WILDEST FANTASIES

SIXTEEN

"So how did you like it?" you ask him, when the two of you are leaving.

"It was good."

"Are you gonna rent it out?"

"I'll have to think about it, but it's a nice candidate," he nods to himself.

"We still have a few on our list to check out," you tell him with a soft smile. "Hey, do you want to grab dinner?" you ask, pushing your guilt to the back of your mind about missing out to be with Derek and choosing to spend time with Harry instead. You know it's alarming, that you're more interested in being with your ex than your current boyfriend, but it's been such a confusing time and you're still figuring it out.

Twenty minutes later you're sitting in an Italian place sharing a huge pizza with Harry, drinking wine and having a blast. Maybe you've already had a few glasses too much of that wine, but you're just enjoying the buzz and letting loose.

"Alright, so tell me about your ex," you blurt out as you grab another slice.

"My ex? Why?" Harry chuckles.

"Because I'm nosy. You've seen who I'm dating, I wanna know what she was like too."

You're being casual, curiosity truly the reason why you brought it up, but it roots deeper than that and you know it. The thought of Harry being with another woman has been circling around in your mind since you found out about it, but you don't know enough about her.

"I told you, we met at a—"

"A bar, I know, I know!" you roll your eyes. "But what was she like?"

"Um, she is usually very calm and considerate. Definitely more mature than me," Harry chuckles, playing with the corn on his plate that fell off the pizza. "I was her second serious relationship, the first one lasted for six years, she's been single for only a few months when we met."

"And you both went into it looking for something serious?" you ask, desperate to know more.

"I mean... you know I don't really do casual," Harry smirks and you chuckle at his words. "It's what worked for both of us, so I guess yeah."

"So then what went wrong?"

Harry keeps quiet, he has no idea how to word it, because he can't just tell you they broke up because Jo wasn't you and he is still very much in love with you.

"I rushed things when I wasn't certain about where I wanted to head," he then speaks up. "I shouldn't have led her on when I wasn't one hundred percent sure what I wanted."

"Who broke up with who?" you ask, making yourself busy with the food, but your stomach is one big knot, thinking about Harry having feelings for another woman.

"It was a mutual decision. Well, she brought it up, but we both felt that something already changed so we both agreed it's best if we parted ways."

"I'm sorry it didn't work out."

Harry shrugs. "It's fine, I wish her the best and obviously, I wasn't that," he chuckles bitterly.

"That's... that's almost what you told me," you mutter, feeling overwhelmed.

"What?"

"Before you left you said you hope I'll find the person that deserves me, because you were obviously not the one."

Harry opens his mouth, but no word comes out. The way you still remember what he told you that day is like a knife in his chest, he never intended to hurt you this bad, to cause wounds that you still carry with yourself as scars.

Reaching for your wine you finish the glass before pushing out a smile.

"Alright, enough of the soppy shit," you chuckle. "Want to hear about how Kostas and I almost got arrested the day after our graduation?"