Page 102 of Just Friends
“It’s just so crazy to me how one small kiss can change everything,” I mused. “We’ve told each other ‘I love you’ hundreds of times—always as friends, of course. But now, because of one stupid kiss, that line was immediately blurred. And I just can’t stop thinking about him. I used to not care that he slept around, but now I get so jealous justthinkingabout him with other girls.”
Austen’s eyes turned into angry slits. “Wait, did he already fuck someone else after you kissed?!”
“No, no,” I said. “I’m just saying, it’s just a matter of time. Iknowit’s going to happen again. And I know how it’s going to make me feel—like a dagger in my heart. Which is why I gotta get out of our place.”
“Hold up.” Emma tilted her head at me. “Are you saying you love Jax?”
I hesitated, buying time to dodge the question. “Well, like I said, we tell each other ‘I love you’ all the time, so it’s not a big deal.”
“Right, as friends. I get that,” she said. “But are youinlove with him?”
“I mean—” I paused to let out a deep breath. That question was harder to answer. “It’s weird. I think romantic love is a two-way street. And obviously, Jax and I aren’t in a relationship, so my love for him hasn’t been tested like that, you know?” Still, I gave my head a shake. “And yet, it’s like, the loveisthere. It’s just—well—” I stammered, searching for the right word. Then it came out all on its own. “Unrequited.” Saying it that way was a new revelation, though not at all a good one. “Wow. Yeah. That’s it exactly. Iamin love with him, but it’s unrequited. Oof. That hits home.”
Feeling the weight of everyone’s sympathetic eyeballs on me, I chuckled nervously. I caught my reflection in the mirror. I was all dolled up for a night out for a fancy dinner with my “date”—but the expression beneath the pretty mask was just, well, empty.
“Not gonna lie,” I mumbled. “That hurts.”
“Aw.”The WAGs squeezed me up tight in a group hug.
Katerina said, “If Jax can’t see how amazing you are, he’s blind.”
“It’s a shame, really,” Emma said. “Sometimes, these guys just can’t see what’s right under their nose.”
“To be fair, neither did I,” I said.
“It’s his loss,” Austen said. “Seriously, Piper. We all think you’re great. Trust me, you’ll have no problem finding a great guy.”
“I’m not gonna lie; I’m bummed as hell,” Ainsley said with a frown. “This whole time I was secretly hoping that you and Jax reallywerehooking up. I kept thinking that eventually, you guys would come out and announce it, andyay,we could throw you a big WAG welcome party.”
“Weallwere hoping for that,” Katerina said.
I smiled forlornly. “Thanks. I appreciate that. But nope. I don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon.”
“Well, you’ll always be one of us, regardless,” Katerina said, and we group hugged again.
“Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate that.”
A moment of somber silence passed before we separated. Emma clapped her hands to reset the mood. “Okay!” she cheered. “I need to think happy thoughts, or else I’m going to ruin my mascara.”
“Yeah, that’s enough of my sob story,” I said. Determined to turn this night around, I wore a smile and led the girls out of the bathroom. “Let’s get dressed and get ready to have some fun!”
***
Having told the ladies my story, my “break up” with Jax felt more real than ever. I won’t lie—my heart still ached—but that chapter of my life was definitively over now. It was time tomove forward.
Like any good group of friends will do after a break up, the girls turned on Jax. In the name of helping me move on, they nitpicked all the trivial things he’d once said or done that had rubbed them the wrong way. And even though my heart was being pulled in two different directions, I told them all of my Jax pet peeves, too: he always joked around when I was trying to be serious. Sometimes, he’d make weird comments, like the other month when I hugged him and he got weird about my breasts pressing against his chest. He brought girls home from the club too often—which, yeah, I’d said again and again I didn’t have a problem with—but the girls he brought home were always really catty and acted like territorial dogs around me, yappy and snarling.
“ScrewJax,” Austen said. “I had no idea he was such a sleaze.Ugh.”
“Seriously!” Katerina agreed. “I’m so mad at him.”
Ainsley said, “Fuck Jax.”
“Fuck Jax,” the others agreed in a heartbeat.
“Just don’t literallyfuck him,” Emma said to me with a wink.
I almost died laughing. “Oh my God, definitely not! Never!”
