“I think we do.”
“And say she was to walk past you, hand in hand with someone else. How would that make you feel?”
“Like knocking every single one of his teeth out one by one, until he’s unconscious and physically cannot walk away with my girl,” I say through gritted teeth as my jaw ticks, my knuckles clenched shut. Harley’s face is obviously entertained by my response.
“And what if she told you that this new guy made her happy? That you should leave her be?” His voice is calmer now, less matter of fact.
I pause, staring at my glass, picturing Jenna genuinely happy with someone else. While my heart breaks knowing I’m not the one who made her feel that way, I'm relieved knowing she got the ending she should have. “I would tell her she deserves all the happiness in the world. And if she’s happy with someone who isn’t me, then I would learn to live without her.” The confession makes my stomach flip and my chest constrict, because her happiness means more to me than my own. And while that may be the truth, it’s also how I know for sure that she’s who I’m always going to belong to.
Even if she doesn’t want me.
“That, my friend, sounds a lot like love to me.” He raises his empty glass to cheers, and I raise mine, gently tapping the rim.
“Women,” I say with a huff.
“Will never be able to fully understand them, but I refuse to live without mine.”
“Cheers to that.”
Chapter forty-two
Jenna
Cassandra and her sistershave spent the last two nights at my place.
It’s apparently something they do regularly, only this is my first time in attendance.
It took a while for them to talk me down from my confrontation with Mara, but I was more destroyed over ending things with Cole.
My head was all over the place, my heart numb, and I didn’t care to give either of them the benefit of the doubt.
She slept in his bed in practically nothing, and greeted me wearing his unbuttoned shirt.
It gave me déjà vu of the night he and I met. Only, she looked a lot better in his clothes than I ever will.
I hate that my mind still travels down that path even after all this time, but I can’t help it.
“Pleaseput on something funny, I beg of you,” Olive complains, throwing her head back onto the cushion behind it. “I cannot keep watching this mind-numbing reality show.”
“How about She’s the Man?” Cassandra asks, and I shake my head while snatching the remote control from her hand.
“No.” I flick through our options, my expression blank while I refuse to tell themwhyI don’t want to watch my favorite movie for the thousandth time. “This will do.” I press play on Billy Madison, ignoring the ache leeching onto my skin, bleeding me dry.
Three pairs of eyes have watched my every move since they arrived at my place, yet none of them is ballsy enough to spit it out.
“Will one of you just say it, please?” I sigh, pausing the TV, watching as the three of them eye each other off, their gazes collectively landing on me.
They might’ve welcomed me into this family as part of the Herring girls’ group, but I will never be able to communicate with them without speaking like they’ve just done.
“Have you spoken to him?” Cassandra asks, biting the bullet, and I shake my head twice in response.
“If you asked if I’dheardfrom him, my answer would be different.” I reach for my phone beside me, unlock it, and throw it into her lap for her to look through. “Because he’s called and texted me a bunch of times, but eventually gave up.”
“Harley said he crashed at our place last night,” Cassandra tells me, and my heart collides with my rib cage, knowing he didn’t spend a second night in a row with her.
“Why didn’t you reply?” She raises a brow, giving me a stern look, before throwing her phone to Lizzie, who reads the messages, then passes it to Olive to do the same.
“Because I don’t need to hear his reasonswhy. I don’t need to hear how sorry he is, I don’t need to hear him tell me I’vegot it all wrong, and that it wasn’t what it looked like, and I sure as hell don’t need to hear his voice. Because I know if I do, I’ll make up excuses as to why Ishouldbe able to fall for the most unattainable man in America. Why does he get to break my heart one last time?” My lip trembles as I snatch my phone out of Olive’s hands, lock it, and place it down on the couch beside me. “If what happened last night gets out to the press, could you imagine what it would do to my business? The one I worked so hard to build?” I rise from my seat, frustrated that I’ve let it get this far.
