He holds up a hand. “No, listen. You’re right to move in with Lance. You need to move forward. But I need to move forward too, and I can’t do it with someone who thinks I’m nothing but a superficial, womanizing asshole. I can’t do it with someone who thinks she can have it all, but doesn’t want the same for me.”
“Wait, Ben—”
He leans forward so we’re eye to eye, and the look on his face is lethal as he utters the one word I never imagined hurting so much: our safe word.
“Cello.”
And just like that, my best friend walks out of my life.
Chapter 26
Ben
THREE WEEKS LATER
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
“For the last time, yes,” I say. Then I give Lori my best smile to soften the edge of my tone.
But seriously, she’d asked me about twenty times, in a dozen different ways, if I’m okay with this, and if I have to hear it one more time…
Of course I’m okay with this.
Why wouldn’t I be okay having dinner with my best friend—former best friend—and her live-in boyfriend?
Sounds great.
I open the door to the trendy Italian restaurant Lori’s been yammering about all week and allow her to go in first.
I’m not really big on all the crowds and hype around the “opening” of restaurants, but Lori knows someone who knows someone and acted like getting reservations on a Friday night was like the Heisman Trophy of eating or something, so I’m trying not to be a dick about it.
The place is noisy and packed, which I kind of hate, but it smells amazing, so I try to think positive.
Lori tells (shouts) our name to the frazzled hostess, who points to the back of the restaurant. Lori nods before beckoning me to follow her.
I take a deep breath and wind around the tiny, too-close-together tables, trying to brace myself for what’s to come.
And then I see her.
I see Parker, and all thoughts of thinking positive about the evening fly out the window.
I don’t think I can do this.
But, of course, I have to.
Lori and I have been on a handful of dates now, and I’m officially out of excuses for dodging this double date.
Parker and Lance stand as we get closer.
Parker so that she can hug Lori, Lance so that he can shake my hand in that weird, man-to-man thing that guys do.
If Lance or Lori notice that Parker and I don’t say hello, much less hug, neither says anything.
“This place looks amazing,” Parker gushes as we all sit down around the too-small table. She and Lori are sitting across from each other against the wall, with me across from Lance on the outside.
This leaves Parker and me kitty-corner from each other, which I guess is as good as can be expected given the circumstances, but it still feels too close.
Lori doesn’t know about our fight, and from the placid look on Lance’s face, I suspect he doesn’t know, either, so we’ll have to play nice.