My Player Bestfriend (Book #1)

Chapter Thirteen

Mary

The morning light filtered through the blinds, but Mary didn't move.

Her phone sat untouched on the nightstand, screen lighting up occasionally with Luke's name. But she couldn't bring herself to answer. It wasn't that she didn't care — she did. Luke was sweet, and he deserved someone who wasn't half-haunted.

But she couldn't keep pretending.
Not when her stomach twisted with every memory.
Not when her lips had kissed someone else, but her heart had whispered a different name.

She rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head, hoping the warmth might drown the guilt out of her bones.

It didn't.

She thought she was ready. She thought she could bury Austin beneath a new chapter. But now? She wasn't even sure she had finished grieving him.

That was the part that scared her the most — realizing how much of her still belonged to someone who had shattered her trust.

Austin

He was in the studio when he found out.

One of the sound techs, Darren, was scrolling through social media on his break. A throwaway comment on a fan's post, buried in a thread:
"Pretty sure that girl Austin used to date is hooking up with that dude Luke from LA. They've been spotted everywhere."

It was like ice water dumped over his spine.

He knew who Luke was. That name had been a quiet hum of anxiety ever since he saw the guy standing next to Mary outside her building.

Austin brushed it off in the moment. Probably fake. Probably just gossip. People said dumb things online all the time. But the moment he left the studio, he went digging.

And there it was.

A blurry photo. Luke and Mary outside a bookstore. She was holding a coffee. He was holding her hand.

Then another one, taken just two days ago — them getting into Luke's car. She was wearing his hoodie.

Austin's heart dropped.

He stared at the images like they were punches to the chest, each one echoing the same, brutal message:
She's not waiting for you anymore.

He couldn't stop shaking.

When the first wave of rage hit, he wanted to punch a wall. But underneath that was something worse: hurt.
Not just jealousy. Regret. Bone-deep, heart-stretching regret.

Because he knew what this meant.
She hadn't just found someone to pass time with.

She'd let someone else in.
She'd let someone else see her.
Touch her.

And that was when the real truth hit:

He had lost her.

Mary

She finally texted Luke.

Mary: "I'm sorry I've been distant. I'm just trying to figure some things out. I hope you understand."

He responded almost instantly.

Luke: "Of course I do. Just be honest with me, Mary. That's all I ask."

She set the phone down and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor.

She wasn't sure she could give Luke what he wanted.

Not because he wasn't enough — but because she wasn't.

She had poured so much of herself into Austin that she didn't know what she had left to give anyone else.

Austin

Later that night, Austin sat alone in his hotel room, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

He didn't call. He didn't text. For once, he didn't even try to spin it.

Because this wasn't just a bump in the road. This was real.

She had given her heart to someone else — maybe not all of it, but enough to start over.

And he was the one who drove her there.

He remembered the night he'd cheated — the blurred line between impulse and guilt. He told himself at the time that it wouldn't matter. That she wouldn't find out. That they were solid enough to survive it.

But now?
Now he realized that wasn't love. That was entitlement.

And he didn't deserve her.

He buried his face in his hands, shame creeping through every vein.

This wasn't just losing a girl.

This was losing Mary.

Mary

That night, she dreamed of Austin.

Not the screaming. Not the betrayal.

But the little things:
The way he used to kiss her forehead before falling asleep.
The way he'd whisper "Boo" against her neck when he thought she was dozing.
The way he'd hold her like the world was ending and she was the only thing that could save him.

She woke up with tears on her pillow.

And realized something she hadn't wanted to admit:

She still loved him.

But she didn't trust him.

And maybe... that was the most heartbreaking part of all.