Lost My Love to His Best Friend Chapter 06

Lost My Love to His Best Friend Chapter 06

The exact day we got our marriage license, Hawton Reed hauled all my stuff over to his place.

Once everything was mostly unpacked, I let out a huge relieved sigh, worn out.

I stepped out the bedroom and caught him hanging up.

He was holding my cell in his hand.

“Who was that?”

Hawton shook his head and passed the phone back to me.

“No clue. I just told the guy I’m your husband, and he hung up out of nowhere.”

I stared at the familiar number popping up on the screen.

I’d only deleted Kieran’s contact, forgot to block him entirely.

I blocked the number straight away.

Hawton watched the whole thing and asked, “Who’s that?”

“Nobody that matters.”

My tone came out ice cold, so he instantly figured out who the caller was. He just nodded and dropped the subject.

To switch gears, he raised an eyebrow at me. “We’re legally hitched now. When am I gonna meet your parents?”

That weekend, I brought Hawton back to my parents’ house.

—

They’d been ecstatic ever since I ended things with Kieran—they were practically ready to throw a party.

Kieran barely ever swung by to see them over the years.

It got way worse once Riley showed up.

Every time we planned a family dinner, Riley would hit him up for some guy hangout. He bailed on my parents over and over again for her.

After a while, Mom and Dad hated his guts. Worst of all, he strung me along for eight whole years and never once brought up tying the knot.

The second we walked through the door, my parents latched onto Hawton’s hands and tugged him to the living room.

“Hawton, take a seat! Dinner’ll be ready any minute!”

They acted like I wasn’t even their daughter standing right there.

I just huffed a quiet laugh and slipped my shoes off to follow them.

At the dinner table, Mom and Dad kept heaping food onto Hawton’s plate, piling it sky-high.

Hawton shot me a desperate side-eye begging for help.

It was rare to see him stuck in an awkward spot, so I hunched down to shovel pasta and hide my grin.

When we were heading out, they stuffed a ton of smoked pork sausage into our bags, all homemade by them.

It was obvious they loved Hawton as their son-in-law.

—

Kieran never left their house with so much as a single bite to take home.

Hawton carried all the heavy bags ahead of me, and I trailed behind.

Right when we hit the lobby downstairs, he froze dead in his tracks.

I zoned out and crashed right into his back.

“What’s up?”

I rubbed my sore nose and stepped around him, and Kieran was right there.

He looked like a totally different person.

Less than a week later, his jaw was covered in stubble, eye sockets sunken deep. His dress shirt was crumpled to hell, two buttons undone at the collar. He looked completely worn out and broken.

The second he spotted me, his eyes welled up instantly.

He reached out to pull me into his arms, but Hawton stepped in front of me fast to block him.

“Wren.”

I stayed behind Hawton and just stared at him blankly.

“What are you doing here?”

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“I know I messed up bad. I have cut all ties with Riley and kicked her out for good.”

—

I didn’t say a word.

He stumbled two steps closer, his voice shaking nonstop.

“Wren, I really only saw Riley as my girl best friend. I had no clue she had other feelings for me. You’re the only one I’ve ever loved.”

“I swear I’ll never talk to her again. Can you just forgive me?”

Listening to him spout those pathetic excuses, all I could feel was sheer ridicule.

“A girl best friend? Do you sleep with all your other buddies too?”

“Every single time I told you to keep your distance from Riley, you called me dramatic and overreacting.”

“That whole just friends act was nothing but a cover-up. You loved having those blurry, uncrossed lines with her, didn’t you?”

“You thought I was bitter and playing hard to get, pulling all those typical girl tricks. You loved how Riley acted loud and no-filter vibe instead.”

“You were convinced I’d never leave you, like I should’ve been grateful you’d even consider marrying me.”

We’d loved each other for years, and I knew exactly how his mind worked.

I only stuck around so long because I held onto stupid hope and couldn’t let go of eight years of memories.

I was just thankful I wised up before walking down the aisle with him.

—

My words drained all the color from Kieran’s face, and he swayed on his feet for a split second.

“That’s not how it is, Wren—”

I didn’t wanna listen to any more fake apologies and cut him off sharp.

“Kieran, I’m married now. Don’t come around me ever again.”