Page 122 of Hello Heartbreaker

Now, all within a few months, my life was falling together in a way I’d never even hoped or dreamed, but there was still something missing: my best friend.

When the car slowed at the city limits, I woke from dozing, seeing the streetlights that lined Main Street. “We’re home,” I said.

“Just ten more minutes ’til we get to my place,” he said.

But I shook my head as I sat up straight. “Can you take me to my house?”

He looked over at me, studying me with dark hazel eyes. “Are you sure?”

I nodded.

“I’m so fucking proud of you.”

I grinned. “You make me better, Rhett Griffen.”

He smiled back at me, turning off Main Street to go toward my place. Cooper’s truck was there, but it was still too early for them to have gone to bed. “Can you wait for me, just in case?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’ll be here.”

I took a deep breath, getting out of the car and smoothing my cotton dress over my legs. The closer I got to the front door, the more nervous I got. Cam and I had never gone a week without talking, but she’d also never said anything as hurtful as she had last week.

I hoped we could move forward as friends, even if that relationship was changing.

When I got to the door, I realized it didn’t feel like my home, even with all my decorations on the walls and most of my stuff inside. My sense of home, my life, was changing too.

I lifted my hand, knocking on the door, and when it opened, I saw Cooper standing there. He looked from me to the driveway and said, “I’m gonna wait with Rhett.”

I let out a small laugh as he beelined past me to my car.

But when I looked back to the house, I saw Cam standing in the living room in her light blue pajamas and gray slippers, her arms folded across her chest. “You didn’t have to knock. It’s your house too.”

The hurt in her voice, the anger, almost made me want to turn around and hide. I hated this fighting, hated worrying about what she’d say next to hurt me, but I needed to be brave too. “We need to talk.”

She nodded, stepping aside, and went to sit on our couch in the living room. We’d found it by a dumpster five years ago and bought curtains at the thrift store to reupholster it. It actually looked really cool, even for a dumpster couch.

We’d done so much life together, built a home together. But now this was the space I knew would take us forward or backward.

Cam looked at me. “You wanted to talk?”

I nodded, swirling my ring around my thumb. “It’s been a hard week after what happened.”

“You ran away,” Cam said. “I haven’t heard from you, haven’t seen you in a week. The only reason I knew you were okay was because Rhett told Cooper you were staying with him.”

I ran my hand over the back of my neck. “I’ve learned I have a problem with running away from the people who hurt me, and I’m trying to work on it. But I need you to know, Cam, you did hurt me. A lot.”

Her expression softened. “Don’t you know how awful I feel about it too? We were supposed to live in this house for six months while I dated around, fell in love. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wiped them away. “I feel like shit for letting you down. I know you don’t have money to handle the rent alone or wait on the deposit. So I talked to my parents, and they said they would cover it on your new place until we got the deposit back.”

Relief swept over me as I realized how much stress that financial burden had placed on me. “I think I heard about needing to buy the stuff for the wedding and needing to pay the lease and something snapped. I’ve been working toward this dream of owning a salon for so long that I’m afraid of it slipping away from me at the last moment.”

“That would never happen. If anyone’s going to put in the work and find a way to make it happen, it’s you.”

I studied her expression, because sometimes I didn’t have that much faith in myself. “You mean it?”

She nodded. “Look at you and all you’ve done! Maybe part of me feels left behind because you still have all these opportunities ahead of you, and my life is changing so much. I’m going to be a mom and a wife. I have two whole people to consider now.”

“Cam...” I shook my head. “I’ve been feeling left behind because you’re getting the man and the family like you always dreamed. I don’t ever want to lose you.” The dam broke at those words, at the hurt and worry I’d been feeling. “You’re not just my friend. You’re my family.”

She crossed the couch, hugging me and crying too. “I don’t want to lose you either.” We held on to each other, crying. “I’m sorry about what I said about Rhett. I don’t know what I’d do in your position, but I’m so happy you’re giving him a chance. He loves you so much.”

---