Page 50 of Guarded Love

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I’ll give you that much. She’s going to have to go off on her own, and I have to let go of a lot of shit.” He sighed anyway. “But I will never, ever accept the two of you together. It’s not gonna happen. I know too much about you. I don’t care how you want to reframe what happened. From where I’m standing, you betrayed me. I can’t forgive that, either.”

“That’s fine.” It wasn’t, but I wasn’t as worried for myself. “Just make it right with her. Do that much for me. Don’t let your fucking pride get in the way.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the advice.” He threw me one last dirty look before walking out the door.

This time, I didn’t try to stop him.

23

EVELYN

The only option had been to go back to Boston to get away from Barrett before either of us said something we couldn’t take back, but there was a flaw with that plan.

It left me alone, only I thought I was accustomed to that. Maybe I would’ve been fine with it if I hadn’t learned what it meant to be part of things. Now I did, and there was no going back.Would life kindly stop being so damn unfair?

“Is everybody on?” Olivia leaned in close enough that I could practically see her pores. “Hello? Can you hear me?”

I waved to my screen, where I saw Lourde, Pepper, and Olivia. “I think we’re all here,” Lourde offered to Olivia, who had set up the call.

“This had better be good,” Pepper warned. “I blew off a trip to the salon for this.”

“Okay, now we know it’s serious.” I laughed. It wasn’t easy to laugh when my heart was still so heavy. Aching. Broken.

I forced myself to put on a happy face for the girls. “So what’s up, already? What’s the big news?” I looked at Lourde, expecting it to be something to do with their business, but she seemed as clueless as the rest of us.

Olivia cleared her throat. “Can I get a drumroll, please?”

Pepper banged her hands against a table. When she stopped with a flourish, Olivia held up her left hand so we could all admire the stunning diamond ring that pretty much covered half her finger.

“Oh my God!” Lourde covered her mouth and squealed while Pepper shrieked with excitement.

“He proposed last night! It was absolutely perfect. I’ve never been so happy!” Olivia’s eyes sparkled with tears, and she couldn’t stop smiling. “I just had to tell you all!”

“I’m so happy for you.” I was, really. She had gone out of her way more than once to make me feel included, liked, and supported. But I still had to fight the overwhelming pressure that bloomed in my chest at the evidence of somebody else’s happiness. It would never be mine. I thought it might for a minute there, but I should’ve known better.

I had the rest of my life to curse myself for letting it happen.

“We’re having a big party on Friday night. Everybody’s invited, no excuses,” she added with narrowed eyes. “We want you all to be here.”

“Um…” I raised my hand. “I don’t know if that’s going to work.”

“No, you have to,” Lourde insisted. “You need to make him grovel. I know you don’t want to see Barrett, but maybe he needs to see you. I think the best revenge you could get would be to show up looking fantastic and letting him know he can’t control your life. And this is his wife and baby mama talking, so you know I’m serious.” Lourde leaned in close to the screen and scowled. “So you’re going to be at this party, babe. I don’t care if I have to go up to Boston and drag you all the way back down here kicking and screaming.”

Pepper and Olivia nodded firmly in agreement. After the texting that had gone on in the days since my sudden departure from Manhattan, they were totally caught up and still weren’t about to let me sit this one out.

“What about him? Will he be there?” I couldn’t say his name. There was no way I would get through it without weeping if I tried.

Lourde blew out a heavy, sad sigh. “He doesn’t want to have anything to do with Barrett right now, and I know the feeling is mutual. It might be better if Magnus steers clear.”

Talk about your mixed emotions. On the one hand, it was a relief. He still hadn’t tried to reach out to me, so it was pretty clear he figured our entire relationship—if that was what it was—was over.

On the other? My heart craved him. My eyes, my hands, my entire body.

“It’s time for you to step out and shine, girl,” Pepper declared.

I wasn’t so sure about that, but I would at least try. I wasn’t going to let Barrett push me back into a life I didn’t want—alone, friendless, standing on the sidelines and wishing I could be a part of things. I’d have to start jumping in and making things happen for myself.

A party for my new friends seemed like as good a place to start as any.

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