Still the One (Book 2 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

43 | Lookin' Like Revenge

Feelin' inspired 'cause the tables have turned

Yeah, I'm on fire & I know that it burns.

-Demi Lovato, "Sorry Not Sorry"

Luke

"Fuck!" I screamed, kicking the leg of the couch and wincing when my toe smashed against the wooden leg underneath the suede material.

But oh well; I deserve it. I deserved every bit of pain for hurting Jessica.

"Luke? Are you okay?" Rachel asked, running down the hall with Miles at her heels.

I looked at her, tears in my eyes. "No, Rachel. No. I'm not okay. I just broke Jessica's heart. That was the fucking hardest thing I've ever done," I said, throwing myself down on the couch in disgust. "I hate myself right now."

"Oh, Luke, don't say that," Rachel said, sitting next to me and patting my knee.

"Yeah, bro, don't do that to yourself. Breaking up with someone sucks; trust me, I've done it a time or two," Miles added.

"Oh you have, have you?" Rachel said, crossing her arms over her chest.

He glared at her as if to say, Not now. She rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen, bringing me back a glass of water.

I took it gratefully and chugged it. I slammed it onto the coffee table and sighed heavily. "How am I going to face her in class? She was so damn gracious about it, which makes me feel even worse!"

Rachel patted me on the back. "I know. But look, how do you think she would've felt if you had slept with her, or told her you loved her, only to break her heart later? What you did wasn't easy and it was also pretty uncool if you want to know the truth, but it was necessary."

I lay my head back against the couch. "It was uncool, wasn't it?"

Miles and Rachel glanced at each other and nodded. "But it happened. And we're humans. We fuck up constantly," Miles said, shrugging. "But that's part of life."

I sighed. "I'm going to bed." Standing up, I shook my head when Rachel tried to stop me.

Rachel

"Damn, that didn't go well, did it?" Miles asked as we crawled back into bed.

"No, it didn't. Poor Jessica."

"Did we do the wrong thing by encouraging him to see Brooke again?" he asked, a guilty look crossing his face.

I shook my head. "No. I don't think so. He chose to make out with her; you didn't tell him to do that. But don't you think that's what's meant to be?" I asked, turning over to face him.

"Yeah, I do. And I hate that Jessica got hurt in the process. She really is a good person," Miles said.

"She is. And I want to continue to be her friend," I said, and Miles glanced at me.

"You think that's going to be a good idea? Brooke is going to move in here. Jessica will never want to see the two of them together," he pointed out.

I considered this. "True. But we could still hang out with her at her place or go to dinner and stuff?"

"Sure, babe. That sounds good," he agreed, kissing my forehead.

"Maybe introduce her to that one guy on the baseball team... what's his name ...Parker?" I suggested.