My Best Friend's Boyfriend

“How much do I owe you?” she asked.

“The truth,” I said.

“I’m not sure what that means, but here’s a ten just to cover my bases,” she said, reaching into her purse.

“It’s fine. It’s on me, Ava.”

“What’s this all about, Logan? Why have you been blowing up my phone?”

“When we parted ways, things seemed a little off. I just want to make sure you’re all right.”

“I’m fine, Logan. I was just tired when we woke up.”

“You seemed a little uncertain when we parted. Did I—” I drew in a deep breath when she furrowed her brow. “Did I force you into something you didn’t want to do?”

A grin crossed her cheeks before she shook her head. “No, Logan. You didn’t make me do something I didn’t want to do,” she said.

“Then why did you look so—”

“Nervous? Anxious? Weary of the entire situation?”

“Well, yes.”

‘Because I lost my virginity to my best friend’s ex, Logan.”

“So, that’s it?” I asked. We shared a little laugh before I pushed her danishes and coffee over to her. “Happy lunch,” I said.

“You remembered.”

“You eat it every time I see you in here. Wasn’t that hard to memorize.”

“Well, I can’t help it if their cheese danishes and mochas are to die for,” she said. Her eyes fluttered up to mine, and I saw a question brewing behind them.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Honesty for honesty?”

“Of course. Shoot.”

“Why did you break things off with Camilla?”

“I take it you haven’t talked with her?”

“Not just that. I can’t even get her on the phone. I’m starting to get worried about her. Did you do something?”

I scoffed and shook my head as I brought my coffee to my lips.

“You know how Camilla and I were supposed to go shopping this past weekend?”

“Yeah. For her new work clothes.”

“Well, she texted me a time and a destination but never showed.”

“She stood you up?”

“She did, and I couldn’t get her to respond to any of my messages. She was seeing them but not responding. The only thing I knew was that she had to work that night, so I went to the club to check on her and make sure she was okay.”

“I bet she didn’t like that.”

“Well, if she’d been there, she probably wouldn’t have.”

“Wait, she wasn’t working? She told me she had to work, too.”

“I stayed there for two hours waiting for her, and she never showed. I sent her a text and told her we needed to talk, fell asleep that night without hearing from her, and early Sunday morning I got a phone call.”

“So you have heard from her. Like, her voice?”

“Yes, her voice. She’s okay in that regard. But that was when I found out what was going on.”

“What was going on, Logan?”

“Apparently this new promotion she got at work didn’t come with the kind of pay bump she thought it did, so she started sleeping with her boss in order to get it.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“She did. We got together and talked over breakfast that morning, and she was completely nonchalant about it. Camilla actually thought I would be okay with it since it didn’t mean anything emotionally.”

“You’re being serious,” she said.

“Dead serious. Camilla’s had her head in her phone for weeks, buttering up her boss, and the reason she’s been working even later hours than usual is to try to get a raise.”

“By fucking her boss.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then that would explain why Camilla hasn’t told me anything. She knows I wouldn’t hold back on my complete and utter judgment of her,” she said.

“That’s why I broke things off. I can’t be with a woman who actually thinks I’m the kind of man that would be okay with her sleeping around to get a raise because it didn’t mean anything.”

“So, out of all this, what made you decide to sign up for—you know?”

I took another sip of my coffee as her round, innocent eyes stared back at me.

“Part of it was a knee-jerk reaction in anger, I’ll admit. But part it was this: If I could teach just one woman how to properly treat a man who respected her, I’d feel a little better. I hear so many women complain about how men are jerks and they don’t do this and they don’t do that, but they don’t realize that a lot of those jerks are born from experiences like the one I just had with Camilla.”

“And you thought that by teaching, you could somehow save those men from becoming jerks.”

“More that I could show a woman there’s nothing wrong with showing respect for a man if he respects her back. It’s one thing if a man doesn’t respect a woman, but it’s another thing if a man completely respects her and the woman has no regard for that whatsoever. That bitter train goes both ways.”

“It makes sense. But I just—” Ava picked at her danish, and I took a bite of my sandwich as I waited. “I cannot believe Camilla did something like that. Is she insane? I mean, if the way you treated me was any indication of how you treated her throughout your relationship, then she’s a lunatic.”