Page 33 of Friend Zone to End Zone

I was just pulling a blue-and-white plaid button-up out of the closet when my phone buzzed with a notification saying that someone was at my front door.

I frowned and opened the app for my security system. When it showed the view of my front porch, I saw Arianna standing at the front door.

Had we arranged to meet at my place?

I could have sworn we agreed for me to pick her up.

Oh well.

I dropped my phone into my back pocket and slipped my arms through the sleeves of my shirt as I walked out of my master closet, and then down the hall toward the entryway.

The doorbell rang just as I had finished buttoning my shirt. I checked myself in the mirror by the door, just to make sure I looked decent. My short hair still surprised me every time I caught my reflection. But aside from looking a lot more clean-cut than I usually did, I looked presentable enough.

So I swung open the door to greet my friend.

But instead of coming face to face with a vibrant woman in a form-fitting dress like I’d expected, I found myself looking at a disheveled-looking Arianna with blotchy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and the outfit she must have worn to work at the salon.

“W-what’s wrong?” I stepped back, my eyes widening as I took her in, looking for any sign that she was hurt or sick.

Instead of saying anything, she simply handed me her phone and pushed her way into my house.

As she headed toward my great room and plopped herself down on my leather sofa, I looked at her phone’s screen.

It was a personal message from someone named Cassandra Mars. There was a message that read,I thought you should know.

Below the cryptic message was a photo of a tall man with blond hair kissing a woman with light brown hair at what looked like a hotel bar.

I frowned and tapped on the photo to enlarge it for a better view. And that was when my stomach dropped to the floor.

It was Chad.

While I couldn’t be sure, since I’d only seen her a few times in passing, the woman looked a lot like his co-worker Amber.

“There’s more, too,” Arianna said.

I scrolled to the next photo and saw Chad and Amber again, this time hand in hand as they stood in front of an elevator.

The next photo was of them just outside a hotel room door.

And the last was slightly blurry, like the photographer had been in motion while trying to snap the photo, but it was clear to see that Chad and Amber had both gone into that hotel room together.

“Did you just get these photos today?” I went and sat on the other end of the couch that Arianna was sitting on. Her arms were folded across her chest. She didn’t currently have tears streaming down her cheeks, but from how puffy her eyes were, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d cried the whole twenty-minute drive from the salon to my house.

Maybe even longer, from the looks of it.

“They came through right before I left the salon.” Her voice wobbled a little. “I don’t even know the girl who sent them. But she follows me on Instagram and must have recognized Chad from one of our photos or our live videos and decided to do a little detective work for me.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, not knowing exactly what I should do. Because even though Chad was totally the type of guy who would cheat on his girlfriend with a co-worker, I hadn’tactuallyexpected him to do it.

What guy would cheat on someone like Arianna? She was amazing.

Arianna sighed heavily, the pout in her lips more pronounced before she said, “I know I was planning to break things off with Chad when he got back so I shouldn’t be crying over that lying piece of crap, but I just feel so betrayed.” Her watery brown eyes met mine. “Like, how long has this been going on? Has he been cheating on me every single time he goes on a business trip with Amber? Were they just laughing behind my back every time we went on double dates because they knew what they were doing behind mine and Amber’s boyfriend’s back? They must have gotten a huge laugh over the fact that I didn’t even have the slightest clue that they were having an affair.”

“Hey…” I scooted closer and pulled her into my arms when it looked like she was about to burst into tears. “You’re not stupid.” I ran a hand down her silky brown hair. “Chad is the stupid one. Any guy willing to throw away his chance to be with one of the most amazing women that I know is an idiot.”

She relaxed her head against my chest, her whole body seeming to sigh as she wrapped her arms around my torso. “Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?”

“I don’t know.” I smoothed my hands up and down her back. “I don’t know why anyone would do this to you,” I said in what I hoped was a soothing voice. “But it’s not because of you. It’s on Chad. When you find the right guy for you, it will work out.”

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