Page 25 of Scoring with my Bestie's Ex

He laughs. “Yes, about Ellen. She’s just so awesome. We never run out of things to talk about and she’s always surprising me. She’s hilarious and just so warm.”

“You want to know why she and I didn’t work out?”

With a sheepish smile, he nods.

I consider the question. “We were good together. But that’s all we were, you know? If we had stayed together, it would only have been because we didn’t have a reason to break up.”

“So you didn’t love her?” Mike asks.

“I wouldn’t say that. It’s hard to say. We were good. Our relationship was open and we communicated great. When we disagreed, we didn’t fight. But we weren’t right. We both sensed it.”

Mike nods. “I get that. Not having a reason to break up, but realizing that you weren’t getting that je ne sais quoi.”

“Exactly. It was a mutual choice based on our mutual feelings, too,” I add.

“Right. Which is all to say, are you okay with me officially dating your ex-girlfriend?” Mike once again asks the question, looking up at the sky rather than at me.

His shoulders are tense, worried about what he’ll do if I say no.

I consider giving him a hard time because of that mother crack, but he looks too worried.

I laugh as I slap his back. “Not at all. You two are sickeningly cute together. Ellen is free to be with whoever she wants to be with. Although I will say that I expect you to treat her right. She deserves it.”

Mike releases a relieved breath. “Good. Because it turns out, we all live in the same city. I want to keep seeing her after Castleton. Beyond you and Bella setting us up, I mean.”

“Bella mentioned that you two knew,” I say ruefully. She had been unusually quiet during the few minutes we had alone this morning, but that was the one thing she made sure I knew.

“Ah, good. I’m glad that it’s all out in the open. Now Ellen and I can be just as obvious as we set up you and Bella.”

Surprise ripples through me. “Ellen wants to set me and Bella up together?”

“I was joking.” A devilish grin crosses his face. “But you want us to, don’t you?”

I chuckle. “If I want a relationship with Bella, I think I can handle it myself.”

“So you’re saying I couldn’t handle a relationship with Ellen by myself?” Mike challenges.

“Sure. If you say me and Bella playing matchmaker because I needed something to distract her from her jerk of an ex is indicative of you being unable to handle a relationship,” I ramble.

Mike’s expression drops. “That’s why you were doing it?”

“That, and the chemistry between you two is obvious.”

Mike runs a hand through his sweaty hair. “Ellen and I wondered why you were doing it. Guess I didn’t think too much about it.”

I study him. We’re nearly back to the cabin at this point. “Are you disappointed in my reasons?”

“Not so much that as annoyed Bella’s ex is here at all. Ellen and I could still spend time together if he wasn’t being a creepy stalker. Seriously, he’s like a raccoon that won’t leave the trash alone.”

I laugh, and the mood lightens. We get into the cabin and find Ellen and Bella in the living room. They have some old TV show on while Bella works in her sketchbook.

“Hello,” Ellen sings, as though it’s been days rather than a couple of hours since we last saw each other.

Mike’s entire face lights up as he greets her. They’re so twitter-pated that I can’t help but chuckle. I glance at Bella to exchange amused looks.

To my surprise, she doesn’t look up from her sketches.

“You working on your designs again?” I ask her as Ellen and Mike have a flirty exchange.

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