Chapter 7

I blinked, shaking my head to clear the sudden cloud of emotions. Drew’s retreating form was still there in the back of my mind, but I forced myself to focus on the man standing next to me.

“Yeah,” I muttered, though I didn’t feel it. “Just… caught off guard.”

Max looked between Drew and me, sensing the tension. “I’ve never seen a man so indifferent,” he said, his tone carefully casual. “What’s going on there?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. What was going on with Drew? Did he even care about what he was doing to me?

“He’s complicated,” I said, offering a half-hearted shrug. I wasn’t going to open up about it especially not to Max. We weren’t there yet. And anyway, I wasn’t even sure I knew how to explain it.

Max frowned, clearly not buying it, but he didn’t press. “Right. Well, how about we finally get out of here before you go back to thinking about that guy?”

I smiled at the attempt to lighten the mood, though the tightness in my chest made it hard to genuinely enjoy the gesture. “Sounds good,” I said, nodding. “Thanks for the company tonight, Max. It was really nice to catch up.”

He grinned, but there was something in his eyes, something warm that felt like an invitation to move closer. “I’m glad you had a good time. I’ll walk you to your car.”

I agreed, though it felt more like a formality than anything else. We stepped outside into the cool night air, the distance between us feeling smaller with every step. But no matter how nice the evening had been, I couldn’t shake the image of Drew with the woman. She was everything I wasn’t; elegant, polished, confident in a way that left me feeling small. I hated that feeling.

Max noticed the change in my mood. “I didn’t think it’d be that heavy for you,” he said, his voice gentle. “That guy really gets under your skin, right?”

I couldn’t look at him as I answered, my gaze fixed on the pavement. “It’s not like that,” I muttered. “I don’t know. I don’t even want to think about it.”

Max didn’t say anything else as he led me to my car, his silence understanding. I managed to give him a quick thank you before I slid into the driver’s seat and drove off, my mind swirling with a whole lot of emotions.

By the time I got home, I felt less like myself than I had when I left. It wasn’t just seeing Drew with that woman; it was realizing how much it had affected me. Why did I even care? It wasn’t like we had a future, and yet seeing him with her, so effortless, so perfect had ripped something open inside of me.

Drew's POV

The second I drove into Olive Grove, I saw them. Max and Lila, sitting by the window, the soft glow of the restaurant lights illuminating their faces. They were laughing. A warmth in her expression that didn’t belong to me anymore, not like it was mine in the first place but then

She looked happy. Happy in a way that seemed to upset me and I couldn't wrap my head around why I was feeling that way.

I wasn’t prepared for it. It hit me like a punch in the gut.

I wasn’t even sure what I expected, but it definitely wasn't this. It wasn’t seeing her like this with him. Not with Max, not with anyone.

She was supposed to be mine. I didn’t know when or how I earned the right to even think that way, but seeing them together pierced my heart and it dug deep.

I didn’t look at her when I saw her eyes on me. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to see the disappointment or the hurt in her face.

The woman I was with, the one who had her arm around me was a distraction. That’s all she was. But she wasn’t enough to pull me away from the sight of Lila, and the way she smiled at Max.

I didn’t acknowledge Lila. Didn’t say anything. I couldn’t bring myself to. My feet kept moving as though I didn’t care, as though it wasn’t killing me to see her with him.

I heard her voice in my mind, saw her frown, felt the sharp sting of the memory. But I refused to turn around.

I couldn’t.

Max’s voice reached me as I walked past them, casual but cutting. “I’ve never seen a man so indifferent,” he said. “What’s going on there?”

I didn’t stop. I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

I strode inside, not sparing another glance at them. I didn’t need to. I didn’t need to be reminded of how much I was losing.

“You okay, babe?” the woman beside me asked, her voice filled with concern. I barely registered it.

“Yeah, fine,” I muttered, my focus already on the waiter. I flagged her down, unable to think clearly enough to pick something off the menu. “I’ll have whatever she’s having,” I said, dismissively echoing my partner's order for the night.

The food arrived, but I couldn’t muster the energy to eat. My fork scraped idly against the plate as I tuned out the woman’s incessant chatter. My mind was elsewhere stuck on Lila and Max. Her laugh, the way her smile reached him effortlessly, like I didn’t even exist.

I couldn’t stay here. The walls felt like they were closing in, the air too thick to breathe. Without waiting another second, I signaled the waiter, settled the tab, and stood.

“Drew, where are you…?” her voice followed me, sharp with confusion. I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t.

I pulled a wad of cash from my pocket and tossed it onto the table. “This should cover everything. Goodnight.” My words were curt, my tone edged with cold detachment. I couldn’t face her.

Her protests faded into the background as I pushed through the door and into the night. The cool air hit me, but it did nothing to ease the fire raging inside. My thoughts were consumed by the image of Lila, laughing with Max like I didn’t matter.

Every instinct in me screamed to go back, to pull her away from him, to stop pretending this didn’t hurt. But I kept walking.

Because what was the point?

I had nothing left but the raw, unshakable truth, I was losing her. Maybe, just maybe, I’d already lost her for good.