Best Friend's Ex Box Set

I felt the panic rising as I sat looking up at him. I knew him well enough to know that he was fighting to maintain his impassive expression and casual tone. Underneath it all beat the heart of a true sadist, and questioning me was simply giving him time to coil up inside himself and prepare to strike. If I could figure out how he would strike, I might be able to avert disaster, but that would require me to lie like I’d never lied before, and I wasn’t sure I could do it.

“What’s wrong, Ava?” Dominic whispered as he bent down in front of me, his face only inches away from mine. “Cat got your tongue? Perhaps I should do something to loosen it up.”

“No, I was just remembering our summer trip to New York,” I said as I smiled softly. “Remember how we found that little park that had the lights embedded in the concrete and danced to the street music after dark?”

A look of confusion flitted across Dominic’s face before he returned to his marble mask. I smiled sweetly up at him as I continued, “You gave me that pretty silver necklace that I love so much. The one with the diamond perched on the edge of the half-moon because you always said you loved me to the moon and back, Dom,” I spoke softly and smiled again.

“I…I…yeah, I remember,” he stammered a bit before regaining control. I was getting to him, and I knew that if I was going to take control of the situation, I was going to have to spin a memory powerful enough to turn me back into his all

y. I searched my peripheral vision for Brian, but I couldn’t see what Cheese was doing with him, so I focused my full attention on Dominic and hoped that when Brian regained consciousness, he’d understand what I was doing and look for an opening. Given how upset he’d been with me before this, I wasn’t sure he would, and that scared me more than telling all the lies.

“You loved me so much, Dom,” I whispered. “That trip was a dream trip, and I really thought you were going to propose when we had dinner at Tavern on the Green. I was so disappointed that you didn’t. Why didn’t you?”

“I…well…that’s none of your business, young lady,” he snapped. There was something underneath his anger, and I didn’t know what it was.

“No, it’s all my business, baby,” I cooed. “Just tell me, it’s okay if you were scared and weren’t ready. I totally understand. Look at me? I got cold feet.”

“It was…well…it was just not the right time,” he muttered as he looked over at Cheese. I followed his gaze and saw that Brian was laying facedown on the carpet with a river of red slowly snaking down the side of his face, forming a growing stain on the carpet. I was distressed, but I knew that I couldn’t show any interest in what was happening or Dominic would turn his focus on Brian. What might happen then was anyone’s guess, but I didn’t dare risk it.

“I know you had your reasons,” I reassured him. “I just wanted to know if it was something I’d done. Was I good enough for a proposal?”

“You were fine, Ava,” Dominic said quietly. “In fact, you were more than fine. You were stunning that night. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

I watched him slowly sink into his memory of the night he should have proposed. The reality of that night was that we’d fought at the hotel before dinner, and I’d said I didn’t want to go out to eat, but he’d gripped my arm so tightly that I couldn’t get away and then dragged me down to the hotel lobby, where he’d ordered the bellman to get us a cab. Once inside the cab, he’d turned and let loose with a torrent of abuse that had the cab driver giving me worried looks in the rearview mirror. I’d waved him off once we reached the restaurant, and we’d gone in and had a delicious, but tense, meal. It was nothing like the romantic fantasy I was weaving, but the only advantage I had over Dominic was that he lived in a fantasy world rather than in reality.

“We were happy, weren’t we?” he mused.

“Oh, it was such a lovely night,” I fed the memory. “We had champagne on the dance floor and you whirled me around like I was Ginger Rogers to your Fred Astaire, Dom. It was magical.”

“Yeah, I did a good job, didn’t I?” he asked.

“The best,” I replied in a dreamy voice. “I felt like a princess.”

“You are my princess, Ava,” he said softly. “I don’t understand why you would want to run away from all of the wonderful things I have given you.”

“I don’t know, Dom,” I said sadly. “I think I just got confused. I got scared. It’s all such a big deal with my family, you know?”

When I mentioned my family, Dominic’s face went blank and I knew I’d hit the wrong note. Dammit!

“Yes, I know all too well how big a deal things are with your family,” he replied coldly.

“They’re not me!” I cried. I had to turn this conversation back around and quickly. “I’m not my parents! I love you! I want to be with you! I don’t care what they say or think, we’re meant to be together, Dom. You know that, don’t you?”

He looked back down at me as if seeing me with fresh eyes, and smiled as he said, “Yes, I know you’re not them.”

He walked over to where Brian lay, looked down at his unmoving body for a moment before he turned and faced me again. “But I also know that they raised you, and there’s no way for you to escape that fact, Ava. You are your parents’ daughter whether you like it or not, and you’re smart and resourceful.”

“What do you mean?” I was absolutely confused.

“What I mean is that you are adept at deception, my dear,” he chuckled. “Your father is the king of lies and deceit and you are the queen of the empire!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” I cried. “I’ve never lied to you. Not once.”

“Listen to her, Cheese!” he roared. “She lies to me about lying to me! What a piece of work!”

“Huh?” said Cheese looking back and forth between us, obviously confused. “She sounds sincere to me, dude.”

“Good lord, Cheese, you’re such a sucker,” Dominic scolded. “No wonder no frat house wants you as a member. You’re an idiot.”