Page 107 of Without You

Me: We should. Maybe I can introduce you to a new friend of mine. I think you’d have a lot to talk about.

Hannah: Is this friend the guy you’re seeing?

Me: No. This is a different friend. Do you know Chase Stanton? He sings country music.

“You’re evil,” Johnny cackles.

Me: He’s actually a friend of my new boyfriend’s.

Brody snorts. “Hate to say this, but Johnny might be right.”

“Hey!”

Brody grins at his friend and so do I. They’ve made all the drama of the day bearable and I can’t love them more for it.

Hannah: For real? Who’s the boyfriend? Anyone I know?

“She’d better check her pants because the liar’s pants are on fire,” Gil says, chuckling at his own joke.

“That was such a dad joke,” I tease and he winks at me. So much like his son. “What do I say now?”

“Be honest. I’m your man. We don’t need to hide that.”

Never in my life would I have imagined Brody Redding telling me that he’s my man but it’s true. He’s mine. I’m his. And at the end of the day, no matter what’s happened during the day, even if it’s an absolute nightmare, I have that.

Me: Actually, it’s Brody.

Hannah: My Brody?

That bitch.

Me: No. My Brody. He and I started seeing each other shortly after your wedding and it’s been perfection. Aside from you trying to ruin it by spreading not only lies, but a video of the two of us together earlier tonight. But, I’ll just let Chase’s legal team take care of that for me.

I don’t wait to see if she replies. I turn my phone off and toss it aside.

Sure, there’s a video of Brody and me having sex on the internet, which is ironic because we were only reminding ourselves of something we’d created earlier, and it’s awful that it’s out there for the world to see. But in the end, Brody and I are together and nothing anyone can do will change that.

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