Page 110 of Such a Good Girl

I spent my days wallowing in agony, lost in feeling sorry for myself. All I could think about was West and how I’d hurt him so badly. I thought about my sister, how I’d worked my ass off for all those years trying to make up for not protecting her.

And for what? I had nothing left to show for any of it.

I’d stopped myself from calling West at least a dozen times. If he wanted to talk to me, he knew my number. He didn’t. The silence was deafening.

“God, this is excruciating,” I complained to Violet. She’d allowed me three days of burrowing into my bed and then announced this morning that I was done. She’d pulled me out of bed, pushed me into the shower, and then dragged me to the spa, despite my loud words of protest.

We sat in the hot tub, now. The bubbles were doing absolutely nothing to relieve the tension in my body.

“Look, I get it. It’s West Foster. He’s hot. Totally fuckable…”

“You have no idea. God, don’t remind me.”

“But he came with a whole fucking mess of drama, Kaylee. You can’t deny that. I know you have feelings for him, but your life is going to be a lot easier without him.”

“I know,” I said, even though I didn’t feel easier without him. I felt like my heart was a tornado, spinning with pain and regret. Longing for something I could never have.

“Hey, ladies!” We looked up to see Everleigh walking over to us. She wore nothing but a tiny pink bikini and a pair of oversized white sunglasses. With her long, flowing hair, she looked like Barbie come to life.

“Everleigh!” Violet said, shooting me a quick glance. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her. She surely knew everything that happened.

She held up both hands. “Truce!” she said. “I come in peace. We don’t even have to talk about my brother. I just want to be a part of your girl gang, please? I love you both.”

Her words put me at ease and I smiled. “Please join us.”

She slipped in the water with us, then came over and gave me a hug, surprising me completely. I hugged her back, gratitude filling my heart. She pulled away and sat down, leaning against the wall. She looked like the movie star she was.

“So, you’re a cop, huh? I never would have guessed, Kaylee!”

I sighed, shaking my head. “I was. Not anymore.”

“You quit? Why?”

“It’s a long story. It starts with hope and ends in misogyny.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“Kaylee’s feeling sorry for herself. I’m trying to pull her out of it,” Violet piped up.

“Sounds familiar,” Everleigh said.

“What do you mean?”

“West is just as miserable as you, for the record.” She held her hands up again. “I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about him.”

“It’s okay,” I shrugged. “I feel terrible. To be honest, he’s all I can think about. Might as well talk about him.”

“I’ve never seen him so miserable,” she admitted.

“Great,” I said, sarcastically, shaking my head. “That makes me feel so much better.”

“Sorry,” she muttered. “But can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Like, I get why he’s upset. You lied. But, not for a bad reason. You weren’t trying to hurt him, were you?”

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