"If you didn't tell her, then who did?" Collin's nostrils were flaring with a fresh surge of rage. Who even knew about the bet? Tom, obviously, but he wouldn't have told Heather. So who else?
"Sit down," Sam said, gesturing to the green couch. "Do you want a beer?"
When Collin shook his head no, Sam sat down on the orange couch, leaning forward so her elbows rested on her knees. After a moment, Collin sat down, too.
"So?" Collin asked, his eyes boring into her. Any patience that he had left was rapidly disappearing.
Sam seemed to lean into his glare like a sail pointing into the wind. "Just listen. I know I fucked up, but I swear I didn't tell Heather."
How had she fucked up, yet not been the one to tell Heather? Collin's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "I don't get it. What do you mean?"
Sam tilted her head up toward the ceiling and ran her fingers from the top of her eyes down to her jaw. "I–I told Avery... about the bet."
"You what?" Collin jumped to his feet.
Sam slumped back against the couch. "I know. I know! I shouldn't have. I just..." She waved her hands in the air. Helpless.
"Under what circumstances was that cool? You knew things between me and Heather were evolving. That the initial bet was irrelevant..." His voice was raising, bordering on shouting. He took a breath and got his volume under control. "I thought you were my friend. My friend. Why have you been getting so cozy with Avery?" He began to pace.
"I'm not cozy with Avery," Sam said defensively. "But she keeps reaching out. What am I supposed to do? Ignore her?"
"Uh, well, yeah. She did cheat on me after six years. Ignoring her seems like a reasonable response."
Sam took a deep breath. "Dude, you know it was more complicated than that."
He wanted to shout back at her. To unload all the injustices that had been placed on his shoulders and throw them in her face. Let her see the raw hurt and pain that he was feeling: first from Avery's betrayal and now from having his hopes with Heather dashed.
Instead, he just bit down on his lips and continued to pace back and forth along the living room's front wall.
Finally, Sam spoke again, her words quiet. "I was just trying to make her feel better. Letting her know I didn't think things with you and Heather were that serious. That maybe she still had a chance at winning you back... I didn't expect her to run and tell Heather."
Collin started twisting his hands. "So, are you saying that you know for sure that Avery told Heather? When?"
There was a pause as Sam hesitated. "It must have happened after yoga."
He let out a cynical laugh. "Must have? Were you there?"
"No, but..." She seemed to sink further into the couch.
"But what?" he demanded, standing in front of where she sat.
Sam finally met his eyes. "I think you need to talk with Avery."
"Hell no." He spun away from her, his hands running through his hair. Avery was the last person who he wanted to talk to.
Sam stood, but stayed by the couch. "Just talk," she said, her voice even, but firm.
"Sam, what the fuck? Seriously. Wh–why would you want that for me?" He took a step toward the front windows and felt a lump forming in his throat. This was all too much.
He heard Sam take a step forward. "You guys were like the golden couple, you know? Proof that true love existed–"
"Apparently not," he muttered, but she ignored his interruption.
"–and you guys breaking up just broke that illusion, you know? Especially because it was all so sudden."
"Imagine how I felt." He turned to face her again. She was only a few feet away from him, still wearing yoga pants and her dark hair tied back. His best friend for the past three years. Her cinnamon eyes glistened with unfallen tears.
"I know, man." Her voice was low and trembled with emotion. "Something beautiful was shattered, and I just wanted to super glue it back together, which maybe was stupid. So, I'm sorry."
"You didn't answer me before. Were you there when Avery told Heather?"
Sam shook her head, and a silent tear rolled down her cheek.
There was a knock at the door.
"That better not be Avery." Collin's voice was a low growl.
Sam shrugged and held up her hands. "I didn't invite her over. I promise." Then a cloud of guilt passed over her features. "But my phone has been vibrating in my pocket. If I check, I bet it was her calling."
"I'm not speaking to her," he said, enunciating each syllable in slow exaggeration.
The door opened, and a moment later, someone was walking up the stairs. Collin turned just as Avery appeared in front of him.
