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I sit up straighter on my bed.
Please don’t say you’re kicking me out. Please don’t say you’re kicking me out.
She grimaces as she continues, “I just saw that Cooper shared a photo of him and Samantha on Facebook. It looks like it’s officiallyofficial. She’ll likely be his plus-one at the wedding.”
She mimes gagging as I sag with relief. “Oh. That’s…huh. That’s…”
I don’t know the right word.
She plops down on my bed and frowns. “Want me to kick him out of the wedding?”
I can’t help but laugh. She’s misread my mood and thinks I’m actually upset about this news. “Not sure how you can do that seeing as how he’s Wesley’s best man.”
She shrugs, unperturbed. “Yes, well, the wedding is still two months away, so Wesley has time to find a new best man before then. What? Like it’s hard?”
I smile. “It’s all good. I promise. Look”—I hold up my hands—“I’m not crumbling into a million pieces or anything.”
I realize I’ve put myself in an awkward position in the last few weeks. By keeping so much of myself hidden from Sonya, she’s been forced to assume my malaise and sadness are caused by my breakup with Cooper. That couldn’t be further from the truth, but if I admit none of it is really bothering me, I’m opening myself up to further questions, questions I really,reallywant to avoid. So I play dumb. I let her assume what she will and I don’t correct her. I know that’s slightly horrible and still considered lying, but it’s all I can do at the moment. I’m just trying to keep it together.
It feels like I’m fighting a losing battle, but I’m not quite ready to give up.
Not yet.
“Also, not to point out the obvious, but like…have you seen her?”
I frown. “Who?”
“His new girl. Theotherwoman.”
It occurs to me for the very first time that no, I have no idea what Cooper’s mistress-turned-girlfriend looks like. Because unlike with Professor Barclay, it hasn’t even occurred to me to check up on Cooper now that he’s not in my life anymore.
“No.”
She puffs out a short laugh. “Oh god. Wesley and I were freaking out when we first saw her. I mean…she looks…justlike you. Like not exactly or anything because you’re, well…fucking gorgeous.” She holds up her hand when I open my mouth. “Andstop, I know you’re about to try to refute the obvious, but I don’t want to hear it. I’ve been your best friend for how many years now? I’ve had to endure all the stares every time we walk through a crowded restaurant, the guys who literally trip over themselves to get your number. No. This girl doesn’t hold a candle to you, but if you squint one eye and cover up the other one, she could be like your cousin or something. It’s obvious he’s not over you.”
I know she’s telling me this to try to make me feel better, but it only makes me feel guiltier. “Wellhe’sthe one who cheated.”
“The jerk.”
I shake my head then point toward her binder, ready to switch gears and move the spotlight off me.
“Is there something you need to do for the wedding?”
She looks down. “Oh. Yeah, I’m about to go over to Wesley’s. We’re working on the flowers tonight. And bywe, I meanme. I just wanted to check on you before I left.”
“Thanks. You’re a good friend, Son.”
She winks. “Don’t I know it. And just between you and me…there’s some Rocky Road ice cream in the freezer.”
I moan like I’ve never heard anything more arousing in my entire life, and she laughs before it abruptly cuts off and her eyes widen with a forgotten thought.
“Oh! Did you hear the news?” I expect her to bring up something else about Cooper or perhaps something to do with the wedding. “The New York Timesbroke a story just like an hour ago about some previously undiscovered Gilded Age mansion commissioned by the Vanderbilts. Did you see the Instagram post about it?”
“What?No.”
I’m already sitting up straighter, leaning in.
“Yeah. It’s in Belle Haven, out on some gated waterfront property that once belonged to Alva Vanderbilt. Didn’t she own The Breakers? Or was that Alice? I forget. Anyway, I can’t remember the exact details, but the property’s just been sitting there, half-finished and empty for who knows how long. Alva commissioned some famous architect to design it.”
