Page 21 of Crash and Burn

I had no one to blame for this heartbreak but myself.

Mittens padded up the mattress until her head was tucked under my chin. She was soft and warm, and at that moment, a very welcome presence.

"You're not such a bad kitty after all, are you?" I cooed.

She got up, turned around in a half circle, and settled back down, this time with her butt right in my face and her tail whacking me on the forehead.

"I take it back," I said. "You're a jerk."

My phone pinged from where I'd left it on the nightstand. I flailed out an arm and snagged it without needing to move an inch, and quickly glanced at the screen.

My heart jumped.

Grant had texted me.

I sat up in a flurry, dislodging Mittens from her comfy spot at my head.

"Meow," she grumbled as she gracefully leaped to the floor.

I scanned Grant's text.

Ready for today?

I stared at the message. Was today something special? It was our day off, but aside from that I couldn't think of anything else.

Before I could text back, my phone pinged again.

I'm heading over to the photoshoot now,he wrote.I'll text you where it's at.

The photoshoot. I'd completely forgotten about it. Grant had invited me to one of those fashion magazine gigs he'd scored. It had been the last thing on my mind.

When you get there tell them you're my assistant,he continued.

I still hadn't written back.

I held my thumb over the screen.

Did I really want to do this? Continue to act as if things were normal between us?

From Grant's point of view, they were. I was the only one who'd had my whole world blown to pieces.

I'll be there,I texted back.

Maybe Grant had done me a favor. I'd been agonizing over him forever. Wondering when to tell him. Wondering if I should even tell him at all.

Now that choice had been taken away from me.

Grant was dating someone. That was the end of it. I had to accept reality.

The two of us would only ever be friends.

And we were good friends, I reminded myself. The best of friends, even. I could talk to Grant about stuff I didn't share with anyone else. My worries about my parents. My fears of the future. And he did the same with me. I knew he'd never tell a single soul about his need for a fulfilling career in art. Not when he was so focused on providing for his mom and little sister.

But he'd told me.

The two of us had something special.

So what if it wasn't exactly the kind of relationship I'd been hoping for?