“Oh my god, itisyou. I can’t believe it.” He pulls me into a tight hug and rocks me side to side. “I can’t tell you howmuchI’ve missed you.” He puts a hand on each shoulder and holds me away from him, studying me. “You’ve gone back to your natural color, I see,” he says with the tiniest hint of disappointment. He never was a big fan of my red hair. “I always thought you looked more elegant with dark hair, but I can see why you like the copper. You look so youthful and vibrant. And your tits look fantastic with the extra weight. Turn around and show me that ass, girl. I bet it’s phenomenal.”
I choke out a laugh at his mention of my tits and ass, but not before an irritated look crosses Archer’s face. What’s that about?
He interrupts Webster’s diatribe when he sees I’m not even trying to defend myself. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he says, shuffling Lincoln to one arm so he can reach out for a handshake. “Archer Fade. And you are?”
Webster does a double take between me, Archer, and Lincoln before his face splits into a huge grin. “Oh, you’re cute,” he says to Archer before leaning close and whispering to me, “He’s cute. Is this him?” I pull my lips between my teeth and nod, not sure how this is going to go. “It is? Oh, that’s so exciting. Hi, I’m Webster Day.” He shakes Archer’s hand and offers no further explanation.
“Webster is my ex-fiancé,” I tell Archer, giving him a little context when I read the confusion on his features.
“And current and forever best friend.” Webster wraps his arms around me for another hug. “Oh, I’m so happy to finally see you again, babe. I can understand why you wanted space, but I’ve been a wreck without you.”
“We’re working our way back up to BFFs, Webster.” I chide. “I need a little time.”
He lets me go and smooths his shirt. “Yes, well. I know we’ll get back there eventually. I can be patient.” He smiles at me. “We were friends before we were anything else, remember?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course I remember. You marched up to me in my front yard the summer after third grade and forced me to let you style my Barbie dolls before you would play dolly dog wash with me.” I laugh at the memory. “I should have probably known then that we were destined for friendship only.”
“Hey. It’s not my fault you had terrible taste in fashion even then. Your dolls would have never gotten any customers if I hadn’t stepped in to help.” He gives my ugly Christmas sweater a sidelong glance, then smiles wistfully. “I am sorry for everything, though, Phoebe. I never meant for it to go as far as it did.”
“I know, Webster. You’ve told me approximately thirty-nine thousand times. I’m sorry, too. We both could have stopped it before it got that far. You weren’t the only one who knew we weren’t the right fit for each other.”
Archer looks between us, his brow furrowed in confusion. Just as he opens his mouth to ask the question I’m sure is on his mind, another man arrives, interrupting him before he has the chance.
“Second in line. You were right, babe. It was smart to come this early.” An attractive man joins our group, and he’s every bit as stylishly coiffed as Webster, but with darker hair that’s more slicked back and to the side than tousled.
“Frederick, there’s someone you need to meet.” Webster reaches out and wraps his hand around the newcomer’s fingers. “This ginger goddess is Phoebe Fox.”
Frederick’s eyes light up as a huge grin overtakes his face. “Phoebe! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you face to face. It’s like I know you already.” He drops Webster’s hand and wraps his arms around me. “This day keeps getting better and better.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I force out. Frederick’s hug is so tight it’s constricting my airflow. “And here I was thinking we’d only ever get to talk on the phone.”
“Speaking of the phone, I was actually going to call you later, because I wanted you to be the first to know,” Webster says, taking my hand and forcing Frederick to release me from his hug. “Frederick proposed to me last night, and I said yes.” He holds up his left hand and flashes a gold band with a single ruby embedded in the center.
My eyes widen as shock floods my system. He’s engaged again so soon? Though I suppose our engagement didn’t really count since he never actually wanted to marry a woman. And with how much he’s talked about Frederick over the last six months, I was pretty sure this was coming.
So what’s causing this ached in my chest?
I glance at Archer to see what he thinks of this revelation, only to see him staring back at me with sympathy in his eyes.
“Wow…I…Wow.” I struggle to find the right thing to say, but plaster a supportive smile on my face. Despite everything, I want Webster to be happy. “That’s amazing. Congratulations.”
“I know it’s fast,” Webster says. “Especially since it’s only been a year since you and I…well, you know.”
Concern colors Archer’s face and he mouths, “Are you okay?” All I can do is nod.
But am I okay?
I know I’m not in love with Webster. And I don’t begrudge him his happiness. In fact, I’m thrilled he’s found someone to love. And if I really think about it, he is my best friend. So what’s my issue?
I swallow a groan, disappointed in myself when it hits me: I’m jealous. I wanted to be the one to find someone first. I may have been having second thoughts of my own, but there was a small part of me that wanted to rub his face in my happiness because of how much it hurt when he left me at the altar. Now he’s gotten engaged first and robbed me of my chance to be petty, and it’s so damn…annoying. It should devastate me that the man I was going to marry is marrying someone else, but all I can manage is a little minor irritation.
But, despite how irritated it makes me, I’m not about to act like an asshole who can’t be happy for my best friend.
“Congratulations, you two. I’m so happy for you.” It’s my turn to wrap my arms around Webster. “Thank you for telling me before the gossip line got hold of it. You know they’re going to love having another reason to drag up their favorite story about how I turned you gay.”
Webster holds me tighter and laughs. “You and I both know you didn’t turn me gay, babe. I was always gay. I was just so platonically in love with you, not to mention more than a little afraid of what my family would say, that I wished I could be straight. I got carried away when I allowed it to go on for so long, and that was so, so wrong. I should have told you the truth.”
“Yeah, I know. But you know how the people back home love their gossip.”
