Chapter 37

"Hey."

"Why haven't you been picking my calls?" Lucien asked, sounding tired and relieved at the same time.

"Sorry, I've been struggling with a lot." It wasn't entirely a lie; I had been conflicted.

He paused, then gave a response. "Can I help you in any way?"

"No, don't worry about it."

"Can we talk about what happened that day?" This is what I had been trying to avoid: talking about that day. It was a mistake, never to be repeated.

"There is nothing to talk about. I'm sorry, that was a mistake. I mean, kissing was a mistake."

There was a pause on his end. "You know, I've always liked you. When you told me that you had been avoiding me because your boyfriend wanted you to do so, it broke my heart. But when I found out about your break up, I thought that there was still hope for us to be together."

"I'm sorry, really sorry for leading you on in any way."

"You didn't," he whimpered, as though he was about to cry. "I have to go. I