“It’s not that easy, Cassie. I still didn’t have the talk with Warner,” I uttered the main reason I was facing so many difficulties to give Ace an answer. And wasn’t it too soon? I mean, we were just getting to a level of understanding each other, even not there yet if I was speaking frankly. Even if Warner wasn’t the issue, wouldn’t it be too soon to go out with him? Everything was moving so fast between us that it overwhelmed me.

“Now, where did Warner come from? I thought he already knew of you and Ace,” she squeaked.

I didn’t know what problem she had with Warner. She just hated the idea of him being between me and Ace.

“He has an idea about us, but we still haven’t had an official break-up. So, technically, he is still my boyfriend,” I explained. “I can’t just go on a date with someone else while still being in a relationship with another.”

“Fuck this shit! This isn’t a relationship! You don’t love him, and he knows it, end of story. Don’t spoil your real opportunities for the fake ones!” she snapped.

“Cassie,” I cautioned. “Though I wasn’t ever really in the relationship, our friendship was real. And I already did wrong enough to him by letting Ace close to me. I can’t do more. I can’t start something new by keeping the former hanging.”

“So, where the hell is he? He was supposed to come here and talk to you, right? When is he coming?”

I set the mug down and rubbed my neck in frustration. “I don’t know. He’s still mad at me. All he told me was he’d be here soon. That’s it. We haven’t talked since that day.”

I didn’t even know where he was. He wasn’t receiving my calls or responding to any messages. I even called his cousin, but he had no idea when he was coming to LA.

“Then what are you gonna do now?” she asked.

I shrugged, sighing. “I don’t know.”

“You can’t ignore Achilles for long, you know that, right? You’ll have to face him today or tomorrow. He’s not going to wait for your answer that long. Knowing his obsession with you, you should be lucky he isn’t already knocking your doors down to get a yes out of you.”

A giggle bubbled up my throat as I shook my head. I was relieved he didn’t do such a thing.

My eyes fell on the fresh flowers in the kitchen vase that arrived for me this morning, just like everyday. Even when he must be mad that I was ignoring him, he didn’t forget to send those red roses to me. At first, Mom and Dad were curious about those flowers, but now they kind of got used to them.