Chapter 6: The Breakup

*[Ahhh, their hands touched! Caleb, are you dumb? Hold Riley’s hand already!]*

*[Wow, Riley’s leaning on his shoulder! This block of wood finally gets it!]*

*[Ladies, when is the star player breaking up with the side chick? I can’t wait!]*

*[Soon, soon. The star player’s already sure about the main girl—it won’t be long.]*

I’d just stepped out of the bathroom, tossing my face towel aside, when I saw this string of comments.

At the same time, the keypad lock at the door beeped.

Caleb walked in.

He looked like he had something to say, fidgeting with his collar as he glanced at me.

He hesitated in the doorway, rubbing at the back of his neck like he was thirteen again, trying to come clean about a broken window.

Under the dim light, I sat on the sofa, patted the cushion, and the cat jumped onto my lap. The cat—old, orange, and cranky—purred softly as it settled, filling the silence.

Caleb sat down beside me, hands clasped, head bowed.

After a long hesitation, he finally said, "Natalie, I have something to tell you…"

Of course I knew what he wanted to say.

So I laughed and spoke first: "Let’s not drag this out, Caleb. We both know where this is going. Let’s break up."

Since, after winning the championship, he couldn’t wait to toss me aside, I wasn’t about to let him have the last word.

*[Did the side chick take the wrong medicine? She actually dumped the star player!]*

*[Well, that’s good—now she won’t get in the way of the leads anymore.]*

*[But why does she get to say it? Being with Caleb was already out of her league. How dare she?]*

*[Honestly, it was the star player who cheated first. He’s the one who’s trash…]*

At least there are some sane voices in the comments.

I came back to myself, looking at Caleb, who seemed stunned.

He swallowed whatever he was about to say, composed himself, and replied, "Breaking up is fine."

"But Natalie, can I ask why?"

My hand paused as I stroked the cat. I didn’t answer. Instead, I picked up my phone and handed it to him. The phone felt heavy in my palm, like I was passing him a loaded gun.

In the ten minutes before he got home, several trending searches had quietly climbed to the top:

#Caleb relationship#

#Caleb went on a date with Riley after winning#

#Riley didn’t deny their relationship on stream#

#Insider says Caleb is negotiating with Silver Arrow club#

"Because you cheated. Caleb, you’re a public figure. Showing up so publicly with another girl—it can’t be an accident. So stop pretending. I’m guessing what you wanted to say was break up, right?"

Caleb slowly let go of his shirt. The air carried his woody cologne. He scrolled irritably through his phone, raking his hand through his carefully styled hair.

He probably hadn’t expected the leaks to trend so quickly. He’d planned to break up with me first, so when I saw all this later, he wouldn’t look like the heartless one, and could silence me with a ‘we already broke up.’

"Natalie, I just met Riley. This time we went out just as friends. It’s not about Riley, okay? That’s not why I want to break up."

He said it with the kind of wide-eyed innocence that might have worked on me freshman year, but not now.

I took a deep breath, lifted the cat off my lap, and set it on the floor.

"It doesn’t matter who it’s about anymore. Betrayal is betrayal."

Caleb, frustrated: "Why do you have to be so harsh?"

Harsh?

If I hadn’t seen the comments, there really weren’t any intimate photos of them out there. He might have gotten away with it.

After a while, seeing my expression hadn’t changed, Caleb said, "Forget it. No matter what I say, you won’t believe me. Here, take this."

He sounded tired—older than his years, like all the bravado from earlier had finally run dry.