Page 1 of The Hearts We've Broken
CHAPTER ONE
juniper
Ishould have realized something was off when neither my boyfriend nor my best friend answered their phones. I’d tried calling both of them at least three times while I was at the store getting supplies for our New Year’s Eve party, but the calls went to voicemail.
Every. Single. Time.
Whatever, if they complained about the type of champagne I got, or told me I bought the wrong snacks, it was on them for not answering.
“Hey, babe! Can you—” I pushed the front door open with my hip, arms full of grocery bags, expecting to see my boyfriend in his usual spot playing video games or watching sports on the couch. “Brady?”
I froze when I heard noises coming from our bedroom.
“Fuck,” a male voice rasped what sounded an awful lot like a moan.
What the fuck?I set down the bags and pounded on the bedroom door three times. Whoever was in there didn’t stop as the slapping of skin and the creaks of our bed started to increase in speed.
“Oh, God, Brady, don’t stop!” The muffled voice through the thin wall was enough for me to throw the door open, revealing my boyfriend balls deep in my best friend.
“What the hell?” I screamed, white-hot rage coursing through my veins.
If you’re going to cheat on your girlfriend, at least lock the fucking door.
Both of them scrambled out of the positions they were in, Ava covering herself with the sheets—my sheets—and Brady rushing over to me butt-ass naked, not even bothering to cover his junk that was just inside mybest friend.
“Baby, baby, baby, I can explain,” he stammered as I walked further into the room to pick up his jeans and fling them at him.
“Explain what, exactly? How you were fucking my best friend?” I snapped as I shielded my eyes and held my temple at the same time. This whole interaction was giving me a migraine.
I’d have to wash my eyes—and frankly, my brain—out with bleach later, because I’d never be getting the horrifying image of them out of my head.
They both rushed to put their clothes on, but I was already storming toward the front door. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stay here.
Brady raced after me, presumably to keep apologizing and beg me to stay, but I slammed the door in his face before he could say anything.
The rear door of my car was still open with grocery bags in the trunk. I debated throwing the grocery bags out and leaving them on the curb but decided against it. Mymoney, my groceries. I closed the hatchback then yanked the driver’s side door open, sliding in as fast as humanly possible before shutting and locking it.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Brady
Baby, I’m sorry, please let me explain.
Do not start. We were done the moment you started seeing Ava
A separate text from Ava came through after I hit send.
Ava
June, please
I blocked both of their numbers and tossed my phone into the passenger seat before resting my forehead on my steering wheel, fighting the urge to slam my head against it repeatedly.
What a clusterfuck.
I had nowhere to go, but I would’ve rather lived in my car or a cardboard box on the side of the highway than continue to live in that house after everything I had just witnessed.
How was it that a few weeks ago, I was newly graduated from college, and now I was homeless? To top it all off, my shit was still in the house, so I’d have to go back at some point. I tried to think of friends I could stay with until I found my footing, but I could—pathetically—count them on one hand now that Ava and Brady were completely out of the picture.
