Page 63 of Don't Puck His Best Friend
I look over at Sirus, who’s been silent through this entire revelation. “You knew?”
“No, man, I swear,” Sirus says quickly, holding up his hands. “I had no idea.”
I shake my head, not sure if I believe him, not sure if it matters anymore. The noise in my head is too much—Harper’s silence, Liam’s stare, Maddie’s pleading voice trying to fix something that’s already broken beyond repair.
“You two deserve each other,” I say to Harper and Liam, the words tasting bitter even as they leave my mouth.
I turn toward the restaurant, ready to walk away from this nightmare, but Harper catches my arm.
“Cole, wait—”
I pull back like her touch burns. “Leave,” I say, my voice low and controlled. “Just... leave.”
I look past her toward the others, forcing my voice to stay level. “The waiter’s ready to take our order.”
Without another word, I walk back inside with Sirus and, after a moment’s hesitation, Liam. The noise of the restaurant swallows us up—clinking glasses, laughter, the ordinary sounds of people having an ordinary night that doesn’t involve discovering your girlfriend of one day has been lying to your face for weeks.
Liam follows us to the table, his jaw still tight, his eyes distant. I know I should be furious with him, but we’ve broken too many unspoken rules in our friendship over the years to keep score like this. We’ve covered for each other, lied for each other, forgiven each other for worse things than falling for the same girl.
But that doesn’t stop the resentment simmering under my skin.
Because it’s not really Liam I’m angry with. It’s Harper.
She’s the one who played both sides. She’s the one who smiled at me like I was the only person in the room while apparently giving Liam the same look. She’s the one who let me fall for her while keeping this massive secret, letting me plan a future that was built on a lie.
And that’s the part I can’t forgive.
Through the window, I catch a glimpse of Harper still standing on the sidewalk with Maddie, both of them talking, their shadows stretched long under the streetlamps. For just a moment, I want to go back out there, demand an explanation, ask her if any of it was real.
But I force myself to look away.
The waiter appears at our table, pen poised over his notepad, ready to take our orders. I pick up my menu and don’t look toward the window again.
Whatever Harper and I had, whatever I thought we were building—it’s over.
Some things you can’t come back from, and this is definitely one of them.
29
The Whiteboard of Truth
Harper
Istandfrozenonthe sidewalk, watching the restaurant door close behind Cole with the finality of a coffin lid. The lump in my throat makes it hard to breathe, and my hands are still shaking from the adrenaline of having my carefully constructed house of lies come crashing down in the most spectacular way possible.
Maddie grabs my arm, her fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. “Okay... what the hell was that?”
I exhale hard, the breath shuddering out of me. “I’ve been hooking up with Liam. Not just that first time—after the party hookup, I went to his place a few more times.”
Maddie blinks once. Twice. Her mouth opens and closes like a fish. “What?”
“It was just supposed to be one time, but—” I shake my head, hating how pathetic I sound. “I kept seeing him. And then I met Cole, and I still kept seeing him.”
“Why?” Maddie’s voice pitches higher. “I thought you liked Cole?”
“I don’t know why, and I do like Cole, but...” I trail off, unable to find words that don’t make me sound like a complete sociopath. How do you explain that you developed feelings for two people simultaneously without sounding like a slut?
Maddie stares at me like she doesn’t know who I am anymore. “You’re telling me... you’ve been sleeping withbothof them? At the same time?”
