Chapter 4
I almost went home. I didn't know what was going on with me. I wanted to talk to Heather, but she'd be with Anita. Still, I could text her. She probably wouldn't reply until tomorrow, but maybe we could get coffee then.
And if she hadn't silenced her phone, and I interrupted them, a vindictive part of my mind thought, "Good."
"Hey" I sent.
Heather replied instantly. "Hey yourself. What's up?"
"Is Anita still there? I don't want to disturb you," I sent.
"She's not here. Why?" Heather asked.
"Can I see you?"
"I think you missed the bus," she replied.
"I'll get Uber if you will let me in," I sent.
"Sure, if you want."
~~~~~
Twenty minutes later I texted her from outside. She let me in a moment later, in a robe over her nightgown. The living room was empty. Everyone else must be upstairs..
I took a seat by the vanity in Heather's room, my hands folded in my lap. I didn't know how to start. For that matter I really had no idea why I was there.
"What's up?" asked Heather.
"Why did Anita leave?" I asked.
"She didn't leave," Heather replied. "She was never here. She offered to drive me home. Otherwise I'd have had to call Erin."
"Oh. I thought..." I glanced around the room. What I thought was obvious, but I couldn't make myself say it.
"You thought she wanted to have sex with me," Heather stated..
"I
know
she wanted to have sex with you," I said. "I thought... I thought you did, too."
"And
I
thought you were going to bang the girl who was sitting in your lap," Heather said, a sharp edge to her tone. The term sounded strange on her lips. And Susie hadn't been sitting in my lap, but I knew what she meant. Susie had been disturbingly close for most of the evening.
"I... well... yeah. So did I," I admitted. "I even... well, I couldn't. I didn't want to."
"Why not?" Heather asked. If anything, her tone was harsher than it had been.
"I kept thinking about...well, about you being with Anita, and it hurt me." I pressed a finger between my breasts. "Here. So much that I wanted to curl up and make the world go away."
"You were jealous?" Heather asked.
I shrugged. "Why would I be jealous? We hardly know each other. I have no claim on you. But... yeah, it felt like that. Except in spades, and maybe with a large helping of guilt."
"Why guilt?" she asked. Her expression had softened some, but she seemed distant.
I had to pause before answering. I'd been saying what came to mind, without trying to think it through, but I owed her my understanding. "I think because I knew... well, I thought... that you felt a connection to me, and I abandoned you to Anita.
"So that you could go off with the girl you were with," she stated.
I didn't try to deflect. "Susie. Yes."
"I did feel a connection to you," Heather said. "When you stayed with me after Thursday. And how you made me feel on Friday. I wanted that, and I don't regret it, but I guess I hoped it might have meant something to you, too."
"It did," I said, my voice sounding rough to my ears. "I think that's part of the guilt. If I pushed you off with Anita it would break that feeling for both of us. But I don't
want