“I see.” His voice was abrupt. “So I guess my text and call tonight was pointless?”

“No, I was going to call you as well.” I pursed my lips. “I’ve missed you, Scott.”

“Me, or the sex?” he said bluntly. “Or someone to talk to while you’ve been pining away for Shane?”

“I’ve missed you, Scott,” I said, hurt at his tone and question. “I haven’t been pining away for Shane.”

“But you don’t know if you still love him?”

“I don’t still love him.” I sighed. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like?” Scott was annoyed.

“What’s your problem?” I sighed. “We’re not together. You haven’t even spoken to me in a month.”

“Because you lied to me and played me, and here I am reaching out to you again, asking you to date me and you’re telling me you’re interested in dating another guy.”

“I never said that. You’re putting words into my mouth.” I didn’t understand what was happening. What had gone wrong so quickly?

“I gotta go, Elizabeth,” Scott said quickly. “Give me a call when you figure everything out.”

“Wait, what?” I said quickly, but he’d already hung up on me. I dropped my phone on the bed and walked into the living room and stared at Lacey. She looked up at me with wide eyes.

“What’s going on?” She paused the TV and frowned. “You look weird.”

“I don’t know,” I said, and stood there with a mind as blank as a blackboard on the first day of school. “I really don’t know what’s going on, Lacey. I think I’m in the Twilight Zone.”

Chapter Fifteen

“You look confused, Eliza.” Lacey said. “Shane got you confused?”

“No, but Scott does.” I sighed.

“Just Scott?”

“I don’t know.” I walked over to the couch and sat next to her. “Why me? Why did Shane have to send those flowers tonight?”

“You know how he is. Whenever he thinks he’s truly lost you, he try’s to reel you back in again.”

“It was just the worst possible timing.” I sighed. “Scott and I had been talking about how long people should be dating before they get engaged and well we really disagreed in the amount of time and I think that made me a little upset, so I acted a bit stupid when Shane sent the roses.”

“What does that mean?” Lacey sat there, her eyes confused. “How did you act stupid?”

“I may have led Scott to believe that I still had a thing for Shane.”

“Eliza!” She growled. “How could you?”

“I was confused.” I moaned. “I was remembering how it was with Shane when we first started dating. How we used to share our dreams and lie on the beach and make love.”

“Eliza.” She shuddered.

“What?” I shook my head and let out a huge sigh. “In the beginning it was great with Shane, you know that. I thought we were going to get married. That’s something both of us talked about.”

“Yeah because you were both in college.” Lacey sounded annoyed. “And he was just saying whatever he could to get into your pants.”

“I don’t believe that. I think in the beginning he really loved me. He wanted what I wanted.”

“Elizabeth!” Her voice rose. “Shane was a jackass. A player. He cheated on you. He doesn’t deserve any more second chances. And you know what, you’re a jackass too if you seriously think that there is any comparison between Scott and Shane.”

“You don’t even know Scott.” I huffed.

“I know that he’s trying. I know that he made you happy. I know that he was fun. He was smart. He had his shit together. He didn’t make you feel ugly and not good enough.” Her voice trailed off and we just stared at each other.

“Why did you show me the flowers from Shane?” I asked her softly. “Why did you interrupt my call?”

“Because I thought that would give you motivation to see where things would go with Scott. I know you, Eliza. I know how you like to take the easy way out, if you think you’re going to get hurt.”

“Well, I guess you’re right.” I bit my lower lip. “I don’t think Scott wants anything to do with me now.” I was starting to feel depressed at the stupid way I had handled the conversation. Why had I let my old sentiments towards Shane cloud my thoughts?

“Well, I guess it’s lucky for you that you’re still working for Aiden Taylor then? At least you know you’ll see Scott at football.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” I admitted, feeling better.

“Or you can take the bull by the horns and go over to his house and tell him you were acting like a fool on the phone.”

“Huh? What?” I looked at her in shock.

“Maybe you need to be more proactive, Eliza. Maybe it’s time to put yourself out there.”

“I know, it’s just a scary thing.”

“Life is scary.” Lacey shrugged. “That doesn’t mean you don’t live it. Grab it by the horns and ride it. Yeah, you’ll get tossed around a bit and even hurt some more, but ultimately you’ll get over it. You know that now.”

“That’s true.” I nodded. “I don’t feel hurt when I think about Shane anymore.”