“I had a… moment with Seb yesterday,” I admit. Jade inhales sharply. “It kind of freaked me out, and I ended up at Alec’s apartment.”
“Wait, what kind of moment are we talking about here? Your usual bickering or asexy moment?”Jade asks, wriggling her eyebrows. She’s been hinting that there’s something between him and me for a while, and I was so insistent she was wrong. Great. Now I’m going to have to deal with her gloating about it.
“What do you think?” I ask with a side-eye glance.
“HA! Itoldyou. I knew there was something there! You little vixen!” Jade squeals gleefully.
“We’re all very impressed with your gift of foresight, but at the moment I am, in fact, still single, so maybe calm down the excitement,” I remind her.
“You’re right, you’re right, sorry. Tell me what happened after.”
“Funny story,” I say with a caustic laugh. “But it turns out Alec has a wife!”
The moment the words are out of my mouth, a tight lump forms in my throat. The corners of my eyes prickle, and I swallow hard, fighting against the swell of tears.
Jade doesn’t say anything. There’s a heavy, awful silence from her. It goes on so long that I glance over at her, seeing the shock on her face, her jaw gaping. And then…
“You have got to beFUCKING KIDDING ME!” Jade’s scream echoes through my living room. And through my skull.
I wince, dropping my bagel to cover my ears. “Inside voices,Jade! Please!”
Jade grabs a pillow off the couch and buries her face in it to scream. And even though the sound is muffled by the stuffing, it still reverberates painfully around in my skull, making me groan.
“Have mercy on my hangover, please,” I beg with a whimper. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“I’ll tell you who I’m about to kill…” Jade snarls, twisting the pillow violently in her hands.
“Yeah, I’d be happy to help you with that,” I say with a dry laugh. Even though I’m only kidding, deep down, I know we wouldn’t hesitate to kill for one another. And if I’m honest, a little spark lights up inside me at the idea of inflicting a bit of vengeful pain.
“It gets worse. I didn’t find out untilafterthe mind-blowing sex,” I tell her. “Just to really twist the knife. I opened a drawer, and boom! There it was: his wedding ring and a picture of his wife. And let me tell you, she’sstunning.Like,movie starstunning.Disgustinglypretty.”
Jade shakes her head. “Syd, I’m so sorry… I don’t even know what to say. I’mfurious. I knew they were into some shady business shit, but I didnotexpectthis.”
Neither did I. I take a big breath.
“I mean, that’s a part of it, too, isn’t it? I went into this so blindly, trusting they were telling me the truth about themselves. Even when you warned me about them!I feel like such an idiot.” I cover my face with my hands, sighing. “Was I just a joke to them? Just some side action they were toying with? I want to believe some of it was real, but how can I trust any of it now?”
“Hey, look at me.” I don’t. I drop my hands and glance at her out of the corner of my eye, picking up my bagel and curling my body over it. “You’re not an idiot. People breaking your trust is on them,not on you.”
“What’s that saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me?” I laugh, but there’s no humor in it. Only an anger so acidic it burns.
I bring the bagel to my lips again but can’t bring myself to take another bite. Jade leans over the table and opens the bottle of ginger ale, pressing it into my hand.
“Drink,” she orders.
I do. It’s cold and crisp, and sweet enough the sugar coats my tongue.
Jade lets out a long breath and rubs a hand over her face. “Look, I’m not going to lie. You’ve had a shit run of men lately. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re wonderful, Syd. And I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.” Her eyes are so sincere when she says it, there’s no doubt in my mind she means it.
“Thanks.” I give her a small smile. “I don’t deserve you, you know?”
“No one does,” Jade says sagely. “I’m perfect.”
“You really are. I love you.”
“To the moon and back,” Jade answers. Then she shoots me a considering look. “I think at least one of them cares about you, though. I don’t think your usually stoic doc is the type to show upoutside of our shop like that if he doesn’t care just a little. Maybe it’s not all bad.”
“Please tell me he isn’t still downstairs,” I say, my stomach sinking. I don’t think I can face him right now. Not after everything that happened.
