And I wasn’t sure I could handle more of Maysie’s increasingly verbal displeasure. I loved my best friend. Really, I did. I understood she was looking out for me. That she was worried I’d get hurt.

How could I possibly explain the warped, convoluted insanity of my questionable relationship so I wouldn’t look like a total moron?

I didn’t think it was possible. So it was best to keep my mouth shut.

The light glinted off Maysie’s diamond ring. She rubbed it mindlessly, not realizing she was drawing attention to the gleaming rock on her left hand. That obvious piece of jewelry is why she would never understand what I had with Cole.

She and Jordan were the perfect, enviable couple, even though they began under less than ideal circumstances. Maysie had spent a period of time as the other woman. She had been vilified and ridiculed for breaking Jordan and his ex, Olivia up. I would have thought out of anyone, Maysie would understand twisted and complicated relationships.

But despite their less than savory start, Jordan’s love for Maysie was epic. He would never even think of looking at another girl. She was his entire world. His reason for getting up in the morning. And when Jordan proposed at Christmas, no one was in the least bit shocked. It had been inevitable.

I knew she wanted all of her friends to have what she had. Riley had found it with Garrett. That just left Gracie and me. And I wasn’t going to get anything resembling a fairytale ending as long as I was spreading my legs for Cole; I sleep with tons of women-Brandt.

Riley, however, didn’t seem as concerned as Maysie. She swallowed her mouthful of bread and shook her head.

“Cole’s always kissing another girl and Vivian is always screaming at him about it. If she is okay with the situation, no matter how messed up you and I think it is, it’s really none of our business. But that doesn’t mean we can’t dish out a gigantic helping of I told you so, when she wakes up and realizes she’s so much better off without him,” Riley reasoned in her perfectly succinct, no-nonsense way.

“Can we talk about something else, please?” I pleaded, not wanting to lose my cool with my friends, particularly when they were only looking out for me. But I was already edgy today. Cole and his honey sweet words and pleas for me to stay had really done a number on my head.

A peculiar warmth had started in my chest and it worried me. A lot.

“How’s school, Ri?” I asked, looking at the dark haired girl who stared back levelly.

“Just peachy, Viv. Thanks for asking,” she replied sardonically. Having effectively shut down my efforts to change the subject, Riley turned back to her food.

I smiled at Gracie who smiled back. She wasn’t eating much, which wasn’t unusual for her. She barely ate enough to keep a bird alive. She had lost a considerable amount of weight she couldn’t afford to lose since being released from rehab last year. No one realized she had a drinking problem until she collapsed and her heart stopped beating. After being released from hospitalization she had started regular addictions and mental health treatment.

She admitted to me a while ago that on top of her addictions issues she had also suffered from Anorexia since she was a little girl. I had always thought her minimal eating habits odd, but yet again I had not realized how serious things were for her. Gracie Cook was very adept at showing the world what she wanted them to see. And even her close friends had no clue as to what was really going on inside her.

She and I had lived together for the last two years. Before that we had lived down the hall from each other at the sorority house. Out of our group of friends, I had liked to think I knew her best. It was a smack in the face to realize you didn’t know your friend as well as you thought you did. But I hadn’t been completely ignorant. I had known something was up when Gracie had started drinking like a fish and acting like a psychopath. She had gotten it in her head that she was in love with Garrett and had flipped her lid when it came out that Riley had slept with him. I had been extremely worried about her. And rightfully so.

I had spoken to her family, expressing my concerns about her erratic behavior. They had seemed supportive but I wasn’t entirely sure whether they had helped or hurt the situation. Gracie had a lot of secrets. Ones that I knew she held close to the chest.

“Did you tell them about your new job?” Gracie prompted and I wanted to hug her. Whereas Riley had left me floundering in the awkward tension, Gracie had galloped in to the rescue.

Maysie perked up and looked at me. “You got a job?” she asked and I scowled at her.

“Yes, I got a job,” I said, not bothering to hide my annoyance at her incredulous response.

Okay, so I had been less than successful since graduating from Rinard College over two years ago. I had decided to stay in Bakersville as opposed to returning to Pennsylvania, where my family lived.

Gracie and I had gotten an apartment and I had then gone on to work a string of low paying, mind numbing occupations while I still struggled to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

I had graduated with a major in Business. But I hated business. I hated numbers. I hated anything and everything to do with sitting behind a desk and click clacking at a computer all day, every day.

I had worked as a teller at a bank for a few months. But again the whole numbers thing had been against me. I had walked out after a lady yelled at me for messing up her deposit. Screw that!

Then I had worked as a dog groomer for a while. But I couldn’t handle scrubbing the smell of wet canine off my skin at night.