My Best Friend's Gorgeous Boyfriend (18+)

I Cheated On You (The Break-up)

Matt

"How was The Hamptons?" I asked Vanessa while on the phone after she had returned home earlier that afternoon.

"Fine."

Awkward silence stretched on between us even though there were a dozen questions I yearned to fire off at her.

Is that where you actually went?

Why would you lie about where you were going?

What did you tell Addison about us?

Are we over?

The last thought was the loudest, and the one that prompted me to speak what I said next despite my fears on what would come from it.

"So...you said that we should talk when you get back..." I pressed.

"Uh..." Vanessa cleared her throat. "I only told you that because I was mad. We're okay."

"Vanessa?"

She sighed. "Yea?"

"We need to talk." My hands shook violently, and I almost dropped my phone, but I could no longer avoid that something was very wrong within our relationship.

"Alright," she softly agreed on an exhale. "Why don't you come pick me up, and we'll go for a drive?"

***

Even though it was late summer, my entire body was breaking out in a cold sweat as I walked alongside Vanessa on the shoreline of the beach.

The sun hung low in the horizon, the waves crashed on the shore, and seagulls circled the air in search of their dinner. It was usually the place I went to seek solace but that night, it filled me with a sense of dread.

There is something going on with her. Addison's words echoed through my brain on a loop.

What did she learn about Vanessa that I'm being kept in the dark on?

Vanessa's face was heavy with exhaustion. Whatever she had been hiding was clearly beginning to weigh upon her.

Walking in silence across the sand, my stomach twisted into knots. Who would be the first to speak what was on their mind?

She stooped to pick up a perfectly shaped seashell, brushing off the sand and holding it up in the fading light for me to admire as well. It would have been a sweet little moment if only my relationship with her wasn't crumbling like the sandcastles that we passed by.

My gaze focused on her hand, and for the first time, I noticed that the promise ring wasn't adorning her finger.

How long has that been absent for? Does it even matter?

I frowned. "You're not wearing your ring."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly tucked her hand inside the pocket of her sweatshirt. "Oh. I guess I just forgot to put it on today."

I stopped walking, letting the frigid saltwater wash over the toe of my boot. "Vanessa, I'm not as dense as you may think I am," I began.

Blowing out a breath, I turned to gaze at her. Her lips were turned down, and her eyes hollow. She looked defeated, and I instantly knew that she was done trying.

"I can sense that you've been pulling away from me lately," I remarked. "What did I do wrong? What's happened to us?"

She stared out at the ocean, foam lapping around her ankles. "I think you're imagining things."