Page 92 of My Ex's Best Friend

"What did you think you were doing in there?" Henry says.

"I don't know," I say honestly.

“I’ll tell you what, you almost assaulted someone for no apparent reason.”

I look away.

"You need to clean up your act, dude." He walks to the edge of the sidewalk and calls me a taxi and ushers me inside.

He leans by the side of the door. "We're too old for this shit. You can't keep messing up like this because of a breakup. You need to clear your head and figure out a way to get through to Kiera. Getting into bar fights with randos is not going to help you."

"I know."

Henry's face softens. "I know what you're going through, man. I wish I could help; I really do. But this is something you have to work through by yourself."

As the cab pulls away, I take my phone out.

I gave up way too easily this time. I need to find out why she left, why she hasn’t contacted me ever since. This isn’t college. She’s pregnant with my child, and there’s no way she can shut the door on my face like that.

I call her. It connects, which means I’m not blocked anymore. My heart soars. She’s going to pick up.

But the phone rings for a few times only to go straight to voicemail.

For some reason, Chris's words have gotten under my skin. But it can't be possible. Kiera is not a diabolical person. She couldn't have possibly done this to get back at me.

And the look on her face when I was holding her in my arms couldn't be faked. There was love in her eyes for me. Even though she never said it back, there was no doubt in my mind that Kiera loved me.

Why, then, had she left me? Is this really her twisted way of getting back at me for what I did to her all those years ago? Was getting pregnant not part of the plan? Is that why she had left?

The questions are making me insane until, at some point, my head begins to pound. I've barely slept for more than two hours at a stretch at night.

I always wake up to a nightmare, and it's always the same thing—something horrible happening to her and the baby. And when I wake up in the cold and empty bed, the nightmares become just more real.

I need Kiera back in my life. Now I just need to figure out how to do that.

23

KIERA

"I thought I got your address wrong," Tammy says when she steps off the elevator.

I shake my head. "No, I switched apartments a few weeks ago."

"Is that why you haven't been picking up our Facetime calls?" Ellie says. "I mean, I get it, looking for a new place to live in Boston must be a nightmare."

"Kind of." I feel a stab of guilt for lying to them.

Tammy whistles under her breath. "Well, you definitely upgraded. The place looks great."

"It's the same rent as my last place," I say.

"Really? Then why were you looking for a new place?" Ellie says.

The lies are catching up to me. My friends know me all too well. The only reason I've avoided telling them the truth until now is because I've kept my distance in the last two months.

"I just needed a change of scenery, I guess." This part isn't a lie. After I left Jake's apartment, I knew I had to find a place quickly. I got this great place on Airbnb where I was for the first two weeks, but it was eating into my savings fast.

I hadn't officially quit yet, because I didn't want to raise eyebrows, and I had only so much of PTA leaves.

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