Page 167 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

This is cruel.

And cruel in a lazy way, which somehow makes it worse.

“So he left me, and as you know, I decided to come anyway.” She offers me a one-shouldered shrug. “And I quickly found out about the new girlfriend.”

“Celeste.”

“What?”

“Her name.”

“Oh.” Addy swallows. “Right. I genuinely thought I was hallucinating in there. Like maybe I’d finally snapped, and my brain decided to create the worst possible social scenario imaginable.”

“You didn’t snap.”

“Debatable.”

“No,” I say firmly. “Not debatable.”

She looks at me then, really looks at me, and whatever she sees softens her expression. “I hated that you saw that.”

“What?”

“That.” She gestures vaguely toward herself. “Me freaking out.”

“You were ambushed.”

“I still lost my mind.”

“You were cornered by someone who hurt you.”

Her throat moves as she swallows again. “I don’t like feeling stupid.”

“You aren’t stupid.”

“I moved across states for a man who dumped me beside an Auntie Anne’s.”

“That reflects poorly on him, not you.”

That earns the faintest twitch of her mouth.

Progress.

I step closer again, enough that if she wanted distance she’d have to actively move away.

She doesn’t.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask.

Her brows pull together slightly. “About what?”

“Bryce.”

Understanding flashes across her face. “Ethan?—”

“I’m serious.”

And I am.