said, brushing her hair out of her face and trying to sound composed.
“Are you going down there now?”
Andie looked at her watch, wondering if he’d be home, wondering if that was the best plan of action. “Um…yeah, I think so.”
“Perfect,” Tracey said. “I was coming back here to see if you could drop me off at my sister’s. I’m watching her kids tonight and there’s never a place for me to park in her development.”
“Fine,” Andie said, walking around her friend. “But we need to leave now.”
Tracey made a face before she brought her hand up to her forehead in a salute. “Sir, yes sir!” she said, following her friend to the door.
Andie laughed, rolling her eyes as she pulled the door open and walked out through the restaurant. She weaved her way around the bar area and out through the side door, not even checking to see if Tracey was behind her.
As soon as both girls were inside the car, Andie saw Tracey turn in the passenger seat to face her. “Alright, Weber. Spill it.”
“Spill it?” Andie asked as she backed out of the space.
“Seriously, what the hell is going on with you?” Tracey asked, the concern prevailing over the playfulness in her voice.
“What? Nothing. I’m fine,” Andie said, and when Tracey responded with silence, she glanced over to see her friend staring at her.
“I call bullshit.”
Andie sighed heavily; she didn’t know who she was kidding trying to evade her best friend of nearly twenty years. “Fine,” she said softly. “I just realized that I might…I mean that I do…” She shook her head, taking a breath. “I have feelings for Chase.”
“God, you suck,” Tracey laughed. “I can’t get a good guy, and here you are lining them up.”
Andie kept her eyes on the road, saying nothing.
“Wait, hold on, are you seriously considering doing something about this?” Tracey asked, the humor now gone from her voice.
She licked her lips before she nodded, her eyes straight ahead.
A stillness fell over the car, and Andie felt a tightening in her chest as she waited for Tracey’s response.
“Andie,” she finally said. “Colin is great.”
“I know,” Andie responded softly.
There was another silence before Tracey said, “I mean, do you even know this Chase guy? Does he have feelings for you too? Or does he just want you? How much thought have you put into this? It’s just that…Colin is a lot to throw away.”
Andie exhaled heavily as she dropped her head back against the seat. “I’ve thought about it, Trace. It’s all I’ve been able to think about for the past month.”
Tracey said nothing, but out of the corner of her eye, Andie could see her shift so that she was facing the road again.
“It’s just that I chose wrong. And I want you to be sure you’re not doing the same thing.”
“You chose wrong?” Andie asked, her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Nate.”
“But Trace,” she said, trying to choose her words carefully. “That wasn’t about you making a poor choice. Nate…” She paused, not wanting to say the words. “Nate broke up with you. You didn’t have a choice about that.”
“I cheated on him, Andie.”
She felt her eyes go wide before she whipped her head toward her friend. “You cheated on Nate?” she asked, unable to keep the shock out of her voice.
Tracey nodded.
Andie opened her mouth to respond, but no words would come. Tracey had said that Nate broke up with her because he felt they were too young to be so serious, that he wanted to experience college life.
“Why didn’t you ever—”
“I was too embarrassed to tell you,” she said quietly, cutting her off.
It was quiet for a beat before Andie said, “So…he broke up with you because he found out?”
“His roommate found out. He said that either I had to tell Nate, or he would.”
Andie fell silent, trying to make sense of everything she had just been told. Only one thought kept coming to the forefront of her mind, loud and clear; why in the hell would she have ever cheated on Nate?
“I was stupid,” Tracey said, as if she had read Andie’s mind. “Things were basically perfect with him. I know that now. But at the time, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe…I don’t know…maybe the grass was greener somewhere else. He was my first real boyfriend. The thought of only being with him…it just made me feel like, I don’t know…like maybe I was settling and not even realizing it.”
Andie took a deep breath,