He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 01

He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 01

xEthan Cole had a girl best friend.

They were so close they shared the same bed and ate off the same ice cream cone.

I told him to set some boundaries.

He snapped at me, impatient. “If something was gonna happen between us, it would’ve happened a long time ago. Can you just give me a little trust here?”

Fine.

I went out and found myself a guy best friend.

***

The next time Ethan stayed out all night with Chloe Bennett, my reaction was completely calm.

He came home around noon with a box of pastries from Sweetwater Bakery. When he saw me, he actually volunteered an explanation, which he almost never did.

“We hadn’t all gotten together in forever and I had way too much to drink, so we just ended up crashing at a hotel. But it wasn’t like that, I slept on the floor, I swear.”

He made a point of emphasizing that part.

The last time this happened we had a massive fight about it.

I had accused him of having zero boundaries for a married man and demanded a confrontation with Chloe.

She was his childhood friend, the kind of girl with a loud, brash personality who acted like she was just one of the guys.

I’d lost count of how many times I’d seen Chloe plop herself down on some guy’s lap without a second thought, laughing and roughhousing, or drinking straight from the same glass as everyone else without a care in the world.

At first Ethan tried to be patient and explain things to me.

Then he got fed up and threw out the line, “If it was gonna happen, it would’ve. Long before you.” He slammed the door on his way out.

The worst part?

His friends actually tried to console me by saying, “Chloe’s basically family. We’ve watched her grow up. That’s just how she is. Ethan sees her like a kid sister.”

She’s twenty-five. What kind of ‘kid’ is that?

I couldn’t stomach it anymore. I told him if he couldn’t figure out how to draw a line in the sand, I wanted a divorce.

After that, Ethan did keep some distance from Chloe for a little while.

But the result was Chloe taking every opportunity to make passive-aggressive digs at me whenever we were in public together.

“Happy? I’m all the way over here.”

“You should probably bail on the next spot, Ethan. I don’t need that drama.”

“Damn, Ethan. Who’s wearing the pants these days? I’ll keep my distance. Scout’s honor.”

She always said these things when I was standing right there, and it created this uncomfortable, loaded atmosphere every single time.

Before long, I had a reputation among everyone we knew for being petty, jealous, and totally unreasonable.

My relationship with Ethan grew cold and distant around that same time.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the takeout box in Ethan’s hand. It was food I used to love, but now it just seemed completely unappetizing.

Ethan noticed my lack of enthusiasm too. He set the box down on the table, walked over, and wrapped his arms around me, his voice soft and sweet in that way he used when he wanted something.

“Babe. That movie you wanted to see? I’m taking the day off. Let’s just go. I heard it’s actually pretty good.”

That movie was one I had been looking forward to for months.

I had asked Ethan to go with me the day it came out. He told me he was too busy with work.

A few days later I saw Chloe post a picture of two movie tickets on her social media.

His face wasn’t in the shot, but the hand holding one of the tickets was unmistakable, long fingers, strong knuckles, and his wedding band glinting right there on his ring finger.

I caught a faint whiff of vanilla and sandalwood on Ethan’s clothes, the same scent she always wore, and pulled away from him without any expression.

“No thanks,” I said flatly.

I went back to packing my suitcase.

“Grace Cole.”

Ethan’s voice sharpened with anger. He grabbed my wrist to stop me from moving.

“Seriously? The whole packing-a-bag thing again? I told you. Nothing’s going on with Chloe.”

“I know,” I said, calmly pulling my hand free. “You’re just friends.”

That seemed to shut him up for a second. His face went a little stiff and he dropped his hand, looking frustrated.

“Then what’s with the attitude?” he demanded.

“I’m going on a business trip,” I explained.

Ethan’s expression soured even more. He stared at me for a long moment, like he was trying to see through some kind of act I was putting on.

But there was nothing there to find. My reaction was just calm.

Because I honestly didn’t care anymore.

He could go to the movies with whoever he wanted, stay out all night, go on dates—it was all the same to me now.