Page 8 of Pugs & Kisses

E vie would have laughed at the shocked look on Ashanti’s face if her own mood hadn’t just plummeted to the bottom of the sea with that pronouncement. Despite knowing she’d done the right thing by putting Cameron out, it still stung.

She loathed to admit that she was still hurting, but dammit she was! How could she not be after all she’d given to their relationship?

“Evie!” Ashanti screamed. “What in the heck are you talking about? You broke up?” She clutched her head. “You broke up with Cameron and you are just now telling me! You’ve been here all afternoon!”

“Actually, it’s only been about two hours,” Evie corrected. “I had a doctor’s appointment this morning.”

“Wait.” Ashanti made the time-out signal again. “Wait. Wait. Wait. What happened? Start at the very beginning and don’t you dare leave anything out.”

There was another knock at the door. Jasmine Walters, the receptionist Ashanti had hired for Barkingham Palace’s second location, poked her head into the exam room.

“Hey, do you need to sign for the shipment of prescription dog food, or can I do it?” the younger girl asked.

“You can sign for shipments,” Ashanti said. She lifted the Maltese from her lap and held it out. “And will you ask Maxine to clip Cassiopeia’s nails?” The moment the door closed, she turned back to Evie. “I need to know everything. When did you decide to break up with Cam?”

Evie blew out another sigh. She so was not up for rehashing this.

“When I went home Wednesday to get the earrings I’d borrowed from you and caught him screwing another woman in our bed.” Evie snapped her fingers. “Shit, I still forgot to bring your earrings.”

“What!” Ashanti slammed both hands on the exam table. “That rat bastard!”

“Won’t argue with you there.” Evie pulled out her phone and turned the screen to face Ashanti. It was riddled with red notification bubbles.

“He’s left a dozen voicemails over the past two days, but I don’t care what he has to say. He knows that cheating is the one thing I will never forgive him for. And for him to bring that woman into my house? Into my bed?” She returned the phone to her pocket. “Nope. It’s over. I’m done.”

Ashanti slipped off the exam table and perched her butt against it. She shoved her hands in her hair.

“Evie, I just don’t understand. You and Cameron are… well, you and Cameron. Sure, the two of you have broken up a few times, but you’re engaged now. I thought you were in it for the long haul.”

“So did I,” Evie said. That little zing of hurt pierced her chest again.

“What did he say when you caught him?” Ashanti asked.

“That I was blowing things out of proportion.”

She gasped. “He did not!”

“And he called me ridiculous,” Evie added. “Oh, and did I mention they were doing it on my satin sheets?”

“Not the green ones!”

“Yes, the green ones.”

“He really is a rat bastard,” Ashanti said.

Evie shook her head. “I’m done, Shanti. I’ve taken him back in the past, but this is different. I can’t do it. I won’t.”

“What about the clinic? Do you think you can still work there?”

Evie hunched her shoulders and let them fall.

“I’ve been going back and forth in my head, trying to picture what it would look like.

The last time Cam and I broke up, we managed to continue working together, even though it was the most uncomfortable work situation you can imagine.

The entire staff was walking on eggshells for a month. ”

“But you figured out a way to coexist through that rough patch.”

“I know,” Evie said. She stared at the portrait of Duchess dressed as Marie Antoinette that hung on the wall.

She wished it was as simple as just figuring out a way to coexist with Cam, but the situation wasn’t as black and white this time around. She’d been mired in the awful swirl of grayness of this mess Cameron had made of their relationship for two days; she still couldn’t decide what to do.

Wait a minute. What was she even thinking right now?

Of course she knew what to do: expunge Cameron Broussard from every facet of her life. It really was that simple.

“This is more than just a rough patch,” Evie said.

“I tried to come up with a solution last night, wondering if maybe we could work on different days of the week, but…” She shook her head.

“I can’t do it. It’s his practice. I don’t want to be beholden to Cameron for anything, especially my livelihood. ”

Ashanti frowned, then nodded. “I get it.” She blew out a sigh. “Well, you know you always have a job here. It may not be a full-time job, but it’s something.”

“It’s everything to me,” Evie said. She leaned over and bumped Ashanti with her elbow. “I love you, chick. Thanks for always having my back.”

“Always,” Ashanti said. She folded her arms across her chest. “So, you want to go slash Cam’s tires? Put sugar in his gas tank?”

Evie burst out laughing. “Now you sound like Ridley.” She could only imagine what the most audacious member of their trio would have to say about this situation.

