I scooted closer to her. Everything she’d said was true, and while I didn’t want to give in to her and tell her everything was all right, I knew she was hurting badly. Maybe being nice to people was going to destroy me one day, but I didn’t want to be rude.
She might’ve deserved backtalk, but it didn’t make me feel good. I had done some pretty shitty things too.
So, I wrapped my arm around her and pushed my feelings aside. She rested her head on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Mia. I’m so sorry. I was jealous. I didn’t want you to take him away from me. I’ve completely freaking crushed your life completely.”
“You didn’t ruin my life.” Maybe made it a lot more difficult, but notruined.
Michael wouldn’t let anything wreck us, and I was so fucking happy about that. I had a man who’d be here for me through everything.
After a few moments, I pulled away and rested my hands in my lap, rubbing them against my sweaty thighs.
Melissa glanced down with wide eyes. “He proposed to you?”
My heart raced again, and I hesitantly nodded. While I expected her to flip out, to call me some kind of name, or to blame me for the falling-out between her and her father, she smiled tensely and nodded back to me.
“He told me he wanted to spend his life with you.”
“He did?”
“Yes.” She glanced down, then back up. “He’s a really good person, Mia. I don’t want to see him hurt again. After what happened with my mom, he was a complete mess. He deserves to be happy …” She paused. “And so do you.”
I sat there in disbelief. Melissa wasn’t throwing a fit about this, and for the first time in a long time, I thought that maybe we could be friends again—real and true friends. Nothing would be the same between us, but we could still do things together. And hopefully, this pregnancy would calm Melissa the party girl down a bit and ground her in reality.
After sitting for a few moments in silence, I inched closer to her. “Do you want to go dress shopping with me, my mom, and Serena on Saturday morning?” I asked, hoping to lighten the mood. I didn’t know how she’d respond or what she’d say, but I wanted her to feel okay with me again.
“I have to work Saturday morning,” she said, the corner of her lips turning down. She paused, as if she didn’t know what she should say next, but then she said, “But I’m free later on. We could go out to eat after your day of shopping?”
A smile found its way onto my lips, and I nodded. “That would be perfect.”
Michael walked out onto the deck with a cup of coffee and leaned over it, dressed only in a pair of sweatpants. “Melissa,” he said, taken aback when he saw us. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Oh my God,” Melissa whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She stood up and hurried over to the deck, staring up at him and his swollen black eye. “Did Mason do that to you?” She parted her lips and pressed them back together, as if she had more to say but didn’t knowwhatto say orhowto say it.
Michael grimaced and nodded inside. I hopped up from the pool and followed Melissa into the house and up to the kitchen.
“What do you girls feel like eating?” he asked, pulling out pancake and waffle mix.
“Dad,” Melissa said, shaking her head and stopping him. “Did Mason do that to you?”
Michael looked at me, then back at her. “Yes.”
From the look on his face, I could tell that he was torn on what to say next. He had told me that he tried to get it through Melissa’s head that Mason was no good and that she didn’t care. He probably didn’t want to waste his breath, trying again.
A tear slid down her cheek, and she collapsed into one of the chairs with her head in her hands. “I hate him so much,” she said, voice trembling.
I grabbed the box from Michael and nudged him over to her.
“I can’t believe how big of a fool I’ve been.”
Michael sat next to her and cleared his throat. “I love you, Melissa, but I need you to know that he’s not welcome here. Not after what he tried to do to Mia. I don’t want him in this house—ever.”
Melissa wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “I broke up with him.”
Michael froze. “You broke up with him?”
She nodded, and I gave Michael the smallest smile. As bad as it sounded, that black eye wasn’t for nothing. It’d solidified how shitty Mason was and how terribly he’d treat Melissa if she stayed with him.
