“Wait,” Wren said. “Is there drama? Are you two fighting?”
“No.” This time Grace said it. “It’s not with me.”
“And it’s nothing new.” Jade crossed her arms. “Seriously, guys. Don’t worry about me.”
“Yeah, not happening,” Mollie said with a shake of her head. “If you don’t want to talk about it, then fine. But if something’s wrong, at least tell us.”
That made Jade’s shoulders slump. “Wow, call me out, why don’t you? And it’s seriously just the same old same old. It’s Gabe again.”
“Did he do something?” Wren asked. “Because we can fight him for you. Or murder him. I usually like the second option, but Henry’s worried about me getting arrested.”
Jade laughed at that. “Thanks for offering, but no. Nothing’s happened.”
“And that’s half the problem,” Grace added.
My confusion was more than likely showing on my face because Jade looked at me and then spoke again. “I have this guy. His name is Gabriel.”
“Yeah, him.” Mollie rolled her eyes. “The shitty ex who left.”
“Right. I guess that’s what he is.” Her shoulders sank again. “But once upon a time, he was way more than that. We were best friends. We were each other’s firsts.”
“What happened?” I asked slowly.
“He had dreams of getting out of this town. I didn’t. Nothing was gonna stop him from leaving.” She shrugged. “He’s happy wherever he is, that’s for sure. He’s made it a mission to never come back, which I guess is my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” Grace said.
“No, it is. I told him not to come back. I can be a little ... fiery when angry. I blew up, and he left. I haven’t seen or heard from him since. I doubt he even thinks about me, which doesn’t make sense considering our whole childhoods were ...” She trailed off and shook her head. Her eyes glistened.
God, I couldn’t imagine. I’d written books with a second chance in them, but I’d never seen the pain that could cause firsthand. Jade was always so full of life and bright. Even when I saw her on the street, it seemed like nothing could stop her.
I was the one who had known her for the least amount of time, and even I knew this was weighing heavily on her.
And I hated it.
Grace was the first to pull Jade into a hug. “I amsosorry, Jade. But I’m proud of you for finally talking about it.”
Mollie followed. “Me too.”
Wren did the same, and they were all a pile on Jade. For thefirst time in my life, I wanted to join. My body locked up when I thought of it, but there was one thing I could do.
I took a shaky breath. Every muscle in my body tried to tense. They tried to tell me that I was in danger and I would get hurt.
But I knew the truth. I trusted everyone in this room.
I fought against it, pushing past it every time I tried to stop.
Eventually, I touched Jade’s hand.
All of the women noticed.
“Holy shit.” Jade blinked her tears away. “You’re touching me.”
“Yeah, I am. I don’t want you to be alone.”
She stared at me, and she finally crumbled.
And we all held her through it in the ways we could.
