My boyfriend wanted to break up. To keep me from clinging to him, his best friend told me he was dead. “Brooke, I’m so sorry for your loss.” I nodded slowly. “I’ve already booked the abortion.” He completely lost it. Jason was so eaten alive by guilt that he couldn’t sleep, violently slapping his own face in the middle of the night. The day he accompanied me to the clinic for the procedure, my boyfriend caught us red-handed and beat him to a pulp. “I was too afraid of hurting her to even touch her, and you dared to land her in the hospital?!” Jason: “?” That night, Jason spammed my phone like a lunatic. Can you get pregnant without being touched? Answer me, you psycho! 1 After Nathan stormed out of the house, I got a text from his best friend, Jason. Nathan got into a brutal car crash last night. They spent hours trying to resuscitate him, but he didn’t make it. He’s gone. When I read the text, I was actually standing right behind the “deceased.” Nathan was sitting at a dark corner booth in the bar, staring silently at a glass of whiskey he hadn’t even touched. Jason was barely holding back a massive, gloating grin. He offered some horribly fake comfort. “You spoiled her too much, man. That’s why she thinks she can walk all over you.” Nobody threw a party faster than Jason when Nathan and I fought. For as long as we’d been dating, Jason had been dripping poison into Nathan’s ear about me. He looked intimidating, his sharp, dark features always carrying a trace of a scowl. He was always so gruff. Even when he was just standing there doing nothing, I was convinced he was plotting my demise in his head. During the peak of his hatred for me, he actually spent a ridiculous amount of money on a spiritual medium to see if Nathan had been put under some kind of love hex. I hated having strangers in my space, so we never hired a maid. Nathan did all the cooking and cleaning. Once, Jason dropped by and caught Nathan wearing a pink teddy-bear apron, hand-scrubbing my lace underwear in the sink. He looked like he was about to have a stroke. Jason was convinced Nathan was being blackmailed. “Did you seriously get a girlfriend just to hand-wash her underwear?!” he’d raged. “Does Brooke have a single redeeming quality besides her pretty face? You’re pathetic!” Jason was so disgusted he didn’t speak to Nathan for two months after that. Last night, Nathan accidentally ruined my favorite pair of lace panties in the wash. We had a massive blowout, and he packed a bag and stormed out. When Jason found out, he probably wanted to set off fireworks in celebration. I tracked Nathan’s phone to the bar, only to find him complaining to his buddy about how high-maintenance I was. Nathan rubbed his temples, his usually warm eyes clouded with exhaustion. He stared into his amber glass for a long moment before rasping, “Honestly, I think I’ve had enough of this relationship.” 2 Hearing this, Jason looked like he was about to weep tears of pure joy. He looked like a protective best friend whose wealthy, naive buddy had finally escaped the clutches of a gold digger. He casually swiped Nathan’s phone off the table while Nathan wasn’t looking, blocking and deleting my number from every app. He was terrified I’d crawl back and try to beg for Nathan’s forgiveness. To seal the deal, he sent me that frantic text about the fatal car crash, adding a sickeningly fake sign-off. Brooke, I’m so sorry for your loss. What’s done is done. We all have to keep moving forward. I stared at the screen for a moment, then casually typed out a reply. Okay, got it. I’ve already booked the abortion. Sitting in a booth barely fifteen feet away, I watched Jason freeze. The smug grin on his face instantly petrified, and the color drained from his skin. A choked, high-pitched squeal of sheer terror erupted from his throat. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he scrambled to his feet. Nathan asked what was wrong, but Jason just shook his head like a madman, too terrified to speak. He practically fled the bar with his tail between his legs. His messages started spamming my screen like a glitching computer. Are you pregnant?! Does Nathan know?! Can you cancel the appointment? Don’t do it, don’t do it, please! Which clinic? I’m coming right now. Dammit, Brooke, answer me! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! I flipped my phone to silent, ignoring every call and text. I left the bar, drove home, ordered a pizza, and booted up some video games. I went on an eight-game losing streak and ended up screaming and crying at my monitor in pure frustration. Meanwhile, Jason was losing his mind. He ran to three different local clinics before giving up and driving straight to my apartment. Seeing my lights on, he rushed up the stairs and began pounding on my door like a SWAT team. When I pulled the door open, tears from my gaming rage were still wet on my cheeks. Jason’s panic instantly dissolved into sheer guilt the second he saw my tear-stained face. He swallowed hard, his voice incredibly soft, as if he were afraid a loud noise might startle me. “Does… does Nathan know about the baby?” I lowered my eyes, looking utterly devastated. “He knew.” Jason’s breath hitched, and a fresh sheet of sweat broke out across his forehead. This massive, muscular guy stood awkwardly in my living room, gingerly guiding me to the couch as if I were made of delicate porcelain. “Maybe… maybe you should think it over,” he stammered. “An abortion is really hard on a woman’s body. I’m just… looking out for you.” He had absolutely no idea how to comfort someone. To keep his tone gentle, he pinched his vocal cords, making his deep voice sound hilariously high-pitched. He sounded like the Big Bad Wolf pretending to be Grandma. His heart was in his throat. He was torn. If he confessed, he’d have to admit he’d lied about Nathan’s death, which was incredibly embarrassing. But compared to his best friend’s unborn flesh and blood, he knew which took priority. Just as he steeled himself to confess the truth, I cut him off. “There is no heartbeat anymore. It stopped right around the time you told me Nathan died.” Jason turned green, his heart dropping into his stomach. My eyes welled up, and tears began to stream down my face. “I was actually on my way to my prenatal checkup. When I read your text, my mind went totally