He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 08

He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 08

In the end, I agreed.

I told Ethan I’d put the divorce on hold if he could go one full month without any contact whatsoever with

Chloe Bennett.

Both sets of parents were there as witnesses.

Ethan’s face lit up like I’d just handed him the keys to the kingdom. He agreed instantly, like it was the

easiest thing in the world.

Our parents breathed a collective sigh of relief.

But I knew the truth.

For Ethan, this was a bet he was destined to lose.

He blocked Chloe’s number. He kept his word and cut off all communication.

He left the group chat, unfollowed her on every social media platform, and even showed me screenshots of

his phone every day to prove his call and message logs were clean.

Lucas was baffled when he heard about it.

“Grace,” he said, leaning in with a look of pure confusion. “You’re not actually thinking about getting back

together with your ex, are you?”

He was teasing, but his body language was always respectful, keeping a safe, platonic distance between us.

Lucas knew all about my problems with Ethan. During that business trip he’d been the one to carefully

analyze the situation and suggest the solution: fight fire with fire. Make Ethan experience what it felt like to have a close friend of the opposite sex breathing down his neck all the time.

It had worked pretty well, all things considered.

But by now I had seen the man for who he truly was. Chloe was never the real problem.

Lucas seemed to sense what I was thinking and looked at me with concern. I met his gaze without flinching.

“The divorce is still happening,” I said. “That won’t change.”

My parents and his parents seemed to think my agreement meant I was softening. I let them think that.

After I said goodbye to my folks and sent them on their way back to Maple Falls, I made an appointment at a

clinic.

I scheduled it for the day of Chloe’s birthday.

How did I know it was her birthday? Because Chloe was the only girl in their tight-knit little group, and Ersty single year, attendance at her birthday bash was mandatory for every single one of them. No excuses.

–Rain or shine.

I didn’t pick that day to be petty or to test him.

I picked it because I knew it was the one day Ethan would be too busy and too distracted to come looking for

Lucas was the one who drove me.

On the way over, he was a bigger mess than I was.

“You know, the whole ‘baby, no baby daddy’ thing? Totally valid option.” His eyes looked suspiciously wet. “I’d step up. Not like I’m getting married. I could be, like, the fun upcle. Or whatever.”

Lucas had lost his first love, his high school sweetheart, to an illness when he was twenty. He’d hidden the

pain behind a carefree, unserious facade ever since, and he’d been alone for years.

“You’re really doing this?” He wouldn’t look at me. “Like, you’re sure? Because we could just, I don’t know, sit here a minute. Think about it. I’ll cover half. Expenses, whatever. I’m just saying.”

I was the picture of calm.

“I have to be me first.” My voice was barely there. “The mom thing… I’ll figure that out later.”

Lucas had no response to that. He just looked at me with this complicated mix of emotions and gave a slow

nod.

“As your friend, I respect whatever you decide,” he said. “And as a guy, I get why you’re so done with Ethan

Cole.”

The corner of my mouth twitched. I didn’t need a mirror to know how wrecked I probably looked.

Even though I’d made up my mind, I still felt the hot sting of tears in my eyes the second I turned to walk through the door to the procedure room.

I’d never felt like a mother, not really. There was no connection to the small, silent life inside me.

But I could admit to myself the real reason I hadn’t just filed for divorce right away and had instead given

him one last chance to feel what I’d been feeling.

I’d done it for the baby. I’d wanted to give him that one last opportunity to see things from my side.

He hadn’t taken it.