Page 57 of Somewhere in the Sunset

I collapse onto the couch with a sheepish groan. It was inevitable that my friends would find out about Weston, but I’ve been trying to buy myself some time to understand my relationship with him first before confiding in anyone else about it. Admittedly, it’ll be nice not to lie to Elena and Maddie about my whereabouts going forward. On Friday, when Weston and I biked across the Golden Gate Bridge, I told them I did it on my own.

Elena taps her foot impatiently, an eyebrow arched.

“Okay, you caught me. I’ve been seeing Weston.” I grab a pillow and hide behind it, shielding myself from the tirade of questions Elena will surely throw at me, but she takes me by surprise when she gushes, “Awwww!”

She settles on the couch next to me and yanks the pillow out of my grasp. “Why don’t you ever listen to me? I knew you guys would be good for each other!”

I purse my lips and remind her, “You mean you thought we’d be good for each other in the way of rebound sex.”

“Well, yes,” Elena says, “but if it’s become something more than that, then even better! He’s hot. And he’s a cop. Now I understand why you’ve been somewhat stable recently .?.?. Fuck heartbreak. You’ve got a new man!”

I roll my eyes and grab the pillow back from her, scratching anxiously at the fabric. “I’m handling the breakup better than before, not entirely because of Weston, but because of Luca himself. He’s turned into an insufferable jerk. Him and Weston even got into it at a bar the other week. He was talking trash about me and Weston put him in his place.”

“Mmm. A man defending your honor. That’s sexy.” Elena sighs dreamily. “Tell meeverything.”

And it’s not a difficult thing to ask of me, because I have so, so much to say about Weston. All good things, of course.

WESTON

Cameron has somehow roped both Brooks and me into a joint training session at the gym. How he pinned Brooks down, I have no idea, but I’m glad he’s shown up. The only person slacking with their workout routine more than me is Brooks, so at least there is comfort in unity. Cameron is hell-bent on making us suffer.

“Hold up,” Brooks says, heaving himself upright from the bench. Sweat drips from his brow. “Why are you grabbing more plates?”

Cameron slides a weighted plate onto one end of the barbell. “Because it’s too easy. You aren’t struggling enough. I need you to rep until failure.” He adds another plate to the other side.

Brooks exchanges a horrified look with me, and I shake my head sympathetically. “My elbows almost caved in during that set and I momentarily lost my breath,” he says. “You don’t consider that struggling?”

“Nope.”

“I hate this shit,” Brooks grumbles, and he lies back down on the bench, praying to God above that Cameron lets us walk out of this gym alive. He grits his teeth with determination while Cameron steps up behind the bench to spot him.

I’ve already agonized through my bench press, so I’m nursing my noodle arms pathetically while sipping on a protein shake. Cameron isn’t having it.

“Didn’t I tell you to do lateral raises?”

“You’re the worst,” I mutter as I slink off to grab some dumbbells.

Although my shoulders burn, my chest aches, and I can no longer feel my arms, this push session isn’t actuallythatbad. It’s good to be back in the gym after so long and already my head feels clearer, so I promise myself I’ll try and fit in workouts on my days off. It’ll help my sanity.

When I return with my dumbbells, I find Brooks close to death, the barbell dipping dangerously low to his chest, until Cameron sighs and jumps in to rescue him. It’s a good thing Adam has never stepped foot in a gym and never plans to, because he couldn’t handle Cameron’s militant regime. There’d be a fight in the middle of this weights section.

“I’m done. I’mdone,” Brooks splutters, grabbing his towel and wiping sweat from his face.

Cameron gives me a pointed look and I begin repping out lateral raises to appease him.

“I only came because I wanted to tell you guys something,” says Brooks. He remains seated on the bench and interlocks his hands between his knees. “You know Nicole and I just celebrated our third anniversary at the weekend .?.?. Well, I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and it’s definitely what I want.” He looks up from the floor with a smile. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

I stop cranking out reps.

“Congratulations, man!” Cameron says, clasping Brooks’ shoulder.

This is an exciting declaration for Brooks, but it feels like a punch in the gut to me. Charlotte and I were together longer, yet not once did the thought of marrying herevercross my mind. I never envisioned buying a home together, never pictured her in a bridal gown, never thought about kids with her .?.?. I never thought of Charlotte as my future, but was that another selfish mistake of mine, or was she just nevermeantto be my future?

“That’s great news,” I say, plastering a grin on my face. Itisgreat news for Brooks, but it throws up a lot of questions for me. “When are you planning on proposing?”

“This month sometime,” says Brooks. “I need to think of something unique and romantic first, but I’m sure she’d say yes even if I got down on one knee with a gummy ring.”

“Oh, she absolutely will. Can I be your best man?” Cameron asks.

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