Page 67 of False Start

My smile slips a bit and my shoulders slump. Wewerecozy. We were damn neardomestic. And then I had to go and blow everything up. This show was a godsend; I would still be wallowing without such a good distraction.

I shrug.

"We were. At least we were getting there." I trail off, neither willing nor able to elaborate on the destroyed potential of Cory and I.

"From your use of the past tense and the fact that he's not here tonight, I'm assuming it's over, then?" she asks.

I nod.

"Yeah. I ended things that same night you caught us."

Maya frowns.

"Because of me?"

I chuckle, but there's no humor in it.

"A little?" I admit, and Maya's frown deepens. "That day just confirmed what I knew all along: there are always strings. Everyone has their own motives and expectations and as soon as you let them down, they drop you. Unconditional love is for fairytales."

Maya's eyes are glassy, but she shakes her head vehemently.

"Just because your parents were pieces of work doesn't mean everyone's gonna leave you, Denise."

"And what about you?" I round on her. "Youdropped me too. Just for dating someone you didn't like!"

"That is a gross oversimplification," she shouts back, our voices echoing through the empty halls. "I was pissed because you decided to date someone that might impact my family. Cory? Mr. & Mrs. Park? Henry, Jr.? They're all myfamilynow. You act like he was just some guy you met at the club, but he is literally my brother-in-law."

"Why is that such a big deal?" I demand. Does she think she gets to decide who her new family dates, or something?

"Because you're my best friend!" she pleads. She lets out a breath, suddenly exhausted. "You're my best friend. He's my brother-in-law. Things are guaranteed to be awkward any time you two are together, which is quite often based on how much Mr. & Mrs. Park like to entertain. I think that kind of complication was worth a five-minute conversation.

"Also," she continues, "you're right. He's an asshole. I'm doing my best to move past things, but it really sucks that my best friend decided it was cool to go behind my back and date someone who treated me like that. Someone who seems to treatallwomen like that."

I look at her, the pain clear in her eyes. Pain I put there with my secrets and lying. The tears finally flow with that realization.

"Maya, you're like a sister to me," I begin quietly. "With a family like mine, you know I don't say that lightly. So you should also know that I didn't intentionally set out to hurt you by dating Cory.

"Yes, he said some fucked up shit to you last year. I'm not going to defend him, but Iamgoing to suggest you talk to him one-on-one about what happened. Hear him out. You say you forgave him, but you're clearly still hurting. I promise you, you'll feel better once you get everything out in the open."

Maya rolls her eyes but keeps her mouth shut. Even if she doesn't talk to him, it's past timeIcame clean.

"The first night we hooked up, it reallywasa mistake. We both had too much alcohol at your wedding and then wound up in his bed with no memory of what we did or how we got there. We agreed to pretend nothing happened and just move on, but when I left, I realized I'd lost the necklace Andre got me somewhere in his apartment."

Maya's face softens.

"Oh, D. I'm so sorry. Did you end up finding it?"

"Yeah. I found the necklace." I risk a smirk. "And I found Cory's dick, too."

Maya bursts out laughing, and I join her. It feels good to finally be open about what happened.

"It wasgood, girl," I swoon. "So good that we decided to make a little arrangement of it. It still was just booty calls, so Cory agreed to keep it on the low." My smile fades. "That all changed the night of the Halloween party."

"I knew it!" Maya shouts triumphantly, and I grin, even though the memory hurts now.

"Yeah, you almost caught us. I didn't want to come clean that night when it was, like, the anniversary of your engagement and your first big event with Adam since your wedding. And it was a good thing too, because then that girl Camila was celebrating passing the bar two seconds before she and Henry got engaged."

That night was a whirlwind. If Cory and I were still together, would we be the ones getting engaged atnextyear's party? There's no chance of that now.

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