Betting on You(10)

The boots were actually hot, but I’d rather die than say that to her.

But it didn’t matter.

No way was I ever going to see that girl again.





CHAPTER SIX PRESENT DAY

Bailey




“This is seriously unhealthy.”

“I know,” I said to Nekesa, swishing my straw in my Frappuccino and staring at the Starbucks entrance from our vantage point in the back of the coffee shop. “But I just have to see.”

I wasn’t sure why, but I needed to know.

Zack, my ex, used to pick me up every Saturday morning because he said he liked sharing a coffee with me before the day got started. Every single Saturday, no matter what, he whisked me away for Frappuccino and conversation.

It was kind of our thing. Smiles and caffeine in the early morning light.

Just us.

So now that he and Kelsie Kirchner were “official,” I wondered if he did the same for her. Deep down, I knew the answer was no, because I truly did believe it was exclusive to us as a couple, but something inside me just couldn’t let it go.

Which was why Nekesa and I were camped out at the back table at Starbucks.

“I get it,” Nekesa said, but I knew she didn’t. She was in a perfect relationship with the perfect guy—how could she possibly understand the compulsion to see if one’s ex was déjà-vu-ing with their new girlfriend? “But it’s been a couple months, Bay. And you’re too good for him. Don’t you think you should stop dwelling on what Zack is doing?”

“I’m not dwelling on what he’s doing,” I explained, even though I knew she was probably right. “I’m just curious.”

“I should’ve gotten a sandwich.” Nekesa sighed and said, “I’m starving. Why didn’t I get a sandwich? They have a glass case full of food, and all I got was a tall Flat White. What the hell was I thinking?”

“I don’t know,” I said, opening Instagram on my phone. I’d posted a new edit last night, so naturally I had to check notifications every five minutes.

“I should go get—”

“No,” I interrupted, setting down my phone and grabbing her arm in a panicked whisper. “If he comes in, I don’t want him to see us.”

“Why? It’s not that weird that we’d be at Starbucks,” she said, rolling her eyes and shaking off my hand. “Millions of people go to Starbucks, Bay. Ordering a breakfast sandwich is not remotely suspicious.”

“But it is when you’re my best friend and this is our Starbucks.”

“This is our Starbucks?” she asked, her dark eyebrows scrunching together. God, she had the best eyebrows.

“Not ‘ours’ as in yours and mine,” I said, “but ‘ours’ as in his and mine.”

“Dude.” Her eyes narrowed and she said, “Is there anywhere you think of as yours and mine?”

I kept playing with my straw as I thought about it for a minute. With us, it wasn’t so much if there was a place that was ours but more so which place was the most ours. I looked at her and said, “Definitely the dollar store in Springfield.”

She snorted. “Holy shit, that is so ours. Sour Patch Kids and Cokes.”

“Every day that summer,” I said, grinning as I remembered our obsession with—

“Remember how we’d just binge episodes of Big Time Rush for hours on end?”

“I was just about to say that,” I said, laughing. Technically I’d known Nekesa for only a few years, but we’d been inseparable since that first day together in Mr. Peek’s gym class, aka Toxic Masculinity 101, where she’d spiked a ball right at Cal Hodge’s nose for saying “Looks like Bailey’s boobies came in.”

I still hate Cal Hodge.

“Ah, the simpler times, before we had cars.” Nekesa was chuckling, but then her smile faded away and she said, “Aw shit.”

“Aw shit, what?” I asked, still amused. “What is the shit?”

I followed her gaze to the door, and then I knew what the shit was.

Zack and Kelsie were there. Oh God. They were holding hands, and his head was bent down a little, so he could hear whatever she was saying. She was smiling and he was smiling, and it felt like my heart was constricting in my chest.

They looked so fucking happy.

My stomach hurt as I watched them walk up to the counter. I couldn’t believe it. He really was taking her for Saturday morning coffee. It was such a silly little thing, but my throat was tight because I missed him so much.

I missed us when we were together.

He put his hand on her lower back, and I could almost feel it on my back because that was his go-to gesture whenever we were together.

“Let’s go,” Nekesa said, nudging my arm with her elbow. “I don’t like your face like this.”

That got my attention. I looked away from Zack and said, “What?”

She waved her hand in front of my face and said, “You look like a sad puppy when you see him. I think it’s my job, as your friend, to remove you from any situation that fucks up your face that way.”

I smiled in spite of my heart shattering. “You have no idea how much I love you for that, but can we wait until they go? I’d rather eat curdled milk than have to small-talk with them right now.”