Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
After a long pause, she asked, “Do I need to come down there? I’m in L.A. working on a movie, but they’re not shooting any of my scenes tomorrow. I could catch a plane in the morning.”
That’s all I needed. Consolation from the woman who stole the love of my fucking life. I hacked out something that I hoped could be taken for a laugh, but was actually closer to a sob. “Wonder what your fiancé would have to say about that.”
“You know good and well what would happen. He’d beat your ass.” She laughed softly. “But I won’t tell him if you won’t. Remember what happened the last time you made him jealous?”
I snatched the phone off the coffee table and clicked off before she could finish. No reason for my friends to know anything about my gay summer affair now that it was over for good. If we’d still been together, it might have been different, but I wasn’t about to out the two of us after the fact.
A couple of seconds later, the phone started ringing. Vanessa calling back. I hit ignore. She tried back once more, but I hit ignore again. Then the phone was silent.
My friends were sitting on the sofa in shock. Braden rubbed his palms up and down the tops of his thighs, and Trey had his hand over his mouth. Finally, Braden spoke.
“You sneaky bastard. That’s who you’ve been pining away for? No fucking wonder. When were you going to tell us?”
“Never,” I said simply. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I just want you to call her back and tell her to come down here,” Trey said. “So we can meet her.”
“Not happening.” I tucked my phone into the pocket of my jeans and hurried down the hall to my bedroom. I heard footsteps behind me, saw Trey’s shadow on the wall as he followed me in. I tried to close the door before he could enter, but he stopped it with his hand.
“Talk to me, man.” He stood in the dim light with his hands on his hips, his lips drawn into a thin line. “We can’t help you if you won’t let us.”
I let out a high-pitched laugh, and I could feel myself teetering on the verge of confessing everything. It would be easier, wouldn’t it? What would they say if they knew everything? They’d probably kick me out of the house, or at the very least look at me differently.
“You can’t help me,” I said. “No one can. I’m about as fucked as I can be.”
“Jamie, there are other fish in the sea. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s true. You can’t let one chick destroy you. She was talking about cheating on her boyfriend with you, for Christ’s sake. Do you want to be involved with someone like that? If she’ll cheat on him, she’ll cheat on you.”
“Don’t call him that. Don’t call him her boyfriend, because I don’t think I can stand it.” Somehow fiancé sounded better. Less personal. Because he was my boyfriend.
Mine.
“Fiancé,” Trey amended, looking puzzled. “But it’s really irrelevant what anybody calls the guy. He’s a schmuck anyway, because she’s going to cheat on him. Cheaters cheat.”
“Nobody cheats on Michael Kage,” I said darkly. “He’s not a schmuck. He’s perfect.”
Trey scoffed. “Come on, Jamie. Don’t sell yourself short.”
I dove onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow, breathing in the April fresh scent of fabric softener. It was so frustrating that Trey didn’t understand what was really going on, and dammit, I couldn’t tell him. He and I were carrying on two different conversations. We might as well not even be talking.
“Hey, man,” Braden said from the doorway. “Uh, we’re here for you or whatever, you know?”
I nearly laughed at his discomfort. Braden trying to be sensitive was like Genghis Khan trying to be merciful. It went against the laws of everything that was. And still, it touched me. My friends had my back, and they were proving that to me. If everything else fell apart, and it looked like that was exactly what was happening, at least I had them in my corner.
That Friday, Braden cornered me coming out of the hall bathroom Trey and I shared. “Hey, man. We’re all going out to the Collegiate tonight. Get dressed and come with us.”
I was already shaking my head before he’d finished. “I’m just gonna hang around here and get some homework done. Thanks for asking, though.”
“Thanks for asking?” He stared at me in disbelief. “Thanks for asking? Who are you, Miss Manners? Get your fucking skinny jeans on and let’s go.”
That made me laugh despite myself. “You want me to wear skinny jeans? You must be desperate.”
“I am,” he admitted. “Desperate to get my friend out of the house before he rots.”