He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 03

He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 03

Ethan and Chloe both just stared, completely stunned.

Ethan recovered first and grabbed my arm, yanking me back.

“This is your ‘friend’?” he demanded, his voice thick with displeasure.

He was glaring at the guy, his brow furrowed so deep you could’ve gotten lost in the crease.

“Yep, that’s me. I’m Grace’s very good friend. Lucas Ford.”

Lucas shook Ethan’s hand with a confident, easy smile, then calmly heaved his suitcase into the back of the Porsche and folded himself into the rear seat.

He patted the spot next to him and grinned at me.

“Come on, Grace. Hop in.”

I started to get in, but Ethan blocked my path. He leaned in close, and I could practically hear him grinding his teeth.

“Babe,” he said through a clenched jaw. “Really? You’re gonna sit in the back with him?”

I just looked at him, genuinely confused.

“He’s just a friend.”

I flicked my gaze meaningfully toward Chloe, who was still sitting pretty in the front passenger seat.

Ethan’s mouth snapped shut. He had nothing to say to that.

I ignored him, ducked under his arm, and slid into the seat next to Lucas.

Ethan drove the whole way home with a face like a thundercloud, while Lucas and I chatted away in the backseat.

The front of the car was unusually quiet.

It wasn’t like Chloe wasn’t trying to talk. She had a motor mouth on her and never shut up.

Every other time we’d all been in a car together she’d spent the whole ride babbling nonstop to Ethan, some embarrassing story from when they were kids, the latest gossip about their friends.

They’d go back and forth for hours, talking about stuff I could never participate in from the lonely exile of the backseat.

But today, no matter what topic Chloe tried to bring up, Ethan’s responses were clipped and disinterested.

A thirty-minute drive took him fifteen.

He dropped Chloe and Lucas off first, then pulled up to the curb. He got out and opened the front passenger door for me.

“Come on. Get up here,” he said.

I just looked at him like he’d grown a second head and stayed planted firmly in the back.

“I’m good back here,” I said flatly. “I’m tired. Just drive.”

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back.

In the silence, the sound of him slamming the door shut was louder and harder than I’d ever heard it.

When we finally got home, he stormed inside ahead of me.

I’d just kicked off my shoes and stepped into the living room when I saw him sitting on the couch in the dark, smoking a cigarette.

The orange glow from the tip lit up his face in flashes, making his expression look even more twisted and dark.

“What the hell is the deal with that guy?” he demanded, taking a hard drag before stabbing the cigarette out violently in the ashtray.

I met his gaze and kept my voice even.

“He’s my friend.”

“Don’t give me that, Grace. You went on that trip with him, didn’t you? You were off alone with some other guy for days…”

He was getting more worked up with every word and kicked my suitcase so hard it skidded across the floor.

That made my own anger flare. I yanked my suitcase back upright and shot back.

“I travel for work. Sometimes it’s a guy, sometimes It’s a girl. Lucas is cool. He’s easy to be around. Why is that such a thing for you?”

“Because it’s a thing! He’s a dude! There’s no such thing as a ‘guy girlfriend,’ Grace!”

“Oh, that’s rich.” My voice could’ve cut glass. “So you get to have a ‘girl bro,’ but I don’t get to have a guy friend? That’s how this works?”

That one sentence left him completely speechless.

I had never seen such a spectacular display of emotions on Ethan’s face before, shock, regret, frustration, and just plain old being caught in a trap of his own making.

He finally managed to force a few words out from between his teeth.

“Chloe’s different. We grew up together. If something was gonna happen, it would’ve—”

“Lucas and I are different too,” I cut him off. “So how about a little trust?”