Page 94 of My Ex's Best Friend

I can’t do this.

Tammy comes into my room while she fixes her earring. "Kiera have you—" She stops when she sees me. "Kiera are you okay? You're white as a ghost."

"I'm fine," I say. "Just a little vitamin deficiency."

“Are you sure?” she asks, walking further into the room. “It isn’t anything else, is it?”

“No,” I say, biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying.

How long can I stand it before I end up spilling? These are my best friends. They know me better than anybody else in the world.

My heart squeezes painfully, as I think about Jake and how close I felt to him again. Jake and I were a couple just weeks ago. And he still went and cheated on me.

Maybe it's time to accept that this is just my fate. Other girls get their prince charming, while I have guys cheating on me. It has happened too many times for it to be just a coincidence.

We go into the living room and Ellie and Tammy take the seat opposite to mine. Ellie is frowning. "Is everything okay with you? You've been acting so weird."

"You totally are."

"That's not true," I say. "I just want to spend time with my best friends."

Tammy's face softens. "You're right. This time is about us."

“I’m getting us a bottle of chardonnay."

"I’ll stick with the water, thanks,"

Ellie and Tammy exchange a look. "Excuse me?"

"Who are you? And what did you do to our friend Kiera?" Ellie says.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're saying no to chardonnay?" Tammy says. "Kiera freaking Crofton?"

"Yes, well," I say. "I'm laying off alcohol. I've got this whole reinvention thing I'm trying to do."

"Wow. Jake Bennett really got to you," Ellie says, shaking his head.

I almost spit out my water. "What?"

"Yeah. Look at you. ‘Reinventing yourself’?" Tammy says, doing air quotes as she goes to grab the bottle. "What does that even mean?"

"That guy is worse than the devil."

I look down at my feet, not knowing what to say.

"Let's not talk about work right now," Ellie says, maybe noticing the look on my face. "Who wants a shrimp cocktail?"

When they veer off Jake's topic, things actually get much better. As I stick with water and they down a bottle of chardonnay, I catch up with what they've been up to. Tammy is thinking of switching jobs.

"How do you like Boston?" she says.

"Why do you ask?"

"I thought I could move out here, and we can be roomies."

Oh no. My stomach sinks. "Sounds like a good idea."

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