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the breakup might be hard on Shane, given that it wasn’t a real relationship.

He looked terrible. Had his mom given him hell? She’d very glibly just

thought he’d be fine. That he’d get his shit worked out because he needed

to. It was hypocritical of her. Careless. Callous. She burned with shame as

she spread margarine onto the toast and added cream to Shane’s coffee.

The living room had two antique couches and three different antique

chairs. Kiera loved the eclectic décor. The rest of the fixtures, paintings, and

accents in the room pulled everything together. Her house was kind of like

her office. She changed things out often.

She set Shane’s coffee and toast down on the antique coffee table. She

was careful to use a crocheted coaster to make sure it didn’t leave a mark on

the table’s finish.

Shane just stared at the cup glumly without drinking.

Kiera sat down beside him. She slowly nibbled at her toast. She finished

hers long before he was ready to talk, so she picked up her coffee and

sipped it. She wasn’t going to rush him. Not after she was the one who had

shaken up and broken off their arrangement with absolutely no warning.

“I can’t believe you just finally did it. Broke up with me. I have to say, I

didn’t see it coming.”

“But we weren’t even actually dating,” she protested softly.

“I know that.” Shane reached for his mug. He took a few long pulls

without even tasting the coffee, then held onto it. Kiera winced, because the

coffee was likely next to scalding. “But it sucks. I thought we were friends,

at least.”

“We are friends. I’m sorry that I had to do it, but don’t you think it was

time? We’ve both been lying to people for a very long time. How much

longer were we supposed to keep it up? Forever? Think about it. Your mom

eventually wanted you to get married and give her children. You were just

buying yourself some time. We both know that I was never going to marry

you and have children with you. We were just prolonging the agony for