She’d heard a few things through the grapevine—that we’d abruptly canceled the wedding, that there were rumors of infidelity, and now today’s video—and I filled her in on the rest.
“Wow,” she said when I was done. “I always knew she was a piece of work, but that’s a lot even for her.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.” She grimaced as if it was painful to even mention. “I didn’t want to interfere with your relationship, but I was worried. The way she had you under her thumb and… It was all just not good.”
My shoulders slumped. “Yeah, in hindsight, I can see a lot of that.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Hindsight, 20/20…” She rolled her hand.
I laughed halfheartedly. “No kidding.”
She chewed her lip, furrowing her brow as she eyed me. From her expression, I had a feeling she wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure how I’d take it. Or how to word it so it didn’t come out dickish.
I sighed. “Whatever it is—just ask. I know how the situation looks.”
Bree hesitated for another moment. Then she took a deep breath. “The guy you were with—he’s the one she cheated with, right?”
I nodded.
“And now you’re there with him. I guess… I mean,areyou, you know,withhim?” Her brow pinched tighter. I could hear what she wasn’t saying: Didyou cheat on her with him?
A fair question, I supposed. We’d known a couple in college who’d cheated on each other with the same person.
“We aren’t—I’m not with him. We’re…” I stared out at the lake as I tried to gather my thoughts. It wasn’t even the weed jumbling it all right now; I just wasn’t sure how to explain what we were doing. Or what Iwantedus to be doing. “When Selena’s dad said I could come here instead of going on the honeymoon, I asked Jesse if he wanted to come along. He’s been putting me up ever since I left Selena, and he’s been through hell over this too, you know?”
Bree nodded.
“And now that we’re here…” My shoulders sagged as I pushed out an exhausted breath. “I don’t know. The thing is, we’ve gotten pretty close. And we hooked up a few days ago, but then I pulled back because I don’t want to use him as a rebound, you know?”
She nodded again, not seeming to be the least bit surprised by anything I was telling her. What could I say? She knew me.
I went on, “Then this morning, after she stopped recording, I told him I’d handle it. Sent him back inside so he didn’t have to face her.”
“Bet he was relieved,” Bree said.
“Probably. He still feels guilty over being her sidepiece even though he had no idea. So I just—I didn’t want to pile on him, you know? I could handle her.”
“And did you?”
“I did. I told her we were done. She tried telling me that we could start over, and she said Jesse never meant anything to her.”
Bree’s eyes widened and her lips parted. “Wow. So she was just using him?”
“Or lying to me so I’d think they were just screwing.” I shrugged. “Who knows? What’s bugging me isn’t what she said—it’s what I said.”
Her eyebrows climbed higher. “What did you say?”
“I told her…” I swallowed hard. “I told her he means something tome.”
“Oh. Whoa.”
“Yeah. And it just kind of came out in the moment, but…” My throat tightened, and I had no idea how to finish that thought.
“It came out,” she said gently, “but you realized you meant it?”
I winced. “I think so, yeah.”
