He Gave Me Away to His Best Friend

The day I woke from the coma, the man I'd loved for seven years handed me to someone else.

I could have exposed him with one sentence. I didn't.

Dorian and I had been together since college. His best friend Silas had never once pretended to like me.

But that day, Dorian stood at my bedside, pointed at Silas, and said, "He's your boyfriend."

And nobody in that room thought there was anything wrong with that.

I believed him. At least, I made it look that way.

That night, I moved into Silas's villa — and then I heard the phone call.

Dorian's voice came through the phone on the table.

"Do me a favor. Pretend to be Rosalind's boyfriend for a while."

"What if her memory comes back?" Silas asked.

"She won't leave me. She never does. We've been together since school, and honestly, I'm tired. This gives me room to breathe. Have a little fun."

"With Celeste? So that's really happening."

"You know it is. I still love Rosalind more, though. Don't touch her while she's with you. I'm trusting you because you can't stand her."

Those first days, I had played along — a house where nothing was mine, rooms I was told I'd always known, smiling through every lie they fed me.

And now I finally heard the truth spoken out loud.

I backed away on bare feet, made a little noise at the bedroom door, then came out again.

Silas ended the call and rose. "The floor's cold. Where are your shoes?" He picked me up and carried me to the couch.

"I'm thirsty." My voice came out smaller than I meant it to. I didn't know where the cups were.

He brought me water. He sat beside me while I drank and asked if I felt all right.

I nodded. He brushed the hair from my forehead and kissed it.

Dorian had just told him not to touch me. And I'd spent years sure that Silas couldn't stand the sight of me.

When his mouth came toward mine, I turned my face away.

He stroked my cheek as though nothing had happened. "We don't have to rush. You can get to know me again."

He wasn't doing what Dorian had told him to do. So he wasn't honest with his best friend either. That was the part that interested me.

A few nights later, Silas took me to a private room, where Dorian's friends were already drinking and playing games.

The room went quiet when I walked in. They all looked at Dorian, waiting to see what he would do.

Celeste sat beside him. We had shared a dorm room in college, back when she was just my roommate.

"Rosalind! It's Celeste. Do you remember me? We were roommates."

"I'm sorry." I shook my head. The lie came out smoothly enough to surprise even me.

"Then we'll get acquainted all over again." She slid her arm through Dorian's and rested her head on his shoulder.

I knew her well enough to recognize the satisfaction beneath her smile.

"How nice that both friends have boyfriends in the same circle," someone said.

"Exactly. You can all still hang out, memory or no memory."

They were enjoying themselves. They thought they were watching a woman get cheated on in public without ever noticing.

Dorian held Celeste as if the lie had given him permission to enjoy himself right in front of me.

The game went on. When Dorian and Celeste's turn came, they each took an end of the same cookie and ate toward the middle.

Everyone shouted for a kiss. They obliged, and the cheering rose again.

Celeste leaned into his chest and glanced at me. He kept his arm around her.

Then I lost a round. Whoever lost had to kiss someone. Thirty seconds.

Anyone in the room — the rules didn't say otherwise.

Nobody spoke. Dorian looked away, suddenly tense, as if he were afraid I might choose him out of habit. Celeste was still smiling. It just didn't reach anything anymore.

Beside me, Silas hadn't moved. Then he looked up.

I smiled. "My boyfriend, of course."