"You've got some nerve just showing up here, in my house." Looking at her had once filled him with warmth, but now seeing her just made him feel hollowed out. His skin was nothing but a blown-out eggshell.
Sam stepped forward, standing between them. "Avery, I don't think you should be here."
Avery ignored Sam and craned her neck to look at Collin. "Just talk to me. Give me five minutes. Can't you give me five minutes?"
"I'd once been willing to give you the rest of my life." He shook his head at how quickly things could change.
"So, what's five minutes in the grand scheme of things?" she pleaded. "Please?"
He'd never could resist that look. Her lips pouted, her eyes downcast. For six years, his body had been conditioned to respond to that look, to give in to her requests. "Fine. Five minutes."
"Can we talk somewhere private?"
"We are not going into my room." His voice was hard. It was a boundary he would not cross again. Their interaction at the party had been too painful.
"You can use my room," Sam offered.
"Fine." Collin walked past Avery and down the stairs, turned the corner to walk past the laundry area, and then lead the way into Sam's room. The curtains were closed and the beige shag carpet and tie-dyed wall hangings were bathed in shadow. Not wanting artificial light, he walked over and pulled the curtains apart, then he sat on Sam's desk chair.
Avery had followed Collin and now walked into the room, closing the door behind her.
"I miss you," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Sam told me as much." He swiveled in the chair, not able to look at her.
"If I could take it all back, I would."
"No, you wouldn't," he snapped.
"I would."
He swiveled back to facing her. "Well, you just pushed me further away by telling Heather something that wasn't your business. Honestly, that was just mean."
"Come on, though? A bet?" She shook her head.
"Not that you deserve to know this, but Tom just wanted to distract me. After, you know, you stomped on my heart." He glared at her.
"Tom is such a guy. Just gross."
Collin let out a small, amused laugh. "If you hate all guys so much, I'm not sure why you wanted to talk to me so badly. I am a guy, if you've forgotten. I thought that was the whole fucking problem."
She slumped forward and suddenly started to cry, overcome by wracking sobs that shook her shoulders. "I'm so stupid. What is wrong with me?"
Collin gazed up at the ceiling and let out a long exhale. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. Then he stood, sat next to Avery, and rubbed her back. "You should've told me how you were feeling instead of cheating on me. After six years, I deserved that much."
"I know," she said, rubbing at her nose.
"So, that was wrong... But you were right that we didn't have a future. You are a lesbian and I am a man, and that's just the truth. And maybe Gina wasn't right for you, but some other woman will be."
"Why are you being nice to me?" she asked, wiping at her eyes.
"I really don't know," he answered.
"Do you think we can at least be friends?" she asked. "I really do miss you."
"I really don't know about that either. At least not right now."
She covered her eyes with her palms as they filled with a fresh round of tears. "I'm just so confused about everything."
Collin just kept rubbing her back. There was nothing for him to say.
"I really am sorry," Avery whispered.
"About what?"
"Everything. Even telling that girl about the bet. I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn't." Avery looked up, her eyes puffy and red.
"Well," he said, still rubbing her back, "it made me feel worse. So, at least you accomplished that."
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
"You can keep saying it, but it won't change anything." He put his hands in his lap and looked down.
"Maybe I can help somehow." She shifted, facing him.
"How?" he asked, his mouth flattening into a line.
"I–I could tell her it was all a lie. That I'm just the crazy ex. I don't know, but I might think of something." She reached to place her hand on his knee, but he shifted, and she pulled back.
"Listen, I think you've done enough." Collin stood. "You should go."
He knew he needed to get Heather back. He also knew that Avery could have nothing to do with it.
"Will you answer my calls sometimes?" she asked as she stood, too.
Collin took a deep breath and looked into her still so familiar eyes. But the edge of her new tattoo was still visible at the edge of her collar, reminding him how much she had changed. "Maybe," he answered, not knowing if it was the truth or not.
Then he walked her to the door and closed it behind her.
Sam was still on the couch when he walked back up the stairs, watching something on the television.
"Hey," he said to her. "I need you to help me figure out how to get Heather to talk to me again."