Page 95 of Before We're More Than Friends
Maybe I should take that Health class I’d walked into on the first day of school.
“He . . .” Kami’s voice broke, her lips trembling. “I found another pair of underwear under his bed.”
I gasped even louder than before, causing Houston to perk up from where he sat on the floor. “What?” Blood pounded in my ears. “Someone else’s . . .”
“Panties,” she finished, knowing I hated the word. “Red with lace and way too small for anyone else in his family. He tried to pin it on his brother’s girlfriend, but she’d been out of town since December.”
“Why are you just telling me this?” I shot up from my chair, clenching my fists. “I could’ve beat his ass until he couldn’t sit!” I used to tell Greg that if he ever hurt Kami, I’d beat him with every muscle in my body. He’d laugh it off and punch me in the arm like it was a joke.
It’d certainly been a joke to him.
“I was embarrassed!” Kami exclaimed, putting her head inher hands. “I told myself no guy would ever do that to me. And to make it even worse, so many people knew about him cheating and never told me. Including my friends. He cheated on me with four different girls in the span of three months. And I don’t even know why.” She sniffled again before tears streamed down her cheeks. “I feel so stupid.”
“Kami.” I walked over to her and put my hand on her back, my chest aching. “I understand that you’re embarrassed, but I wish you had told me so I could’ve been there for you.” I gave her a side hug as she wiped her tears away. “And I really could’ve beaten Greg up.”
She let out a half-giggle. “I didn’t want you to judge me.”
“He was your boyfriend, Kami. He was supposed to love you the way you loved him.” I wiped another tear from her cheek. “Please don’t blame yourself.”
“I still will.” She wiped her nose with her napkin. “Something much worse could’ve happened. Like the suggestions you gave.”
“I was surprised,” I said. “Because I was concerned about you.”
She nodded, rubbing my arm. “I’m concerned about you, too. I know you’re lying about Raina.”
“Gosh, we’re already moving on to that?”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I already said my truth.”
I sighed. “Maybe I do like her. But I’m not about to enter the dating scene.”
“You for sure don’t want to end up like me,” she muttered.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” I groaned. “It’s complicated. But I promise that we’re just friends, and that is all it will be.” I looked at my wrist, thinking about how long it’d been since I’d worn my friendship bracelet. “She’d never feel the same way about me.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know,” I said, sitting down again. “We haven’t known each other for that long. She’s beautiful and rich and down to earth. She’d be better off with someone else.” Someone who didn’t keep a landfill of secrets from her and would rather live with a guilty conscience than ever confess the truth.
“Why wouldn’t you be good enough for her?”
“Because.” I stared at my cold plate of pasta. “I would make a better friend. She already thinks I’m weird—everyone does. There are better options.”
“That doesn’t mean those are the options she’d want.”
“I don’t want to date her, okay?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “It wouldn’t be worth the risk.”
“I understand. That’s how I feel about dating right now.” Kami reached for my hand and squeezed it. “I’m here for you too, okay?”
I smiled, my chest warming. “Thank you.”
For the first time since the move was announced, I didn’t feel like I was walking on eggshells around her anymore. Things weren’t perfect between us, but we were closer than we’d been in a long time.
And I’d protect her with everything I had.
Wednesday after volunteering at the shelter, Hayden and I went to What Do You Bean to work on our personal songwriting. Somewhere in the Sky wasn’t performing today, but the café still had the same atmosphere as before. The aroma of coffee and pastries filled the air, triggering my sweet tooth.
Hayden got us milkshakes and cookies, and we got to work. He opened his notebook, which had way more pages filled than last time. He put on a timer for fifteen minutes, and we bothfocused on our notebooks and wrote. Like before, I dumped whatever was on my mind.
