Page 73 of One-Star Romance

“Sure,” Tyler said, and snapped his mouth shut.

Natalie stepped closer to Angus. “I’m sorry. I did a stupid, selfish thing when I was twenty-six, but I truly didn’t mean any harm by it. And I barely knew you at that point—”

“Right,” Angus said. He nodded, then kept nodding, giving himself the appearance of a sad bobblehead. “Well, we all make mistakes.”

For some reason Natalie couldn’t comprehend, Rob decided to step in. “I think anyone who knows you recognizes that the book version is not the full picture of who you are.”

Angus looked around at the group of them. “Does everyone but me know about this, then?” he asked. For such a naturally buoyant man, he seemed deflated, all the air let out of him. “Has everyone known the whole time?”

“No,” Natalie said weakly, as Rob looked down at his feet and Gabby reached out a sympathetic arm.

“I guess it is an in-joke,” Angus said to Tyler. “I just wasn’t part of it.” Angus’s face, previously flushed with the joy of the party, had gone pale, even as he tried to keep his mouth fixed in a smile. “Serves me right, I should’ve read the book, huh?” His attempt at cheer was the worst part. Suddenly, Natalie could see him as a little boy, keeping his chin up as bullies taunted him. No wonder Rob had flown so fully to his defense. Watching Angus like this was hell.

“Excuse me.” Angus swallowed a few times. “I need to…I should go check on Christina.” Giving them all an awkward goodbye salute, he turned, then power walked away as they stared after him.

“I’ll go see if he’s okay,” Rob said after a moment of silence.

“No, let me,” Gabby said, her voice flinty.

“Gabby, wait,” Natalie said, grabbing her arm, and Gabby turned with fury in her eyes.

“I have to go check on my husband.”

“I know. But please…”

“I’ve got it,” Rob said, and disappeared up the stairs after Angus.

“Fine, you want to talk?” Gabby spat at Natalie. “Come here.”

She stalked over to a nearby door and threw it open, leading Natalie down into a finished basement. Wall-to-wall carpet, on which lay scattered mounds of Christina’s toys, a pretend kitchen here, a ukulele there. The muffled clomping of the guests upstairs sounded above them, faint compared to the ringing in Natalie’s ears.

Gabby folded her arms across her chest. “Well, what do you want to say to me?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t believe that Tyler would say all that.” Nat held her hands up. “But at least maybe this has cured you of your crush?”

She’d been trying to make Gabby laugh. And Gabby did laugh, but it was hollow, disbelieving. “Really, that’s it? You’re just going to blame it on him.”

“No.” Natalie breathed out. “Obviously this happened because of me. And I’m sorry, and I wish I could go back and rewrite the book, which is actually why I made Dennis so different in the TV show—”

“A TV show that is probably bringing a whole new audience to the novel,” Gabby said, her tone flat.

“Not really. You might be shocked to learn that the people who love the show aren’t that interested in reading semi-masturbatory literary fiction about girls and their feelings. And I told the team that I didn’t want any of the show’s publicity or press releases to mention Apartment 2F.”

“How noble of you. Now, if you’re done, I’m going up to Angus,” Gabby said, starting to turn away.

“Wait,” Natalie said, and Gabby turned back. Natalie felt like she and her best friend hadn’t really looked at each other in years. Now, the two of them standing across from each other like cowboys getting ready for a duel, Nat noticed all the new details that she hadn’t been privy to as they were happening—the threads of gray at Gabby’s temples, the way her round cheeks had grown thinner. She used to be able to read her friend’s expressions as easily as her favorite book. Now, she barely recognized her. “Please stay, and let’s talk this out just a little longer.”

Gabby rubbed her eyes and said quietly, “You’re always trying to make me choose between him and you.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is! Don’t you see? You’ve humiliated the man I love for your own benefit, not just once, but for years. You wanted me to fawn over your book when it dragged my husband through the mud, and now you want me to make you feel better about this too. But I won’t. If you’re going to force me to pick sides, I choose him.”

A breath escaped Natalie like she’d been punched in the stomach. “Oh, believe me, I know,” she said, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. “You’ve been choosing him ever since you met him.”

Gabby thrust her chin up. “You’re my friend. He’s my family.”

“I get that. And it’s not like I’m asking you to leave him and run away with me. But you’re still my first priority, and I feel sometimes like you could take me or leave me.”

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