Page 13 of Scoring with my Bestie's Ex

Even if he was dating other women at the same time.

Once, I thought that behavior meant he really loved me. He was good at talking, that was sure, good at making me doubt myself.

Now I’m starting to see that it wasn’t affection at all. It was territorial.

No wonder Ellen and Aaron can remain friendly even after breaking up. Aaron is so much more mature and confident in himself.

Steven… I don’t know how someone so arrogant can be so insecure.

“Bella?” Aaron touches my elbow. “Are you okay?”

I shake off the thought. There’s no point in comparing Aaron to Steven, except to remind myself why I shouldn’t give Steven another chance.

“Um, I guess I’m a bit distracted,” I admit. “You’d think after I left him at the altar, Steven would be blasting me on social media as if I’m the villain in a bad reality show, instead of chasing me down here and saying we can work things out. What’s next, a love ballad?”

Aaron opens his mouth, then closes it again.

“What?”

“It’s not my place to say anything,” he says slowly. “But honestly? I think he’ll use the fact that you ran from the marriage to manipulate you into giving him everything he wants. If you go back to him, he’ll make you pay for it forever.”

I flinch. He’s probably right.

“Let’s focus on the hunt,” I say quickly. “Okay, here’s an old oak tree. There’s one near the playground.”

Aaron frowns. “I thought we were talking about the oak tree mural on the side of the bowling alley.”

“I’m pretty sure they mean an actual oak tree.” I try to visualize the mural on the side of the bowling alley. “The park is closer, anyway.”

“But if the park oak isn’t old enough, we’ll have to go back to the bowling alley anyway,” Aaron argues.

I frown, heading toward the park. “That mural looks very new, though. It specifically says that it’s an old oak tree. If they meant any oak tree, they’d say that. So let’s just go with the one in the park.”

“Bella, stop.” Aaron hasn’t followed me.

I turn back.

“You can’t just decide I’m wrong and go on ahead without talking to me about it,” he says, frowning.

“But you are wrong.”

“Maybe. And maybe you’re wrong.”

I roll my eyes. “The park is on the way to the other things we need. I’m not wrong, they put everything else together so that it’s a logical progression.”

Aaron opens his mouth and then pauses. He starts to laugh as he shakes his head.

“Listen to us! It’s not a big deal to do both,” he says. “The town’s not that big.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out what game he’s playing.

Only to realize there is no game.

He’s being genuine.

“Let’s go to the park and then get everything else,” he says, walking with me now. “Then on the way to the café, we can swing around the bowling alley and snap a picture of it, too.”

“That’s… reasonable,” I say slowly.

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