Page 39 of Only a Kiss

“Thanks for meeting with me,” I said, my hands cupping my coffee.

Jenna nodded, but still sat with her arms crossed, the coffee I bought her sitting untouched on the table.

“You wanted to talk.So talk.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, my shoulders sagging.

I texted Jenna last night after Travis left, and after I realized she wasn’t going to answer any of my dozen phone calls.She agreed to meet with me, and I knew I had a lot of damage control to do.

“I never should’ve done it,” I whispered.

It was hard to say those words because I didn’t regret my time with Travis, even as heartbroken as I felt now and even though I was sitting across from my best friend with no certainty that she even wanted that title anymore.But it was also not a lie to say I shouldn’t have been with him, because I knew from the start that this was the likely outcome.

Her brow furrowed and jaw shifted back and forth like she was chewing on her words.“Have you guys been going behind my back for years?”

“No!”I leaned forward, my whole body emphasizing the word.“No, it was recent.About a month or so ago, I saw him at that masquerade ball for the Los Angeles Historical Society and then ran into him again a few days later.Do you remember when I was supposed to have a date with that Josh guy I met on the dating app?”

She nodded.

“Well, he couldn’t make it—something about getting called into an important surgery or something.But Travis—your dad,” I corrected.“He was there with a potential client and stopped at my table on his way out.When he found out I got stood up, he joined me so I wouldn’t have to eat alone.It was…” I covered my mouth with the tips of my fingers and fought back the surge of emotion the memory brought up.It was the best date I’d ever had, but I doubted she wanted to hear that.I shook my head and changed gears.“That’s when it started.It was only going to be the one time, but, well, then it wasn’t.”

She leaned forward, her gaze now slightly more curious than guarded.“What were you going to say before?It was…what?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, staring down at my coffee instead of her.She could read me too well, and she was clearly persistent because she didn’t give up.

“It does matter, and you used to tell me everything.”

The hurt in her voice fed the guilt already eating away at me, so I closed my eyes and confessed.“It was the best night of my life—everything about it.The date.The way he made me laugh.The way he made me feel.His touch.It was by far the best date I’ve ever had.We clicked like I never have with anyone else.And after…”

“Okay, I changed my mind.You don’t need to go into those details.I just wanted to know about the date.I don’t want to know about theafter.”

“Fair enough.”

She picked up her coffee and finally took a sip before placing it back on the table.“Are you in love with him?”

“I think the answer to that is pretty obvious by now,” I said, my voice small, smaller than I’d like.

“I want to hear you say it, I guess.”

Emotion choked me, but I swallowed it down and met her eyes.“Yes.I’m in love with him.”

She watched me carefully.“So, then what happened?”

How could I tell her the truth?Thatshehappened.That we were doomed from the start because neither of us wanted to hurt her and knew it would never work.

I shrugged and told her another truth I’d come to terms with.“He didn’t love me, and it ran its course.”

Her eyes turned to slits.“I saw you two last night, not to mention the last week.He’s been miserable.So have you.”

I shrugged again.“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Jenna.He ended it, but the truth is we both knew there was an expiration date.It’s my fault I let my heart get involved.I should’ve known better.”

Silence descended between us, and neither of us spoke for several minutes.

“Were you two together at the lake?”

“Yes,” I admitted.

She looked off to the side and nodded.Then her gaze shot to mine.“That day I came by his house after shopping with my mom—you weren’t there to see me, were you?You’d been there with him?”

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