Back to You by Leighton Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

really want to talk to me or he wouldn’t have hung up on you.” I threw myself backwards on the bed with my arm covering my eyes and grunted.
     
    “Or maybe some guy answering your phone after midnight threw him for a loop, Alex,” he offered. “I think it’s going to eat at you and neither of us is going to be happy until you call him back.”
     
    My new boyfriend wanted me to call my ex-boyfriend back. I wonder if hell has frozen over. “So you want me to call my ex-boyfriend?” I asked a bit confused.
     
    “Alex, seeing you tied up in knots over your ex for two years was bad enough; I’m not going to sit here and watch one phone call drive you nuts for the next two, okay?” He picked up my phone and handed it to me then kissed me tenderly on my forehead. “ Call him back.”
     
    He shifted to get up but I grasped his hand and stopped him. I wanted him to be there for me when I talked to Tyler because I couldn’t be trusted to be alone with him, even over the phone. I pressed send with my heart pounding in my chest.
     
    The phone rang several times before voicemail picked up. “ Hey! You’ve reached Tyler’s phone. There’s gonna be a beep! You know what to do!” Beep.
     
    I panicked and hung up the phone. “He didn’t answer.” Hearing his voice again was surreal and made my heart hurt.
     
    “Well, you probably should try again and leave a message this time.” He squeezed my hand in support.
     
    I nodded and dialed again, this time when it beeped I cleared my throat and spoke. “Hey Ty, it’s, um, Alex. Well, I guess you probably already know that since you called me. I was just, um, calling you back to see what you wanted, so call me back, I guess. Bye.” I threw the phone down on the bed, relieved that that part was over and dove into Donny’s supportive arms. He was good at making me feel better.
     
    I didn’t get much sleep that night because I was anxiously waiting for Tyler to call me back but he never did.
     
    Over the next few weeks, things didn’t change much between Donny and me except that we were a lot more affectionate before we got into bed than we ever were before. Apparently, we’d had a pretty good foundation for the official relationship we’d started less than a month ago.
     
    The thing was, I couldn’t get that phone call out of my head and it was driving me crazy, just like Donny said it would. Every chance I got, I would check my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed another call from Tyler. Even at work when I wasn’t supposed to have my phone on, I would sneak away to check it. I could tell that Donny noticed my new obsessive habit, but he didn’t call me out on it even though I was sure he wanted to.
     
    It was never my intention to make him feel like he wasn’t a priority to me, because of course he was, but seriously, that one missed call from Tyler had thrown me completely off balance. I had even tried to call him back again a couple of times, late at night when I was so desperate to hear his voice that it didn’t matter if he answered or not, I still got his voicemail which was so snarkily him.
     
    That all led me to where I was at that particular moment—hiding in the bathroom in my own apartment, phone in hand, ready to hit send again but every rational part of my head was screaming at me not to do it. Leave him alone, Alex. If he wanted to talk to you, he would have called you back or answered one of your other calls. It’s one in the morning; he’s sleeping. Stop this nonsense now! Go back to bed where your very loving boyfriend is right now.
     
    Then I had my heart telling me to do the complete opposite. Call him, Alex! If he didn’t want to talk to you in the first place he wouldn’t have called you! He’s just as scared as you are and maybe that’s why he isn’t answering. Maybe you just need to be persistent and he’ll answer one of these times. Call him, now! Do it!
     
    And of course my heart won out over my head; it usually