Page 26 of 10 Days to Ruin

“And I took him to this amazing show when the circus was in town. They even had lions!”

“But isn’t he…?”

“An animal rights’ activist?” Gina finishes for me.

“Exactly! He loves animals.”

Gina and I exchange glances. I’m starting to see poor Ethan’s side of the story.

Lora continues, blissfully unaware. “That was for our one-month anniversary…”

“Wait, you were together for amonth?” Gina blurts out.

“Thirty magical days,” Lora confirms wistfully. “I was going to be his wife.”

“Did he tell you that?” Gina asks.

“No. I did.”

“Alright!” I cut her off, afraid of where this is going. Suddenly, my life doesn’t seem so bad. “It’s getting late, so we should go back to the?—”

“No, no,” Gina insists. “I want to hear what happened. You told him you’d be his wife?”

“Yeah.” Lora shrugs. “I planned a whole thing with the ringmaster and proposed.”

Gina’s jaw is hanging open in sheer glee. “This is the best day of my life.”

“Let me get this straight,” I interrupt. “You hand-fed your vegan boyfriend ragu, bought tickets to an animal circus, and proposed on your one-month anniversary? And then he broke up with you?”

God, who could blame him?

“You’re right,” Lora sighs. For a second, hope sparks in my heart—the hope that I’m about to hear anything remotely self-aware. Then: “… I do deserve better.”

Nope. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

She dusts herself off and rises. “Thanks, you guys. That actually made me feel a lot lighter.”

“Anytime,” Gina says. For once, I’m one-hundred percent sure she actually means it.

Lora gives us a smile and a wave, then disappears back through the window.

“You’re an awful friend,” I snap at Gina the minute Lora’s footsteps fade.

“Are you kidding? We need to hang out with her more.”

“I’m serious!”

She shrugs. “Didn’t hear you take Evan’s side, Mother Teresa.”

“Ethan,” I correct. But dammit, she’s right. “Ifthatis what the dating pool looks like, maybe I should take my dad and Sasha up on the offer. That was bleak.” I sigh and crumple forward, head between my knees in thethis-plane-is-gonna-crashposition. “What am I gonna do, Gee?”

“Well, it sounds like Lora might have a contact at the circus, if you were thinking of joining up.”

I twist around to glare at her. “This is my life you’re mocking.”

She sighs and leans back against the metal grates, mischief fading from her face. “Fine. You want serious? I can be serious. You seriously have almost no options.”

“No, I have three.” I tick them off on my fingers. “One, I run. But Leander will find me eventually. And if and when he does, he might actually follow through on his threats. Tobothof us.” I glance meaningfully at her so she remembers she has skin in this game, too. “Two, I play along and try to find leverage like you suggested last night. But that could take months, and the wedding’s probably got some insane accelerated timeline.”

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