My Ex's Best Friend Is Worth More Than Him
Piper Hayes · Completed · 6.9k Words
Introduction
A few days before we left, Chase, my boyfriend of two years, said he wanted to hit the water park outside town first, kind of like a warm-up for the beach.
I even bought a new swimsuit for it, thinking it'd be a day for just the two of us.
Then I got to the gate, and my best friend Skylar was standing there in a bikini that was basically a few strings.
I quietly told her the ties might come undone on the slides. She shot me a dirty look and told me to mind my own business.
Chase got annoyed too. He dumped his phone, his towel, and Skylar's makeup bag on me.
"Eloise, can you not ruin this? She's scared to go by herself. I'm just keeping her company."
He spent the whole afternoon horsing around with her in the waves, his arms around her.
She took the drink right out of my hand, had a sip, and passed it to him. He drank half of it in one go.
I stood there in the sun holding all their stuff like their personal pack mule.
For two years, I'd kept telling myself to be understanding, to be the bigger person. All it got me was him pushing it a little further every time.
Fine. If he liked my best friend that much, two could play that game. I'd call the guy he grew up with, Sebastian.
"Sebastian, can you come pick me up?"
Chapter 1
Eloise's POV
Before summer break, we'd already planned a beach trip to Nantucket.
A few days before we left, Chase, my boyfriend of two years, said he wanted to hit the water park outside town first, kind of like a warm-up for the beach.
I even bought a new swimsuit for it, thinking it'd be a day for just the two of us.
Then I got to the gate, and my best friend Skylar was standing there in a bikini that was basically a few strings.
I quietly told her the ties might come undone on the slides. She shot me a dirty look and told me to mind my own business.
Chase got annoyed too. He dumped his phone, his towel, and Skylar's makeup bag on me.
"Eloise, can you not ruin this? She's scared to go by herself. I'm just keeping her company."
He spent the whole afternoon horsing around with her in the waves, his arms around her.
She took the drink right out of my hand, had a sip, and passed it to him. He drank half of it in one go.
I stood there in the sun holding all their stuff like their personal pack mule.
For two years, I'd kept telling myself to be understanding, to be the bigger person. All it got me was him pushing it a little further every time.
Fine. If he liked my best friend that much, two could play that game. I'd call the guy he grew up with, Sebastian.
"Sebastian, can you come pick me up?"
"Chase, don't let go! I'm seriously gonna get swept away!"
In the wave pool, Skylar shrieked and burrowed into Chase's chest, her arms locked around his neck.
He didn't pull away. He put a hand on her back and grinned down at her.
"If you're this scared, why'd you want the deep end? Hang on tight. If you end up choking on pool water, don't blame me."
A wave hit and knocked them both over. They came up laughing.
Anyone watching probably thought they were the couple.
And me, the actual girlfriend? I was sitting under an umbrella by the pool with a stuffed beach bag in my lap. Neither of them looked my way once.
My lower stomach had started cramping the second we walked in. My period was due any day now.
I told Chase I didn't want to go in the deep end. I'd just hang out in the shallow end.
He got irritated right away. "Seriously, Eloise? We're supposed to be having fun. You don't wanna do anything. So why'd you even come?"
Before I could finish, Skylar looped her arm through his and tugged on it, whining that she wanted to try the steepest slide but was too scared to go alone.
Just like that, his irritation was gone.
He piled everything onto my lap and walked off with her without even saying "wait here."
I watched them walk away, and my chest went tight.
Chase wasn't always like this.
At the end of sophomore year, I ended up in the hospital with a bad stomach bug. He skipped the last review session before finals and spent the whole night in a folding chair next to my bed.
The next morning, he showed up with a bowl of my favorite clam chowder.
Back then, he looked at me like I was the only person in the world.
Things started changing when Skylar transferred in.
She didn't know anyone at first. I kept seeing her eat lunch alone, so I went and sat across from her.
After that, she came along on every date Chase and I went on.
In the car, she claimed she got carsick, so shotgun was always hers.
When we got drinks, she'd grab Chase's cup and drink from it, laughing that friends shouldn't be weird about sharing.
If I looked even a little upset, Chase would frown.
"Why are you being so petty? She barely has any friends here. Is it really that bad if I look out for her a little?"
Look out for her?
I glanced back at the wave pool. He had her wrapped up in his arms, blocking the waves for her.
That wasn't looking out for someone. That was crossing a line.
I pressed my bottle of ice-cold lemonade to my forehead and let the chill take the edge off the anger in my chest.
For two years, I'd forced myself to be the sweet, easygoing girlfriend. I never made a scene. I always gave in.
I thought if I kept backing down, he'd eventually notice.
All he noticed was that he could keep pushing me further.
"Eloise! Why are you just sitting there spacing out? Come on!"
Skylar finally got tired, and Chase led her out of the pool by the hand.
Her hair was still dripping. She pulled Chase's towel off my lap, wrapped herself up in it, and gave me this helpless little look.
Then, without even blinking, she plucked the lemonade from my hand, twisted the cap off, and drank.
