because of him. Came home thinking we was finna pick up where we left off, only to find out he had a whole other family. I know I left him. I know I don’t want him back, but that don’t mean I can erase fifteen years because I finally got enough sense to walk away.”

She turned her face away from me, and I finally understood what I had been missing. When I saw those gender reveal pictures, I figured maybe she was finding her way back toward him. Looking at her now, I could see I had read that shit wrong.

“And everybody saw it,” she said, quieter this time. “That’s the embarrassing part. Everybody knows our business. Everybody saw that gender reveal. Now everybody saw him propose to her. My phone started blowing up before I could even process the damn post.”

I pushed away from the couch. “That’s why you called me?”

“Yes.”

That answer hit me harder than I expected. I had been deliberately giving her space for weeks, thinking I was doing the right thing. Then when everything went sideways tonight, I was who she called.

I looked at her. “And because I was on a date, you blocked me?”

Lee rolled her eyes. “Don’t start.”

“No, I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“I never said it did.”

“You’re mad at me for going out with somebody when you keep telling me we’re just friends.”

“I said don’t start.”

I stared at her. “You don’t get to do that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Do what?”

“Keep pushing me away every time this shit gets too real, then get mad when I act like I’m single.”

“I wasn’t mad.”

“You blocked me.”

“Because I didn’t want to talk to you!”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to picture you with somebody else!”

The room went quiet. Even Holly stopped moving around near the couch. Lee closed her eyes like she wanted to snatch the words back out of the air while I stood there looking at her.

She opened them again. “What?”

“You don’t want to picture me with somebody else.”

“You heard me.”

“I want to make sure I heard you right.”

“Don’t piss me off.”