My Best Friend Slept With My Fiancé

After her boyfriend cheated on her seven years into their relationship, my best friend, Vanessa Reed, stopped trusting men.

When I introduced her to Ethan Cole, she folded her arms.

“He'll cheat on you, too. Give him time.”

Ethan took my hand.

“Then watch me, Ms. Reed.”

She slapped the table.

“I will.”

For seven years, she sent me updates whenever I wasn't with him.

Every year, she found nothing.

In the seventh, he proposed, and I said yes.

That night, a post appeared in my feed:

“I slept with my best friend's boyfriend. What do I do?”

The writer added, “I've spent seven years watching him love her. Tonight he asked her to marry him. Then he slept with me.”

My thumb stopped over the screen.

I could still hear Vanessa's hand hitting that table.

——————————————————————

The ring Ethan had put on my finger a few hours earlier caught the light as I closed the post and called him.

He answered. “What's wrong?”

His voice was rough.

“Nothing. What are you doing?” I tried to keep my own voice steady.

He gave a quiet laugh. “Working. I'll come home when I'm done. Go to sleep.”

“Okay.”

I hung up and reopened the post. There were two new updates.

POST UPDATE:

“My best friend just called to ask him to come home.”

“He sounds so gentle when he talks to her. Why is he so cold with me?”

I pressed my lips together until they hurt.

Seven years. A proposal tonight. That phone call.

It was Vanessa.

I kept reading.

POST UPDATE:

“He really does love her. I thought no man could ever make me believe in that again, but watching him did.”

“He's remembered her period every month for seven years.”

“Once, she flew home from a business trip during a downpour. He had a high fever, and he still went to the airport to get her.”

I remembered that night. The rain had been so bad that I hadn't even asked him to come.

But there he was at arrivals, his shirt soaked through, water dripping from his hair. He smiled before he came toward me.

I touched his cheek.

“You're burning up.”

“I missed you.” He took my suitcase.

At home, the thermometer read 102.2°F. I went to get a damp towel, but he caught my wrist.

“You've had a long day. Sit down. Don't fuss over me.”

“Ethan, you can barely stand. I'll get you some medicine.”

He laughed, his breath hot against my arm. “Slow down. I'm not dying.”

The next update appeared beneath my thumb.

POST UPDATE:

“The fever didn't break. He collapsed at work the next day. I work at his company, so I helped his assistant get him to the hospital.”

“He held my hand so tight it hurt. He kept saying he had to get to the airport. He had to pick her up.”

“He was burning up, and he was still thinking about her.”

“I smacked his hand. I told him he was out of his mind.”

“It took him a while to recognize me. Then he said, ‘Don't tell her.’ He was practically begging.”

“I said I wouldn't. Only then did he let go and close his eyes.”

I had to grip the phone with both hands.

I hadn't known he'd been in the hospital.

He'd called me and said, “I have to go away for work for a few days. Don't miss me too much.”

I'd wondered why the trip had come up at such short notice. I hadn't asked anything else.

POST UPDATE:

“I looked after him while he was there.”

“With her, he's always calm. Always in control. He can handle anything.”

“But he can be a terrible patient. He kept pulling out his IV. The nurses couldn't get him to listen. I'd give him a look, and he'd frown and get back into bed.”

“One of the nurses told me I must be special to him. They'd been trying all morning, and he settled down as soon as I arrived.”

“I didn't know whether to be happy or scared.”

My stomach tightened.

I'd asked Vanessa to meet up during those few days. She'd laughed over the phone.

“Sorry, Claire. I'm stuck at the hospital taking care of a very difficult patient.”

“You sound awfully happy about it,” I'd teased. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

She'd paused, then laughed again. “No.”

I'd been glad. Maybe she was finally getting over her ex. Maybe she'd met someone.

If she got married, I was going to give her the biggest wedding gift I could afford.

The post moved on to tonight.

POST UPDATE:

“After he proposed, she wanted him to have a drink with her. He's allergic to alcohol, but he smiled and drank it anyway.”

“He'll do anything for her.”

“Later, he said he had to go back to the office. I went, too. I knew he must be feeling awful.”

“When he saw me follow him in, he told me to get out.”

“I stayed by the door. He was trying to loosen his tie, but he kept pulling the knot tighter.”

“He'd never let her see him like that.”

“I went over and undid it for him.”

“He went still. His eyes were red, and he wouldn't look at me.”

“I asked him, ‘Aren't you tired, Ethan?’”

“He looked at me for so long I thought he was going to push me away.”

“Then he closed his eyes.”

“I stood on my toes to kiss him.”

“He didn't move away.”

I couldn't stop reading.

POST UPDATE:

“He was still wearing his engagement band on his left ring finger. He had my scratches on his back.”

“Afterward, he was so cold. He wouldn't even look at me before he left.”

“I don't know what I was thinking. I never meant for this to happen.”

“All I can think about now is my best friend's face.”

“I've done something awful to her.”