Dear Ex-wife Marry Me by Twin Bridge

Tyler spent another day holed up in his apartment. It wasn't until the following afternoon that he finally returned to Greenfield.

His phone was flooded with messages from friends, all asking why he'd suddenly disappeared from the party scene. Some were fishing for gossip, wanting to know what was really going on between him and Athena.

The moment he saw her name, a wave of anger surged inside him.

He took a deep breath and deleted the message, refusing to see those six letters staring back at him.

But in the dead of night, when sleep slipped through his fingers, his stubborn resentment fermented into something deeper-a raw, aching longing.

He woke from another restless dream, his body tense with need. Reaching for his phone, he scrolled until he found his old chat with Athena.

The conversation was frozen, stuck where it had ended-the day he'd landed in

the police station. From that moment on, Athena hadn't sent a single word.

Of course not. The birthmark was gone. He was nothing like her first love anymore. Why would she care about him now?

Tyler rolled onto his side, a bitter pang twisting in his chest.

What was so great about Kerwin, anyway? Back in the day, Tyler had been something, too. Top of his class, the guy everyone secretly crushed on. If Athena had met him then, she would've been just as infatuated-maybe even more.

He started mentally comparing himself to Kerwin as he was in high school, but he knew the truth: you only bother comparing yourself to someone when you care too much.

cared, the more

the more she

opening and closing Athena's chat, over and over, until dawn crept into

crowded with messages. People kept asking why he'd vanished

had it been,

couldn't remember anymore. Since that day, everything

Bert showed up at his door and practically dragged him out

a drink with me tonight. You wouldn't believe the rumors going around people are saying you got played by some woman and now you're moping around

coming. After all

and let them see you. Shut

on the sofa, clutching a glass of

are you so hung up about? Even if it was a bad breakup it's beenovera month

took a slow sip of water, his lips moving like he wanted to speak. It took a moment before he finally asked,

Facebook, hadn't messaged him, hadn't shown up anywhere he might see her. Where had she

Had she left town?

together

a second, Bert didn't know who "she" was. When it

kidding me.

was

understood why Tyler had been shadow of himself. Maybe Elsa wa right maybe Tyler really had been a stand-in, and he just couldn't accept