Page 105 of My Ex's Best Friend

I've never actually been here before.

"Wait, you're Jake, aren't you?" the woman says before I can say anything.

And then it clicks. "You're Ellie," I say. "Kiera talked about you."

She scowls, folding her arms in front of her chest. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk to her. Please, is she in there?"

"No, she isn't. And you should stay away from them for good."

"Ellie, is she okay? And the baby?"

"What do you want?"

Tears gather at the corner of my eyes. "I just made the worst mistake of my life.”

"You're just realizing it now?"

I shake my head. "I should have cut him off a long time ago."

"Yes, you sh—Him? Wait, what the hell are you talking about?"

"My friend Chris."

"You mean, Kiera's ex?" Ellie says. "Now what did he do?"

I give her a short rundown of everything that transpired after I left.

She claps her hand to her mouth. "Oh no. So, that was all just a misunderstanding?"

"Yes, and I didn't know that until a few hours ago. I need to talk to Kiera. Please."

"She's not here, Jake," Ellie says, taking a deep breath. "But I can tell you where she is."

26

KIERA

Moving back home with my parents might be the best decision that I've made in my adult life. I sat them down and told them the reason I had quit my job and moved home. They were understandably very confused at first since neither of them had any idea that I had reconnected with Jake or even the fact that I was actually working for him.

They were very understanding and supportive about the whole thing. Although my mother did insist on going to the Bennett house and having "a talk" with Jake's parents.

That's the absolute last thing I want to happen.

I made the decision to keep him away from my baby, and I intend to keep it that way. I won't let his cheating, lying shadow fall upon my sweet baby.

The door opens as I'm thumbing through my dog-eared copy of Persuasion.

Mom peeks in, a bowl in her hand. “Am I disturbing you?"

I sit up straighter. She comes over to help me, fussing with pillows.

“Mom, I’m okay,” I say.

“I know you are,” she says. “I like taking care of you. And my grandbaby.”

She takes a seat on the duvet opposite to me. It’s nice to talk about the baby outside of my relationship with Jake. My Mom accompanied me to my first scan last week where I saw my baby for the first time. He was little more than a peanut, but as I watched it on the screen, inside me, everything just made that more real.

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