Page 86 of Leave Me Broken

“You did.” Alyssa blows a harsh breath. “Look how close you two are. If Ronni was here, she would be right by your side completely immune to me.”

If only we were all immune to her.

Janelle pushes to her feet, ignoring Alyssa on her way from the room. Collins runs after her. I will check on her but right now, I need to deal with Alyssa.

“You are pathetic,” I mutter.

Alyssa scoffs. “Me?”

“Yeah.” It’s not me that says that. Monica, who usually stays neutral in these moments, furrows her black eyebrows. “What the hell, Alyssa? You fucked Collins? You know they have been a couple forever.”

“I wasn’t the only one there, Mon.”

“No shit.” I scoff. “But you knew they were dating. I’m not blaming you anymore than Collins, he has a nut punch coming, but why? Really because you think she stole your friends?”

“She did,” Alyssa bites out. “She showed up and all of a sudden Ronni was too busy to hang out with me anymore.”

I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that feels bad for Alyssa. It’s obvious she believes Janelle stole her friends from her, but that’s not an excuse. Over the years, Alyssa has been awful to all three of us—Ron, Jay, and me—and we’ve all kind of brushed her off because it never meant much. Sleeping with Collins? I’m not just brushing that off and neither will Ronni.

“You think Janelle replaced you, but you couldn’t be more wrong because it was never you. Ronni might have been friends with you, but I never once considered us the same.” I stand, needing to go check on Janelle, but cross my arms and stand in front of Alyssa first. “Sleeping with Collins was low, even for you.”

I turn, heading for the door.

“Ronni was too good for you. That’s why she left. Her manager thought you were a bad influence.”

Pathetic.

“He’s probably right.” I shrug.

“Don’t you think Ash will come to the same conclusion? That he’s too good for you? He could do better. You and I both know it.”

I glance back, eyeing her and doing my best to pretend that didn’t feel like a punch to the gut. “You think I don’t know that?” She says nothing and I laugh humorlessly. “He’s Ash fucking Pearson, of course he can do better than me. I guess I’m just lucky enough that he doesn’t want to.”

Her face contorts with anger. “He’s going to leave you just like everyone else.”

Fucking hell, she’s really digging it in deep tonight. Still, I crack a half smile because my mom just died and there’s not much she can say that will bother me more than not being upset by my own mother’s death.

“You know what happened after your little phone call the other day?” I make my way toward her. The room has cleared out beside Monica, Patrick, and Mika so I have no issues saying what I’m about to. “After your pathetic little phone call of you begging him to pick you instead of me, which by the way, how did that go?”

Her mouth snaps shut after falling open.

“Oh, right. He said it was never you and it was always me.” I wave my hand in the air. “Anyway . . .” I drop my head and bat my eyelashes to her. “We fucked and it was mind-blowing, as always, but that’s not the part I want to tell you about.”

Alyssa’s tears feel like fucking heaven right now. Knowing I made her cry after she made my best friend cry is priceless. “He asked me to marry him.”

“He did?” Monica gasps.

I snap my eyes to her and smile for real. “Mhm. He did.”

“Are you getting married?” Mika hiccups and looks up to me with excited eyes.

I capture my lips between my teeth but regard a silent Alyssa again. Tears still fall from her eyes. “Eventually.”

“So, while you’re lying in bed with whatever guy you convince to fuck you tonight, just remember that Ronni didn’t choose you, Collins didn’t even choose you, and neither did Ash.”

“You fucking bitch,” she hisses.

“Maybe. But only because I’m sick and tired of you hurting the people closest to me. It’ll never be you, Alyssa. Get over it.”

---