Page 12 of Forever Fighting
I roll my eyes at myself. Of course he didn’t come to Roman’s. Fucking coward. He didn’t come to my parents’ place either. I spoke to them for over an hour after dinner about everything. I feel terrible about the money my parents are losing with this because deposits are nonrefundable. My dad won the lottery years before I was born and he’s a doctor and my mom’s a nurse. They’re not poor, but we’re not even in the same stratosphere as the Fritzes, or even the Monroes—which is what Hayes is—and the Reyeses—which is what Quinn and Crew are. Their dads were part of a very successful band called Central Square years and years ago.
I’m simply Braelyn from the block who ended up besties with a crowd of billionaires. Even Adam comes from crazy money, and his family had me sign a prenup bigger than Texas. Our condo was his, which officially makes me homeless and mooching off my best friend.
My dad told me he didn’t care about the money. He just wants me to be happy and with the right man. A man who won’t take me for granted. A man who will be devoted and love me endlessly. Sigh.
“Yep,” I answer, lying in the giant bed in the whitest bedroom on the planet, staring out across the inky water toward the Boston skyline beyond. “I caught him fucking Corporate Barbie in our bed.”
Skylar whistles through her teeth, only to yawn again.
It brings an inadvertent smile to my lips. “Tired, cupcake?”
“Dude, the first trimester of pregnancy can go fuck itself. Anyway, I slammed the door in his face and called you.”
“Thanks for that. He’s been blowing up my phone every five minutes or so. I’m debating blocking him, but I have to get my things from the apartment first. He can keep my Egyptian cotton sheets, though.”
“That asshole. What a fucking asshole!” she yells, indignant on my behalf, and I love her for it. “I’m so sorry, Brae. I wish I had kicked him in the nuts before I shut the door on him. Are you okay or is that a dumb question?”
I release a heavy, silent breath. “Dumb question, but Roman did make me pecan bars and ice cream, so I’m not as bad as I could be. Ask me again next week and every week after until I eventually say yes.”
“You will, you know. Say yes one day, that is. If I can be okay after Josh, you can be okay after Adam because we’re fierce bitches like that.”
I shift onto my side, propping myself up with my elbow. “Amen and hallelujah. I’m just not feeling all that fierce yet, but you keep preaching because it’s good for both of us to hear.”
“I’m happy now, and I’m positive you will be again with or without a guy. Should I burn your wedding invitation?”
“Go for it—” My phone beeps with an incoming call, and I laugh. “He must have gone to Quinn’s too. Hold on, I’ll merge her in.” I don’t wait for Skylar to reply as I click over to answer, except Quinn starts talking before I can.
“What the hell is happening? I came home from the hospital to find Adam at my doorstep looking like a broken-down poodle.”
I cough at the description. What a loser. “Yeah. He cheated, and I walked in on it. Hold on, I’m going to merge you in with Sky.”
I hit the button on my screen, and then we’re all there together. “Did you slam the door in his face too?” I ask Quinn.
“No,” she says. “He was outside my door. But I hip-checked him out of the way and told him if he’s searching for you here, he did something very wrong, and even if I knew where you were, I wouldn’t tell him.”
“He’s so dumb,” Skylar states. “Why would he come to our places when he knows where you are?”
“Because you know he wasn’t going to come here,” I tell them. “He’s too chickenshit and wants to protect his pretty-boy face from Roman’s fist.” I exhale a weary breath and climb off the bed to sit in the chair by the window. I’m restless as all hell.
“I’m glad Roman is on your side with this,” Sky expresses. “I’d hate to have to kick my cousin’s ass.”
“He’d lose a kidney if he weren’t, but yeah, me too,” I agree. My voice drops as my tears threaten again. “How do I make sense of this? We were together for three years. Best friends for thirteen. We lost Nash together. We’ve been through thick and thin. We were planning a life together. I just can’t wrap my head around it. The betrayal I feel is absolutely suffocating.”
“I’m not sure you can make sense of this,” Quinn says. “And I think your feelings are completely valid and spot on. I’m in shock too. We all thought you were the endgame couple. The relationship goals. Sometimes people aren’t who you thought they were, and we don’t know until fate steps in to show us because they’ve been so good at hiding it.”
“I guess. I just keep thinking that if I hadn’t caught that train, I would have missed it. I would have gotten home twenty minutes later and never have known.”
“But you do know, and now you can start your life over again,” Skylar states emphatically. “You didn’t marry him. Think of the mess that would have brought.”
I laugh lightly. “You mean like what you’re going through?”
“Different,” she tells me. “Aston and I got married out ofconvenience and it turned into more. You were going to marry for love from the start.”
“Whatever. Love shmuve. Saying yes to him when he proposed was the easiest thing I’ve ever done, and look where that got me.” I pause for a moment, lick my lips, and say, “Roman wants to take me to Vegas next week for his restaurant opening and then on to Mexico after.”
“What?” both say in unison. “How does that work?” Skylar finishes.
“He has to go for work, and I’d be tagging along, I guess. Roman said he’d take care of the arrangements and that it’s a business expense, which is code for he won’t let me pay.” I brush my hair back from my face and draw my knees up to my chest on the chair. “Am I crazy if I go?”