blank. I tripped and tumbled down the stairs. At the clinic, the doctor told me there was no heartbeat. I have to get the procedure.” Every word of Jason’s confession died in his throat. I slumped onto the couch, looking fragile enough to be blown away by a stiff breeze. I gently placed a hand over my stomach and murmured, “Maybe the baby was just in a hurry to go be with his dad.” Suddenly, Jason’s phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Nathan. I haven’t cooked or done her laundry in twenty-four hours. She’s probably realized how terrifying life without me is by now. I think I’m ready to go home and forgive her. 4 Jason nearly had a cardiac arrest. He furiously tapped a reply, terrified Nathan would show up at any second. If you forgive Brooke this easily, aren’t you just spoiling her more? Nathan replied a moment later. Weird. I can’t find her on my contacts list anymore. Jason lied through his teeth. She must have blocked and deleted you. The app does that now with the new update. If one person deletes you, you both disappear. Clearly, she hasn’t learned her lesson. Nathan: Really? Jason: Yeah, absolutely. The next second, my phone started vibrating. Nathan was calling me directly. The moment I saw his name on the screen, Jason snatched the phone out of my hand and rejected the call. “Spam call,” he squeaked. He looked like he had aged five years in a single minute. The cocky, smug swagger was completely gone, replaced by pure, agonizing guilt. He didn’t know my passcode, so he couldn’t block Nathan’s number on my phone. He had to play goalie. Afraid I’d catch onto his panic, he tried to get me out of the room. Stiffening up, he squeezed out, “Go… go take a shower.” “Excuse me?” I asked, looking at him sideways. I pulled my robe a little tighter around myself, giving him a deeply suspicious look. “What exactly are you trying to pull?” Jason gasped, his face flushing crimson as he stumbled over his words. “You think I want to do something to you?! You’re my best friend’s girl!” He aggressively rubbed his hair, unable to meet my eyes. “I just… I think it’s late, and you should wash up and go to sleep. You’re Nathan’s girl, and I’m just here to look after you. Don’t make it weird.” I bit my lip, suppressing a smirk. “And what are you going to do while I’m in the shower? Peek through the keyhole?” Jason looked like he was about to combust. “I would never!” He snatched the pink teddy-bear apron from the hook, shoved his head through it, and snapped, “I’m making you dinner!” With my phone clutched tightly in his fist, he marched furiously into the kitchen. He pretended to prep ingredients while staring unblinkingly at my screen. Every time Nathan’s name popped up, he swiped decline. He knew this wasn’t a long-term solution, but he had no other choice. I watched his broad back through the kitchen doorway and let out a soft snort. What an absolute idiot. 5 By the time I walked out of the bathroom, Jason had laid out a full four-course meal and a pot of soup. I gave him a slow, suggestive look. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not paying you back with my body.” Jason’s blood pressure visibly spiked. “I don’t want your thanks! You’re my buddy’s girl! Stop saying these ridiculous things to me!” I murmured a quiet “okay” and dug into my food. Jason sat across from me, holding his chopsticks but not eating. After a long, agonized silence, he muttered, “I’m going to stay over tonight. To look after you.” I blinked, nodding slowly. “Oh. So you’re not into sweet talk. You prefer the whole dominant, forced-vibe thing.” Jason’s jaw dropped. He closed his eyes in pure, unadulterated despair. At that moment, I could tell he wanted nothing more than for the earth to swallow him whole. Too angry to eat, Jason went into the guest bedroom and dragged out a sleeping bag to make a bed on my floor. He kept my phone glued to his pocket. Caring for me was a total lie; his only goal was to block Nathan’s incoming calls. When I walked into the bedroom, Jason was lying flat on his back on the floor like a corpse. I climbed into bed and sighed loudly. “The sheets are freezing. Nathan always warmed up the bed for me.” Jason squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to be fast asleep. I let out a long, theatrical sigh. “I guess it’s because of the miscarriage. My hands and feet are like ice, and everything aches. The baby is gone… and Nathan is gone, too.” Jason couldn’t take the guilt trip anymore. Groaning, he hauled himself off the floor, climbed onto the bed, and lay down beside me like a stiff wooden log. “Are you warm enough now?” he mumbled. His ears were beet red, and his skin was radiating heat like a radiator. The guy was practically cooking from embarrassment. I nodded happily. “Very warm.” An awkward silence settled over the room, the air thick with tension. Jason, squirming under the weight of the intimacy, tried to break the ice. “When… when is your procedure scheduled?” “Tomorrow,” I whispered. “The doctor said it might be really hard for me to get pregnant again. I’ll probably end up old and lonely, with no one to care for me.” My voice trembled, punctuated by a soft, sniffling sob. Jason’s chest tightened. He knew this was entirely his fault. The guilt was eating him alive; he wanted nothing more than to slap himself a thousand times. Without thinking, he blurted out, “I’ll take care of you. I won’t let you grow old alone.” He looked dead serious. I slid closer to him, whispering, “Does that mean you’re proposing?” Jason’s entire face turned a violent shade of crimson. “How could you even say that?! You’re my best friend’s girl!” He glared at me, exasperated. I let out a soft “ah.” “So you want to spend the rest of your life by my side, honoring me, protecting me, and cherishing me, through sickness and health, till death do us part?” Jason nodded proudly, completely oblivious. “Exactly! That’s what I meant!” I stopped talking, pulled the duvet over my head, and closed my eyes. By the time he realized he had basically just recited wedding vows to his best friend’s girlfriend, I was already pretending to be fast asleep. He sat up on the edge of the mattress, buried his face in his hands, and whispered in absolute despair, “You’re my best friend’s girl…”
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