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Skylar took a drink of her coffee. “What’s this mural thing?”
I sat back in the chair and regarded my best friend with a stern look. “And what’s with you and Adam eating Thai together?”
Skylar rolled her eyes. “Point three seconds.”
“Huh?”
She shook her head. “That’s how long it took you to bring up Adam and me still talking.” She dumped a packet of sugar into the drink. “You may hate Adam, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate Adam.”
“But it does! It’s the girl code!” I exclaimed.
“The girl code applies to exes. This doesn’t fit into the girl code,” Skylar reasoned.
“Well, that hurts. So just because Adam and I never went out, you can’t have my back?” I sounded immature, I realized that as soon as the words left my mouth. I was a twenty-eight-year-old woman for Christ’s sake, but I was acting like we were still in high school.
“I had your back when we were seventeen, Meg. I know he hurt you. But it’s been ten damn years. And I was friends with Adam too. We were all best friends, Adam, you, Kyle, and me. We were the four amigos. Sure, we weren’t as close as the two of you were, but we were tight. Adam was the first one who called after my parents split the first time. He would come over and hang out in my room watching movies with me while my mom sobbed in her bedroom and my dad stormed around the house packing his shit.”
“I had no idea.” I felt awful. How could I not know these things? I had thought Skylar and I were best friends. There was Adam, and there was Skylar. Sure, we all hung out together, but I had never thought of them having a friendship separate from me. How egocentric was that? I felt incredibly ashamed.
“You were there for me too, Meg. I wouldn’t have been able to get through all that if it weren’t for our late-night phone calls and sleepovers at your house. But there was Adam—and Kyle—too.”
I swallowed around the thick lump in my throat. It made sense that Adam would support Skylar. He had always been that kind of guy. Until he wasn’t anymore.
It hurt that he could still be that guy for Sky.
“Did you hang out with Chelsea too?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking, inwardly cringing at how babyish I sounded.
Skylar let out a noisy breath. “Yes, sometimes. But mostly Adam was by himself. We talk periodically. Not like we used to, but like old friends, which is what we are. And if you could see things clearly where Adam Ducateis concerned, you’d realize it’s incredibly selfish of you to expect me to cut him out of my life simply because you chose to cut him out of yours.”
I blinked rapidly so I wouldn’t tear up. Skylar’s words hit me hard because she was right. My wounded pride and hurt feelings were hard to let go of, but I needed to at least try. It wasn’t right to make Skylar feel as though she were in the middle. She had been put in that position most of her life by her parents. I had to get a grip.
That didn’t mean I had to forgive the jackass, though.
“I get it now. I’m sorry I jumped all over you,” I apologized.
Skylar shrugged. “It’s cool. I get it. You and Adam have bad blood between you. But you have to understand that’s why I never said anything. Because I knew you’d react just like that.” She pointed at my face.
“Still, Sky, you should have mentioned it.”
She shrugged again. It was one of her more infuriating traits. “Maybe, but you’ve been mad at him for so long it never felt like I could casually mention that ‘Hey, Adam and I still hang out.’”
“Okay, okay, point made.” I held up my hands in surrender. I was done talking about Adam. The topic was giving me a headache.
“So if you’re done grilling me, what’s this about the mural?” Skylar asked.
“It’s the town’s bicentennial this year, I guess. There’s a bunch of stuff planned over the summer to commemorate it. Mr. Ducate mentioned that the town was commissioning a massive mural to be painted downtown along the side of several local businesses. It appears Adam is heading up that committee, and he offered me the job. Which is crazy. I’ve never painted a mural in my life.”
Skylar sipped her coffee, making a face. “Yuck, the girl made me a cappuccino. I ordered a soymilk latte.” She pushed the cup away from her in disgust. “You should do it. It’ll be good for you. It’ll be outside in the fresh air, and you can get back into painting again.”
“I still paint,” I started to argue, but then stopped myself. I could lie to myself, but not to Skylar. “Yeah, okay, it does sound like a great opportunity. And I could use the money. Mom’s having some financial trouble.”
