Page 76

Audrey took a deep breath. “Did he do something to you? Something… bad?”
“No! No, it was nothing like that. I swear to God.” I crossed myself for good measure. “He was a perfect gentleman. I just didn’t want to be with him anymore.”
“Why not?” She didn’t sound like she believed me.
I shrugged again. “I guess I felt like if I got out now, I wouldn’t get hurt later. I thought lowering my expectations might be smart. You know what I mean?”
Audrey nodded, her eyes huge in her face.
“But don’t go thinking of doing the same thing,” I admonished her quickly. “You and James are different—he proposed and everything. You’re official. Even his parents know! What happened with Celia, by the way?”
Celia Preston was James’s mother. She’d recently been arrested for involvement with the death of James’s college girlfriend, a crime that had happened twenty years ago.
“She’s getting out on bail tomorrow. We’re dealing with it,” Audrey said. “But don’t change the subject. I want to hearaboutyou. I just saw you at the airport. You looked happy. So did Cole. I thought things were good.”
“Yeah, well. Things change.”
She looked into my eyes. “You said you loved Cole and that you guys were going to live together. That was only a few days ago, Jenny.Somethingmust’ve happened.”
“I can’t—I don’t want to talk about it.” I lifted my chin. “Let’s just say it was my decision, okay? A girl wants what a girl wants. I realized when we got back to the real world that it would never work. He’s a billionaire, and I’m a call girl.”
Audrey started to speak, but I cut her off.
“And like I said,youare a different story! You and James are right for each other. You’re just as classy as he is. I’m not like that—the people in Cole’s life wouldn’t ever accept me. It was time to face the truth. The party was fun while it lasted, but it’s over.”
“He’s not going to forget about you that easily.” Audrey sighed. “James talked to him—he said he was devastated.”
“Don’t tell me that,” I snapped. My eyes burned with tears.
“I’m sorry.” Audrey sighed. “And listen… There’s something else.”
My stomach dropped. “I don’t know how much more I can handle.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I know, and I feel terrible about this. The timing’s bad. But…”
Audrey looked at me, her eyes huge in her face. “James and I have decided to get married sooner rather than later. With everything that’s happened, we don’t want to wait. But I’m so sorry about you and Cole?—”
“Don’t say you’re sorry again—I’m so happy for you guys!” Fresh tears sprung to my eyes, but they were happy ones. “No one deserves happiness as much as you do.”
“Thank you.” Audrey smiled. “And I wanted to ask you something. Jenny, will you be my maid of honor?”
“Of course I will be!” Fat tears rolled down my cheeks, but they were happy ones.
“Now you’re going to makemecry!” She dabbed underneath her eyes with a tissue. “There’s one more thing, though. And like I said, I’m so sorry about the timing.”
“Let me guess.” I groaned. “Cole’s the best man.”
She blew out a deep breath and nodded. “Cole’s the best man.”
I shrugged. “He’s James’s best friend. I get it.” I didn’t know what I was going to do, though. More than anything, I wanted to see Cole again. But his father had made that impossible, and I couldn’t tell my best friend about it. I couldn’t say a word. And I’d just agreed to be her maid of honor…
What was I going to do?More tears spilled over, and these weren’t the happy kind—they were the wallowing kind. I had to say goodbye before they took over.
“I have to go, okay? I’m happy for you guys,” I said, and I meant it. “I’ll call you in a couple of days. Love you, Audrey.”
I hung up on another friend, which wasn’t nice of me.
And then I once again burst into tears.