Page 29 of Basil

Neither had I. But he did, and that meant only one thing—he was taking the process of eliminating toxic people from his lifeseriously.

I looked at him all serious and earnest andsohandsome that he made my mouth water, and for the first time since I walked out of his apartment, I felt myself waver.

I wasn’t ready to forgive him.Of course not!

But…he had done exactly what he said he would, which was to do and be better so he coulddeserveme. I felt guilty. I wasn’t anything special. No one had to work so hard for me.

My phone buzzed, and Meadow leaned to look at who it was. “Speak of the devil,” she teased in a sing-song manner.

I stared at the screen for a long moment before opening his text. It was a video with a short message:These are not my friends.

I hesitated for only a second before pressing play.

Basil sat with Karen, Ajay, Lola, Gareth, and Felix—no, Drew. They were at some upscale cocktail bar, where overpriced cocktails and loud tech bro conversations reigned supreme.

Although the camera was focused on one side of the table, I couldhearall of them.

“I cannot believe you fired Drew,” Karen snapped, crossing her arms.

“It was a business decision,” Basil replied firmly.

Karen scoffed. “She’s our friend.”

“No,” Basil corrected, “she’s your friend. She was my employee.”

Lola rolled her eyes. “Oh, get over yourself, Basil. We all are running our own businesses, just because your video went viral doesn’t make you king of the tech world.”

“Is that what you think is going on here?” Basil asked. I couldn’t see him, but he sounded angry. Really, really angry.

“Then what is?” Ajay asked. “Felix, what the fuck, man?”

Felix shook his head. “I got a question for all of you, and I guess myself as well. What was our problem with Summer?”

“He’s Drew’s,” Karen said flippantly.

“Are you saying I belong to Drew?” Basil asked.

“Well…I mean you’ve both been together forever.” Karen sounded chagrined.

“As friends,” Basil pointed out. “You treated my girlfriend like shit. You stood by while Gareth insulted Summer to her face, while Drew humiliated her in front of everyone, while the rest of you laughed at her behind her back.”

Ajay scoffed. “You were laughing right there with us.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Basil said, his voice heavy with regret. “I was stupidly trying to keep both—my friends and the woman I love. I didn’t realize it was a choice. But I do now as I finally have pulled my head out of my ass.”

Karen threw up her hands. “Like this is even a choice. I’m texting Drew, asking her to come over. You both can make up and?—”

“Were you part of the whole get rid of Summer scheme where Drew made remarks to make my girlfriend feel like shit?” Basil asked.

“Your ex is too fucking sensitive, man,” Gareth slurred.

Was the man evernotdrunk? He needed to go to an AA meetingstat, I thought. I had thought of Gareth as a social screw up but great at his job. Now I wondered if he was a piece of shit in his personal life, he’d be the same in his professional.

“You talk about a woman’s pussy, Gareth and you’re wondering why she’s sensitive? It’s fucking rude,” Basil snapped.

“So, what’s the thrust here? You’re done with us?” Ajay demanded.

“Yeah,” Basil said.

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