“Unlike you?” I bite back, throwing most of my coffee in the nearby trash can. I walk toward my car.
Teddy trails behind me. “I love you. He just likes fucking fans.”
I pause, sinking my fingernails into my palms, and take a shaky breath. He smiles. He doesn’t know I’m about to snap. “Go to hell and stay there.” I turn my back on him.
Teddy cuts me off. “Look at this.” He shoves his phone under my nose. It’s a picture of Sully and Gigi. They’re somewhere dark, but I can see they’re close, too close.
“He’s with her. She’s his type. What does that make you?” Pity drips from his voice.
Confused. Lost. Hurt. But I’ll never admit that to Teddy.
“I don’t believe you. You think showing me this terribly lit picture will send me into your arms?” I push past him and don’t stop walking.
“Text me when you realize I’m right!” Teddy shouts.
I clench my teeth to keep from shouting back obscenities. Hot tears slip down my cheeks, and I wipe them away before anyone sees. Sullywouldn’t be with Gigi. He said he wasn’t. I want to believe him—I do—but the sting in my chest says I’m scared. Scared that I’m wrong. Scared I’ll get burned again. I might be falling for Sully…or maybe I’m free-falling into something that’ll leave me shattered.
37
WhenIarrivehome,Alice is cooking hamburger patties while Emily prepares a Caesar salad. They’re laughing and singing along with Taylor Swift until I close the front door. Someone cuts the music, and the apartment becomes uncomfortably quiet.
“Sorry…” I say, rounding the kitchen table to see them past the wall. “I’ll be in my room. Continue your date.” I offer an awkward smile and turn toward the hallway.
“Wait,” Emily says. I stop and glance over my shoulder. “You two need to work this out.” She gestures between Alice and me. “Best friends shouldn’t give each other cold shoulders. That’s how I lost mine, and I wish someone would’ve told me to kill my stupid pride and just talk to her. Maybe we’d still be friends.” Emily lifts a shoulder as hurt etches across her face.
Emily grabs a paper towel off the roll and wipes her hands on it, stepping out of our mini kitchen. “The salad is finished. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She kisses a stunned Alice on the lips.
The kiss snaps Alice back to life. “Babe, you don’t need to go. We can—”
“It’s okay. I’m not watching a friendship explode if I can help it.”
Alice nods, giving in. They kiss again, more passionately. Alice squeezes Emily’s ass. “See you later.”
Emily offers me a wave and walks out the door.
Alice turns her attention to the hamburger patties, flipping them and adding pepper.
“Well,” I say, rocking back and forth on my feet. “Guess we should address the elephant in the room.”
Alice lifts her gaze and then glues them to the burgers, adding too much salt. “You mean my stuffed elephant, Blueberry?”
That was a curveball I didn’t see coming.
“Umm…what?” I say, a laugh slips from my lips.
She gestures behind me. I turn to see a little stuffed elephant on the kitchen table. “Ah. He’s cute. From Emily?”
“Yeah. She won him from a claw machine at The Rainbow Pony.”
An awkward silence threatens to take over. I sigh, pouring my heart out. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. I know it’s not your fault…” I take a breath while digging tickets out of my purse. “And I got you something to make up for it.”
She walks over and accepts the tickets. Her eyes widen when she reads “Mean Girls” written in bold on the top. “Oh my God! You didn’t have to but thank you!” She crushes me in a hug. “All’s forgiven and forgotten. Okay? I’m not losing my BFF over this crap.”
I hug her back. “Good. Because I need you.”
She pulls away and brushes my hair from my face to meet my gaze. “What happened?”
“So much. Do you want me to start with me answering the phone, thinking it was you, but it was Sully, or how my evil ex ambushed me?”
