Page 85 of Friend Zone to End Zone

I gave my head a slight shake and said, “I’ve got this.”

This was the moment I’d prepared for. The moment when I finally did something new: When I didn’t go back to Chad.

“So what’s the deal with you two?” Chad crossed his arms, apparently impatient for an explanation for why Cole was at the party. “Did you hook up before or after you dumped me out of the blue?”

Out of the blue?

Did he really believe he hadn’t had it coming?

Because if so, he was even more delusional than I thought.

And I wanted to just get this over with right then and there so I could be done with him and ride off into the sunset with Cole. But when I noticed several sets of eyes watching and waiting to see whatever I had to say, I turned to Cole and said, “Just give us a minute, okay?”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to do this with you?” His dark eyebrows knitted together, an almost hurt look in his eyes.

I touched his arm, hoping to convey just how much I would prefer to stay by his side. “I think I actually need to do this on my own.” And when his dark brown eyes searched mine to see if I really meant it, I said, “It will be fine. I’ll be right back.”

And then turning back to Chad, I said, “How about we take this to another room and away from curious eyes, okay?”

He pushed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Sure.”

38

Arianna

My pulse thunderedin my temples as I led Chad out of the crowded great room and down the hall to what I assumed must be Zara and William’s guest bedroom.

After letting Chad walk into the room before me, I stepped inside and shut the door so we’d have some privacy.

“So what’s going on?” Chad asked when I turned back to face him. He stood with one shoulder leaning against the wall, his gray suit fitting him just as well as it always had. And I hated that even now after everything that had happened between us, I still found him attractive.

He was still as good-looking as he’d been the day we met.

But outsides could be deceiving that way, I supposed. Because even though Chad had male model written all over his face, who he was on the inside was someone who did things that hurt me on the inside.

And insides mattered way more than outsides to me now.

“I just want to make this quick and simple, okay?” I said, hoping to get this over with so I could get back to Cole.

“Okay.”

“I’m going to be honest with you,” I started, deciding it was best to just dig in. “When I first came to this party tonight, I had all sorts of plans for how this conversation would go. I was bitter and angry and really wanted to just get revenge for all the ways I felt you wronged me while we were together.”

“I wronged you?” he scoffed, his blue eyes narrowing. “But you’re the one who broke up with me. Saying that crap about me being an entry-level course and you graduating to Yale.”

Yeah, I had said that, hadn’t I?

“So maybe I got a little revenge in already,” I allowed, even though I still didn’t feel one ounce of guilt for how I’d broken up with him.

“You were brutal.”

“That may be.” I shrugged. “But believe it or not, you weren’t exactly the greatest boyfriend while we were together. And though I wasn’t going to say anything about it since I’d already made up my mind to break up with you before I found out, I know all about you and Amber.”

“You… What?” His eyes went wide and he shook his head. “How?”

“It’s called the power of technology and fans who are more loyal to me than my boyfriend was.”

He still looked confused, but I really didn’t care. So I continued, “Anyway, when I first decided to come to this party without you tonight, I had all sorts of plans for how I would give you a small taste of what you put me through the past few years. I wanted to hit you where it counted. And so I came up with a plan for Cole and me to pretend like we’d been romantically involved for years since I figured that was one of the only things that would really hurt you.”

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