Page 106 of Relationship Goals

“I did,” Michelle says tentatively. “Are you sure you don’t want to just break up with him? I think that might be the healthier—”

“Do you know what my last boyfriend did?” I interrupt her. She needs to know.

I need her on my side.

She shakes her head, her lips pursing.

“He used me, too. He made me feel this big,” I tell her, barely spreading my fingers apart. “I was so desperate for him to like me, to approve of me, that I set up dozens of meetings and dinners and parties so he could meet people. Network. Make connections. And still, he made me feel like nothing I did was good enough. ThatIwasn’t good enough.”

The wine’s made my stomach hurt, and I blink back tears as I gently set the bottle back on the coffee table.

“As soon as I was written offBlood Sirens, he broke up with me. Even said I didn’t look good next to him on the red carpet. That I wasn’t useful for his career anymore.”

“Abigail.”

“He used me. He used me, and as soon as I was strong enough to climb out of a depressive hell and dust myself off, I promised I would never let another man use me like that again.”

This is worse. This is so much worse.

I cradle my stomach, holding myself carefully as if I’ll break apart like fragile glass if I don’t.

I inhale shakily. “Luke made me feel like he liked me the minute he met me, and that made me feel safe. He made me feel like even the weirdest parts of me were fun. He made me feel seen.” Furious tears spill over my cheeks. “He made me feel like it was real.”

I choke a little, and Michelle’s lips are thin in anger.

“He was lying the whole time.”

Michelle nods once, perfunctorily, her eyes drifting from my face to some faraway spot on the wall.

“We make his life hell,” she finally says, and I hiccup a laugh, brushing the heel of my hand against my cheekbone. “You make his life hell, until he breaks up with you, and that will keep him from getting anything out of this.”

“That’s the spirit,” I say weakly.

“Where do you want to start?”

I wanted her help. Now I have it.

“I have some ideas,” I answer slowly, thinking fast. A slow grin curls my mouth, wicked enough to rival the Grinch’s. “I definitely have some ideas.”

We open another bottle of wine and plot together late into the night.

Once I go to bed, I lie awake for a long time, trying to piece together my shattered feelings. Princess curls up in a little fluffy cinnamon bun shape in the crook of my neck, but even her sleepy purrs fail to soothe me.

With Michelle’s help, I have no doubt we can make Luke Wolfe break up with me. Spectacularly.

Which isexactlywhat I need.

It was only a week of a fake relationship with him, after all.

Yet, no matter what I tell myself, I still feel the empty hole in my heart.

Chapter Thirty

Abigail

I pick atthe hem of my long balloon sleeves, knowing all too well they’re going to be completely ruined in a matter of a few hours.

Worth it.