Page 43 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men

“What about Georgina?” she asks, anger in her gaze.

Of course. I should’ve seen this coming. The skeleton I buried a long time ago has decided to unearth itself and haunt me. That woman is relentless, even three years later.

“Is that what this cold shoulder has been about?” I ask.

“Maybe.”

“Okay, let’s talk then. What is it you want to know?”

Phoebe steps aside so I can come in. I’m relieved she doesn’t want to argue in the hallway of her apartment building. I smile softly as I close the door behind me, thinking there’s a much quicker and more effective way to get that anger out of her system. It wouldn’t exactly fix the root problem, though.

“When were the two of you involved?” she asks, crossing her arms as she sits on the sofa’s armrest.

“More than three years ago.”

“Was it serious?”

“It almost got serious. But it didn’t work out.”

“Why?”

Honesty is key here, and given how deep we’re involved, given the respect I have for this woman, I’m going to roll with the punches. “Long story short, I wanted the four of us to be together.”

“But she told you no,” Phoebe replies.

Confused, I ask, “What? No. Wait, where’d you hear that from?”

“Georgina.”

“Figures,” I scoff. “She came to you, didn’t she? Let me guess. She wanted to clear the air or maybe warn you. For your own sake.”

I see the shift in Phoebe’s demeanor as the truth becomes a grey area again. Her anger seems to be fading, gradually turning to confusion. “Penny and I were at a cafe in SoHo the other day. Georgina approached me.”

“She’s done that before,” I chuckle dryly. “With another woman.”

“Oh.” The hurt tone of her voice damn near cuts through my heart.

“It’s not like that. I allowed a rumor about us to go public, but nothing ever happened. It was, however, enough to draw Georgina out of the woodwork,” I reply, trying not to laugh as I remember the incident. Dominic, August, and I doubled over when our mutual female friend told us about it. “She went up to the woman in question and told her something similar.”

“Then what is the truth?” Phoebe sighs, her shoulders dropping with understandable frustration. “I can’t tell anymore.”

“The truth is, babe, that Dominic and August never liked Georgina.” I move closer, finally feeling the tension between us gradually dissolving. My darling Phoebe softens, ever so slightly, as I shorten the distance between us. “Admittedly, I had the hots for her. Georgina came across as edgy. Bold. Secure. She had a spark that lit me up sometimes, but that was all. There was noreal depth. Just the initial glow. And the twins saw right through it.” I shrug, a little embarrassed to admit it.

“I didn’t. I really wanted to make it work with her. But the guys didn’t even want to hear about it. Hell, I think Dominic couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with her. Literally. We talked about it, and August pointed out a few things. Minor details that never sat right with them about Georgina, about her behavior. And the more time I spent with her, I started to see it, too.”

“So, what happened?”

“Did she say she ended it?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Phoebe nods. “She did.”

“Georgina also got the hots for Dominic and August. She was really getting into the whole idea of the three of us sharing her. But the twins… well…”

“They didn’t want her.”

“And I told her that. She was pissed. She wasn’t used to not getting what she wanted. So she left and proceeded to block me on every social media platform.”

Phoebe exhales sharply. I assume Georgina gave her side of the story, the one where she rejected us. Looking back now, I see that Dominic’s assessment of her was spot on. A narcissist, through and through.