Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 65429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
How can he look better than the last time I saw him?
His black hair was messy from sleep, framing pieces of his face. His usual bright blue was a soft colored teal while his strong jawline and pouty lips were prominent from sleep too. His body appeared better than I remembered and that V above his happy trail still had the power to knock me senseless.
I shook my head, trying to turn around again. “I shouldn’t be here.”
He held me in place. “What are you doing here?”
I blurted, “Beau and I broke up and I just needed you.”
“Oh, Livvy.” He pulled me into a tight hug. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, hugging him back for a second.
He smelled so fucking good.
“I should go, and you should go… you know, back to your date or whatever.”
He chuckled. “She’s just a girl. You’re always more important.”
“I don’t think she’s going to appreciate that.”
“She doesn’t matter. She knows where we stand.”
“Ummm… okay.”
Why does that make me feel better?
“Come on.” Ethan grabbed my hand, leading me to his back porch.
He turned on the warm hanging lights before he pulled out a chair for me to sit in. I sat down but out of the corner of my eyes I watched the woman who was in bed with him leave out his front door.
“She’s probably going to hate me now.”
“Don’t worry about her,” he stressed in one breath. “She’s no one.”
I eyed him skeptically. “If you weren’t my best friend, I’d call you an asshole.”
“Well.” He grinned, sitting in the seat in front of me across the table. “Good thing I am, then.”
“So… women are just cool with this setup you have going? The wham bam, thank you, ma’am?”
He smiled. “I guess so.”
“Huh… that’s nice for you,” I sarcastically stated. “Is she the only one who sleeps over, or do you have slumber parties with all of them?”
“Livvy, you’re not here to talk about my sex life. Now what’s going on?”
I scratched my head, hating that he ignored my question. “I missed dinner with Beau’s parents because I was helping you with your app launch, and it spiraled into something else entirely.”
He arched an eyebrow. “If you had told me you had plans with his family, I would have understood.”
“Would you?”
He cocked his head to the side.
“Beau says that I put you first before him. More like I put you first before anyone.”
“I see.”
It was my turn to cock my head. “Do you?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
“The truth.”
“Livvy, we’re best friends. At the end of the day, I was here before him, and I’ll be here after him.”
“Then you knew there’d be an after?”
“Are you asking me if I wanted you two to break up?”
“Did you?”
In one sentence, he reminded me, “I just want you to be happy.”
And for the first time, I hated hearing him say that too.
Ethan
This was not how I expected to be woken up, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ecstatic to see her. I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t glad they broke up. Despite Beau being from the elite status that her father always wanted for her, in my eyes, he wasn’t good enough for her.
To be completely honest, I couldn’t for the life of me see what she saw in him. To me, he was a pompous prick born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I still couldn’t stand him, but I tolerated him for her. For some reason I couldn’t begin to understand, she loved him. Or at least that was what she said, and it could have been entirely true.
However, I didn’t think she was in love with him.
Not for one fucking second.
Livvy was always a hopeless romantic. She loved love, and at that point in our lives, she looked for it in all the wrong places. Case in point: Beau Hunter.
The bane of my existence. She might have known that—she might have known a lot of things, but in order to stay best friends and not mess up our friendship again, we stayed in our own lanes. Meaning, I was there for her whenever she needed me and vice versa. If she wanted to continue being in that relationship, my job was to support her.
Livvy was a big girl. She could make her own decisions despite how much I hated him for her.
“I can see your mind spinning, Ethan.”
“Did I say a word?”
“No, but your expression yells for you. I know you want to say ‘I told you so.’”
“Or maybe you just want to hear me say it.”
“I know you don’t like Beau.”
“What’s there to like?”
She scoffed out a chuckle. “You’re shameless.”
“And you wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Do you think he’s right? Do I put you before him?”
“Livvy, I just kicked a woman out of my bed because you unexpectedly showed up in my bedroom at three in the morning. I think it’s safe to say you’re asking the wrong person.”