“The Legacy meeting got moved up. I’m going straight to Cancun, then back to Albuquerque, then driving back to Vegas. So, a few days? Actually, can I ask you a huge favor?”
“Let me guess. Feed the fish?”
“You’re the only other person who knows how. The fish guy will be there sometime this week, but can you just make sure—”
“Is the spare key still under that ugly toad statue by the back gate?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right, baby, I got you. I’ll feed the fish and you go knock your presentation out of the park. You just enjoy your last few days.”
“Enjoy my last few days of what?”
“Being single. Because the minute you get home, I’m making you mine, officially. No more gray area. No more questions about what we’re doing. And definitely no more kissing other people.”
“Good, okay, that sounds—”
The call waiting beeps, so I pull the phone from my ear to check who’s calling. I’m mistaken. It’s just a text message, but the notifications make me catch my breath.
Mason
I’m coming clean to Avery after the Legacy deal is secured.
We’re over, Palmer. For good this time. I want her back.
“Avery?” I hear Finn ask through the phone, but my head goes fuzzy. My heart is tingling with nervous anticipation. The same sick feeling of dread you get at the top of a roller coaster when you know you’re about to take a plunge.
“Finn, that sounds perfect, but I have to go. We’ll talk soon.”
I hang up and open the message thread. Palmer and Mason were friends while we were dating, and Palmer has stepped in as my intermediary through the worst part of our breakup, so I’m not surprised that they text.
What surprises me are all the naked pictures.
All the dirty text messages.
The I love yous and I want yous.
My heart has collapsed, but my investigative brain doesn’t fail me. I know what’s going on, but I want details. I need more facts. This is my best friend and my ex-boyfriend. Of all the people to rebound with. How they hell could they do this to me?
I run across a familiar message and can confirm Mason’s first lie to me. Rumble app, my ass. He must’ve accidentally duplicated the message and sent it to me because he was talking to me and Palmer at the same time. What a snake.
Mason
I want to see you tonight. It’s been over a month. I need that sweet pussy in my mouth again.
Palmer
Come get it. You know where I’m staying.
Mason
It’s either a flight or a twelve-hour drive to Albuquerque.
Palmer
I’ll make it worth your while.
It takes me another minute of scrolling before I realize the damage runs so much deeper.
This was no rebound.
Mason
I’m giving her the ring, tonight.
Palmer
Why are you going to propose if you don’t love her?
Mason
Stop. It’s over. We can’t do this anymore.
Palmer
How can you choose her after years of telling me you love me?
Mason
Because I love her, too.
The messages are constant, and I scroll as far as I can before I’ve seen enough. It’s been a back-and-forth saga of betrayal, guilt, and jealousy and I see clearly for the first time in my life why Palmer loves me so much…why she needs me close.
She loves a competition that she knows she can win.
I take a couple of screenshots of the messages and text them to myself, praying Finn isn’t going through my texts. If Mason getting pissy over the Legacy deal was enough to cause Finn to puff up like a bear and threaten him, imagine his reaction when he finds out Mason committed the ultimate crime in Finn’s eyes.
I watch her finish at the check-out desk and return to our table. In a single moment, Palmer’s entire appearance has changed. She’s wearing the same blue jean shorts and baggie crop top hoodie. Her blond hair is pulled back in the same wispy ponytail that it was ten minutes ago, but the person who joins me at the table has an entirely different identity.
She slumps into a chair across from me. “Fuckers are trying to charge me for incidentals over some stupid cheap lamp.” She groans. “I am so excited not to live in a hotel anymore.” She examines my face and her lips fall into a hard line. “Are you okay?”
“I need my keys,” I force out.
She yanks her purse from her shoulder and fishes out my keys. “Of course. I assumed you’d drive.” Handing them over, she asks again, “What’s wrong?”
I grip my keys so hard my knuckles turn white. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” I ask.
“What? Yeah…”
“No, I don’t think you do, Palmer. See, I think you were the first person outside of my parents that I ever really loved with my whole heart.”
She holds her hand to her heart but squints. I realize my message and my tone don’t match, so she’s confused about how to respond. “Are you okay? Who called from your phone?” She points to her phone in front of me.
“Everything I know about how to be in a relationship of any kind came from you. It was symbiotic. You’re a taker, so naturally, I became a giver. I became a giver to everybody. Including Mason. He wanted a nice girl, a homebody, no drama, hard worker…”
“Okay… Avery, you’re freaking me out.”
“But he wanted a skank, too, didn’t he? And I couldn’t be that, so you were happy to step in.”
Her face freezes. “Don’t—”
“I know. I know everything. Don’t insult me by playing stupid. Are you really in love with him, or was it just entertaining to play me for the fool?”
Her eyes start to well. “No…no. I’m sor—I’m so, so—Sorry.”
She can barely get her words out as she breathes in short heaves and fear fills her eyes. I don’t know why she’s hyperventilating like that. I’ve never struck a person in my life. I’m not about to start now. Maybe she’s afraid because she knows the only damn person in this world who’s been loyal to her…
Is about to leave her in the dust.
“Just be honest. How long? I at least know you tried to talk him out of proposing to me. That’s all I needed for our friendship to be over. So tell me the truth. You’ve got nothing to lose. You’ve got no one left to lose.”
Her face goes ghost white and red splotchy patches form on her cheeks as her eyes fill with tears. “Since your first date,” she says through cries. “I’ve loved him as long as you have.”
I scoff at the ridiculous sentiment. “That’s not love, Palmer. You helped turn Mason into a cheating, spineless excuse of a man. I brought out the good parts of him. You brought out the worst. Maybe that’s why he kept me around… Because he didn’t like what he was with you. But at the end of the day, guess which version of himself he chose?”
She sobs harder. “You don’t understand—”
“Stop. You could’ve talked to me,” I murmur, my anger cooling, just for a moment as I watch her all but collapse in front of me. “You could’ve been honest about your feelings. I would’ve let you have him, Palmer. I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy. I used to think Mason was a good guy and I wanted a good guy for you.”