"Oh my God, it's so cold, it hurts my teeth." She scrunched up her nose and shoved the bottle at Chase. "Here, you have it."
He didn't even look. He put his mouth right where hers had been and chugged more than half of it.
I felt sick to my stomach.
"Chase, she drank from that."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand like it was nothing.
"So? We're all friends. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Eloise, you've had an attitude since we walked in. What is your problem?"
Last Chapters
#8 Chapter Eight
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#7 Chapter Seven
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#6 Chapter Six
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#5 Chapter Five
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#4 Chapter Four
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#3 Chapter Three
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#2 Chapter Two
Last Updated: 11/6/2026#1 Chapter One
Last Updated: 11/6/2026
You Might Like 😍
Reborn and Unleashed: The Boss Lady Takes No Prisoners
Now reborn, Vivian refuses to hide her strength. She's revealing her true identity, claiming her power, and rewriting her fate. No more submission, no more misunderstandings—this time, she'll take control of her life and her love.
As regretful brothers beg for forgiveness and powerful enemies fall at her feet, Vivian has one goal: to rise without mercy and make the man she once loved fall for her all over again—on her terms.
The Alpha King's Human Mate
“I have waited nine years for you. That’s nearly a decade since I’ve felt this emptiness inside me. Part of me began to wonder if you didn’t exist or you’d already died. And then I found you, right inside my own home.”
He used one of his hands to stroke my cheek and tingles erupted everywhere.
“I’ve spent enough time without you and I will not let anything else keep us apart. Not other wolves, not my drunken father who’s barely holding himself together the past twenty years, not your family – and not even you.”
Clark Bellevue has spent her entire life as the only human in the wolf pack - literally. Eighteen years ago, Clark was the accidental result of a brief affair between one of the most powerful Alphas in the world and a human woman. Despite living with her father and her werewolf half-siblings, Clark has never felt like she really belonged in the werewolf world. But right as Clark plans to leave the werewolf world behind for good, her life gets flipped upside down by her mate: the next Alpha King, Griffin Bardot. Griffin has been waiting years for the chance to meet his mate, and he's not about to let her go anytime soon. It doesn't matter how far Clark tries to run from her destiny or her mate - Griffin intends to keep her, no matter what he has to do or who stands in his way.
Mated To My Nemesis
Agnes Tremaine arrived in Melbourne with a camera but no backstory in this world. She was meant to document one season. She never realized she was already the blueprint — that the connections, the open doors, and the meticulous arrangements were all built specifically for her, tailored and designed to use her.
Ace had a nine-year revenge in the making. A journalist had destroyed his sister's life and left no fingerprints. Now the man's daughter was standing in his garage with a camera, and Ace had been the one to open the door.
His wolf chooses a mate he never wanted and couldn't shake — not in the paddock, not on the track, not even at 200mph where nothing else had ever followed him before.
For the first time in his life, he couldn't have it all.
Luna Rising
They were wrong.
Seren was stolen as a newborn and raised in a pack that treated her as disposable. Beaten and imprisoned, she survives by hiding her strength—until a mating ball brings fate crashing into her life.
With enemies willing to sell lives and a past tied to the throne, Seren must rise…or die.
A dark werewolf romance of power, fate, and vengeance.
Rejected By My Family, Desired By The Mafia
While the real heiress struggled to survive, the nanny’s daughter, Talia, was raised in luxury as the beloved jewel of the Laurent family, pampered by Camille’s parents, adored by her three brothers, and even promised to the prestigious Matteo Devereux through a childhood engagement arranged by their grandparents.
Then the truth came out.
Six months ago, Camille was finally brought back to the Laurent family. To protect the family reputation and prove their devotion to their bloodline, the Laurent patriarch transferred 35% of his personal shares into Camille’s name overnight, instantly making her one of the wealthiest heiresses in the country.
It brought anxiety to all the Laurent family. But what they don’t know…is that Camille never needed them.
Behind her elegant smile lies a woman filled with secrets powerful enough to shake the whole family. She's a miraculous healer capable of curing the incurable poisons.
Yet despite everything, her family still chooses Talia.
Every accusation against Talia is forgiven. Every scheme against Camille is brushed aside. Even Matteo, the man who was supposed to be Camille’s fiancé—cannot let go of the woman he always believed belonged by his side.
But while the Laurent family underestimates Camille, another man begins to see exactly who she is.
Dante Moretti.
The ruthless heir of an old-money dynasty. A billionaire CEO worshipped by the public…and the merciless king of a criminal empire hidden beneath the city’s glittering surface. When Dante is poisoned by a rival syndicate with a deadly toxin no doctor can cure, he offers a fortune for anyone who can save him.
Only Camille can. Their deal is simple: she becomes his personal physician, and he gives her anything she wants.
The MC Hacker’s Stolen Princess
She did not come to find out her father had promised her to another man.
As the only daughter of Shane “Rook” Rourke, president of the Lost Coast Renegades MC, Taryn has always known club business comes first. But when Rook signs a treaty with the dangerous president of Iron Mesa, he crosses a line even she never imagined.
