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Back Unnecessary Drama Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TEXT LOGO PAGE
  3. ABOUT THE BOOK
  4. DEDICATION
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  46. ALSO BY NINA KENWOOD
  47. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  48. PRAISE
  49. NEW MARKETING PAGE

‘You said we act friendly to each other around Harper. How do we act when we’re not around her, when we’re just on our own?’ he asks. We look at each other, and for a second, just a second, I feel, absurdly, like I might cry. I push my fingernails into my palms, and the feeling passes.

I frown at him. ‘We ignore each other,’ I say.

He nods, and tucks his hair behind his ears.

‘All right. So if you’re home, and I’m home, but Harper’s out, and I walk into the kitchen, do I literally pretend you’re not there or can I say something?’ he says.

‘It depends,’ I say.

‘On what?’

‘On what you might say.’

‘I will probably say “hi”. Or, “excuse me”, if I need to reach around you to get to the fridge. Or, “how was your day?”, if I’m feeling really bold,’ he says, and his face is serious but I can see his eyes twinkling a little. This is a joke to him. I’m a joke to him.

‘They’re acceptable options,’ I say, keeping my face impassive. ‘But no follow-up questions. If you ask me how my day was, and I say “good”, that’s it.’

‘Should I submit a full list to you of things I might say, for you to approve ahead of time?’ he says.

‘Yes. You should,’ I say, still not giving him a hint of a smile. Let him worry I am being serious. Let him worry how far over the edge I have gone. Let him sweat.

He gives a short laugh, and shakes his head. ‘Come on, Brooke,’ he says.

‘Come on, what?’ I say. I will not let him weasel his way back into my life. We are not friends.

‘Fine. Sounds good. We will silently endure living together and stay out of each other’s way as much as possible,’ he says, sighing and standing up.

I stand up too, because I don’t like the imbalance of him standing and me sitting, even though he still towers over me when we’re both standing. We hold eye contact for a beat longer than is comfortable. Is this a power play? Am I winning or losing? I need to have the last word in this conversation.

‘Shake on it,’ I say, holding out my hand, which I immediately regret, because he could refuse to shake it, and then what will I do? Oh god.

But he doesn’t refuse. He reaches out and shakes my hand, lets it go, and then we turn and walk into our separate bedrooms.

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