“It’s too bad Rid isn’t here,” Evie said. “I could use her advice.”

Ashanti pulled her phone from her back pocket. “We’re not living in the Dark Ages. Just because an ocean is currently separating us doesn’t mean we can’t get her input. Although we both know what Rid’s going to say about this.”

Ridley would have definitely cut Cameron’s dick off if she had been the one to walk in on him.

“You don’t think she’s still at the office, do you?” Evie asked. “I don’t want to disturb her work.”

“It’s almost seven in London. Hopefully she’s keeping better work hours there than she does here,” Ashanti said a second before Ridley answered the phone.

“Hey, girlies, what’s up?” Ridley greeted. “Have you caught those two dogs hooking up on camera again?”

“No action on the webcam,” Ashanti said. She looked at Evie with that raised brow again. “Or was there a camera?”

Evie shook her head, then asked Ridley, “You’re not at work, are you?”

“Of course I am. If I don’t do everything, nothing gets done. The people in this office are as incompetent as those in the New Orleans location.” She lifted a clear mug filled with light brown liquid to her lips.

“Are you drinking tea?” Ashanti laughed. “They’re turning you into a true Londoner.”

“Nah, that would never happen,” Ridley said. “True Londoners remember to first look right when crossing the street. I almost walked in front of a car again today.”

“Please bring your butt back home before you end up splattered across Abbey Road,” Evie told her.

“Graphic,” Ridley said. “And if I get splattered, it would be on Brompton Road while on my way to Harrods. So, what are you two doing calling in the middle of the day? Don’t you have jobs, or is everyone slacking off now that I’m not around?”

Evie paused for a beat before she said, “There have been some… interesting developments here at home.” She gave Ashanti permission to get Ridley caught up on the drama that had become her life.

Five minutes later, Ridley’s reading glasses were gone and the pen she’d shoved behind her ear had been flung clear across the room.

“I knew it!” Ridley said. “I knew that motherfucker would eventually do something like this. I knew he couldn’t be trusted!”

“Really?” Evie asked. “Yet, you didn’t say anything to me, your friend who has been engaged to the motherfucker for four years?”

“Girl, you know damn well I have never liked Cameron’s crusty ass. But anytime somebody tried to tell you something, you’d say we just didn’t understand him. I told you the last time you broke up that you needed to kick him to the curb for good.”

“She did,” Ashanti injected. “I was there when she said it.”

“Well, you should have been more forceful,” Evie said.

“And alienate one of my best friends?” Ridley asked. “After I realized you actually were in love with him, I stopped trying to make you see what I saw in Cameron. He wasn’t worth losing my friend.”

She knew Ridley didn’t particularly like Cam—and she would never tell Rid, but Cameron felt the same way about her. She would brush off Ridley’s snide remarks, figuring it was nothing more than a personality clash between two strong-willed individuals who would never see eye to eye.

“I’ve always thought you were too good for him,” Ashanti said.

“You did? Why didn’t you say anything?” Evie asked.

She shrugged. “You and Cameron come from the same social circles. I assumed that’s just the way things worked in your world.”

“The two of you have been my best friends for as long as I’ve been with Cameron, and neither of you thought to tell me how you truly felt about him?”

“I—” Ridley started, but Evie cut her off.

“Okay, Rid, yes, I know you don’t like him, but you don’t like anybody.”

“That’s fair.” Ridley shrugged.

Evie’s phone buzzed in her pocket yet again. She didn’t have to look to know it was Cameron, although she took it out and glanced at it on the off chance that it wasn’t.

“Is that him?” Ashanti nodded toward the phone.

“Yes,” Evie said with a sigh.

“Tell him to shove his phone up his raggedy ass,” Ridley said.

Evie read the text. “He says we need to talk.”

“Is he honestly trying to get back together with you?” Ashanti asked.

“He knows that isn’t a possibility,” Evie said. “I think he’s more concerned about the practice.”

“Maybe you should talk to him, just to hear what excuse he tries to give you,” Ashanti suggested.

“The fuck she should!” Ridley said. “Let his ass rot in the men’s section at Nordstrom where he belongs.”

Evie and Ashanti looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes. They’d both known how Ridley would react, and she hadn’t disappointed.

“No, I know what you should do,” Ridley continued. “You should find the finest man in New Orleans and fuck him in front of Cameron.”

“No!” Ashanti and Evie screamed at the same time.

“Why not?” Ridley asked.

“Jumping in bed with some random stranger is the last thing I need right now,” Evie said.