Safe passage through Arizona territory comes with a price.
Her.
Kellan Stroud is thirty, powerful, ruthless, and already waiting at Sturgis to meet the woman he expects to marry.
Taryn wants no part of him, no part of the agreement, and definitely no part of a future chosen for her by two men who think a signature is enough to decide where she belongs.
Then she meets Bobby Fuentes.
At twenty, Bobby is one of the youngest fully patched members of the Sons of Doom MC. He is quiet until he has something to say, dangerous when he needs to be, and smart enough to get into places no one else can. Hacking is what he does best.
Until Taryn gives him a new problem to solve.
One reckless connection at Sturgis becomes something neither of them can ignore, and when Bobby realizes exactly what Rook has promised away, walking away stops being an option.
But stealing another president’s future wife is not a misunderstanding.
It is an insult.
A betrayal.
And in the MC world, it can mean war.
Taryn refuses to be anyone’s property.
Bobby has never been good at following rules.
And Kellan Stroud does not forgive what he believes belongs to him.
The road out of Sturgis may cost them everything first.
Moonfire: Betrayed By The Alpha
Alpha Caden Blackwell believed those words would break me. That after three years of marriage marked by silence, humiliation, and quiet rejection, I would fear a life without him.
I did once.
As the Luna of the Shadowcrest Pack, I gave everything to a man my wolf recognized as her mate, enduring whispers, cold stares, and a pack that never truly accepted me. I stayed because I believed love required endurance. Because I believed patience would one day be rewarded.
That belief shattered the night Caden welcomed his former lover back into our home, along with a child he claimed as his heir. It ended the moment his choices nearly cost me my life and the life of one of my unborn pups. Leaving was no longer a matter of pride. It was survival.
Caden does not know the woman who walked away. He still sees the Luna who waited, who forgave, who loved without limits. He does not see Nova Ashton, a woman capable of rebuilding her identity and claiming a future on her own terms.
I will never crawl back.
The CEO Above My Desk
“I know she does.”
“And what if she doesn’t want this kind of protection?”
“She will,” I say, my voice lowering slightly. “Because she needs a man who can give her the world.”
“And if the world burns?”
My hand tightens subtly at Violet’s waist.
“Then I’ll build her a new one,” I reply. “Even if I have to burn the old one down myself.”
I don’t work for Rowan Ashcroft.
I work beneath him.
From my desk, I decide who gets access to the most ruthless CEO in the city, and who never makes it past the lobby. I manage his time, his silence, his enemies. I keep his world running while my own quietly collapses under unpaid bills, a mother locked in rehab, and a brother who vanished without a goodbye.
Rowan Ashcroft is power wrapped in a tailored suit.
Cold. Untouchable. Merciless.
He doesn’t flirt. He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t see people, only usefulness.
And for a long time, I was just useful.
Until he started watching.
A shift in his attention is subtle at first. A pause too long. A look that lingers. Orders that pull me closer instead of pushing me away. The man who stands above my desk begins to control more than my schedule, and I realize too late that being noticed by Rowan Ashcroft is far more dangerous than being ignored.
Because men like him don’t crave affection.
They crave possession.
This was supposed to be a job.
Not a test of my limits.
Not a slow, deliberate descent into his authority.
But if Rowan Ashcroft decides I belong under his desk, then so be it.
Survival has a price, and the bills don’t care how I pay them.
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Cue the Dark
Luna On The Run- I stole The Alpha's Sons
But Axton is more than just a rival, he's her fated mate. And he's been searching for her not for love, but for revenge and a chance to destroy her father's pack. The next morning, Elena rejects him, walking away before he can trap her in his ruthless schemes.
But Axton does not take rejection lightly, and his retaliation is brutal: a leaked video, a ruined reputation, and a family that turns their backs on her drive her to flee the city in disgrace.
But when Elena disappears, she takes something Alpha Axton never planned to lose - his sons. Now, he'll stop at nothing to get them back. He wants his heirs, he wants his mate, and Elena will learn that no one runs from the Alpha.
The Sentinel's Conduit
In a world already on its knees, vampires in the streets, daylight a memory, the human race running out of places to hide. You would think a man of God would know better than to make a deal with the devil. Or, in our case, the Vampire Lord.
He didn't.
And I paid for it.
The part I can't quite make peace with is what came after. Because dying wasn't the end of it. Someone pulled me back, one of the five men they call Sentinels, blessed with something older than the war itself. and now I'm supposed to be grateful. They tell me I've been given a second chance. What they don't tell me is that the second chance comes with a war, a calling I didn't ask for, and five men I'm not sure I'm ready to trust.
Especially him. The one in charge. The one they call Elion.
He is not what I expected. Nothing about this is.
I have exactly two questions and no good answers: am I supposed to feel this way about a man whose job is to protect me? And if he's as dangerous as everything in me already knows he is. Would I be safer keeping him at arm's length?
I'm starting to think that was never really an option.
