Chapter 3

Two days flew by. On the last night with Sunny, I curled up on the living room carpet, holding him close, not wanting to go to sleep.

Bored, I scrolled through my social media feed and noticed Stanley and Susan had left new comments under Sunny's photo.

Susan: [Stanley, why no new pics of Sunny today?]

Stanley replied: [He's out playing.]

I read their comments out loud in a wickedly sarcastic voice.

I turned and saw Sunny staring at me, all confused. I quickly covered her ears and tried to brainwash her, "Sunny, don't listen. I was acting possessed for a moment."

Looking at their comments, I felt a wave of melancholy. With how often they interacted, it was only a matter of time before they ended up together. Susan clearly adored Sunny. After I returned him tomorrow, it wouldn't be easy to see him again.

After all, if Stanley and Susan got together, my showing up to visit the dog all the time would look like I was finding excuses to keep lingering feelings alive.

I thought about just keeping Sunny and not giving him back. But Stanley had got a better situation and could spend way more time with him. Plus, I'd passed the interview, and my schedule was about to get packed.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'd be flying to Jelasburg University to host the Campus Cup, so there was no way I'd have time for Sunny.

Honestly, sneaking over to take Sunny was me acting on impulse. Turned out, Stanley's parents weren't entirely wrong for calling me reckless.

*****

Jelasburg wasn't far from Amiston. It was a two-hour train ride. But with the Campus Cup tomorrow and pro players coming for an exhibition match, all the pre-game interactions needed to be rehearsed this afternoon.

So I packed up early, grabbed Sunny, and showed up at Stanley's door.

When Stanley opened the door and spotted my suitcase, his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help grinning. "Hey, up so early. Did you get breakfast?"

I blinked, surprised by how excited he was.

"No, gotta catch a train," I said, handing him Sunny's leash and keeping my tone as neutral as possible. "I'm going out of town. My train's at eleven, so I'm dropping Sunny off early."

He froze as he reached for the leash. "Out of town?"

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"No idea yet."

He took the leash, his body stiff, eyes locked on me with words right on the tip of his tongue. Sunny wandered between us, nuzzling my pant leg one moment, then trotting back to Stanley, like he couldn't decide who he wanted to stick with.

"Well. I'll go," I said, bending down to give Sunny one last scratch behind the ears before turning to pull my suitcase along.

"Wait a second," Stanley called out from behind me.

I turned around and saw Stanley crouched down, holding Sunny back as he tried to run to me, while his other hand rummaged through the shoe cabinet drawer.

He stood up and reached out to me, a key in his palm. I recognized it instantly. It was the one I'd left on the entryway shoe cabinet the day I moved out.

"Here, take it."

"No, I don't want it."

"Take it," he repeated, his tone more insistent, tinged with a plea.

I glanced at the key, then met his eyes.

"Stanley," I said, taking a steady breath. "We broke up. Remember?"

"I know."

"So, what's the key for, then?"

He paused for a moment. "It means you can come by whenever you want," he said, weighing each word.

"To see Sunny?"

"Or for anything at all."

I stared at the key in his hand, feeling like my insides were crawling with a thousand ants. What was he getting at? I was the one who called it quits, but he agreed without a second thought.

His first love showed up. He was already plotting to break things off, and his parents never liked me anyway.

"I don't want it," I said.

Stanley's fingers tightened around the key, and it rattled a bit in his hand.

"Olivia, are you really not coming back?" His voice was sad and a little shaky.

I refused the key and left his question hanging. With my suitcase in tow, I walked away without a second thought.