My Boyfriend’s Childhood Sweetheart Set Me Up As An Escort Chapter 09
Snow on My Sleeve
Months pass.
I work. I run the department. I do my job.
I don’t think about Shane Griffin. I don’t think about that night.
Or I try not to.
One evening in March, I’m heading out after a long shift. Thinking about driving up to see my parents for the weekend.
The second I step through the front doors, I see him.
Standing in the snow. Shaking.
Shane.
His face lights up when he sees me.
He rushes over. Forces a smile.
“Erin, finally. I’ve come by so many times.”
“They keep telling me you’re busy—”
“Because I told them to.”
He stops. The smile dies.
“Shane. I meant what I said.”
“We’re done. There is no version of this where we get back together.”
“Not because I’m angry. Because I know who you are now.”
“And I know who I am. And those two people don’t belong together.”
His lip trembles. Tears start falling.
“Erin, you can’t just—three years—”
“Three years where I hid who I was so you wouldn’t feel small. Three years where I made myself less so you could feel like more.”
“And the first time someone tested you, you crumbled. You didn’t just not defend me. You joined in.”
“That’s not a bad night, Shane. That’s who you are when it counts.”
He drops to his knees. Right there in the snow.
“Erin. Please. One more chance.”
“I can’t do this without you.”
I look down at him.
For one second—just one—I remember what it felt like. The early days. When he was kind. When I thought he was good.
Then I remember his face on Christmas Eve. The ice in his eyes. The disgust in his voice.
I step back.
“Get up, Shane. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“Go home. Build a life. Find someone.”
“But it won’t be me. Not ever again.”
I walk past him. Get in my car.
In the rearview mirror, he’s still on his knees.
I don’t look back again.