my own place until she was ready.
Or, shit, maybe I’d pull a Jackson and Callie and become Emily’s neighbor.
Whatever it was, I was going to get out of this place and put everything in the past where it belonged.
All that mattered was going for-
My phone screamed with a text.
I saw Emily’s name and smiled.
Miranda is here. She’s drunk. You need to get here RIGHT NOW.
I put my phone down and shut my eyes.
When I opened them, I told myself the text message was going to be different.
It was going to be Emily telling me she loved me. Or a dirty text about my cock. Or maybe a dirty picture from her.
Nope.
It was the same text message.
I started to reply with questions that weren’t Emily’s to answer.
So I deleted the text before sending it.
I sent a different text.
I’m on my way right now.
There were a million thoughts going through my head on the ride to Emily’s place.
The one thing that could cause problems between Emily and I was here.
Miranda.
My past.
My regrettable past, in a sense.
All I wanted was to steal as much of Emily’s time as I could and make up for all those years we had lost.
I knew I had to deal with Miranda at some point, but in typical Miranda fashion, she showed up and made it about herself.
When I stepped out of the car and walked into the building, my emotions were scattered all around me.
I already had to text Jackson and cancel tonight.
He wanted to know if Emily and I were too busy fucking each other’s brains out. I replied that Miranda was in town.
His reply?
Fuck.
That was my reaction too.
I knocked on Emily’s door and when she opened it, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the apartment.
“What the fuck is going on?” I whispered.
Emily shoved at my chest. “She fucking showed up. I was getting ready to go out with you and she showed up. She’s drunk. I can’t get her to stop drinking wine or talking. I told her I was calling you.”
“I’m supposed to go into your apartment and do what?” I asked.
“It’s your ex.”
“Your best friend.”
“No,” Emily said. “Not even close.”
“I’m not standing in there with her. Your apartment…”
“I’m going up to the roof,” Emily said. “Alone. Do what you have to do, Liam.”
She took a step and I touched her arm. “Em. I’m so sorry about this.”
“I know,” she said.
I moved to block her path. “Hey. I love you, babe.”
I reached for her face and she moved my hands away in a hurry. “Go deal with her. I can’t be mixed up in this anymore. I can’t believe I was to begin with. Look at me, Liam. The new Emily? This is who I am!”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I said. “This is just… I don’t know. It’s residual. It’s my mistake.”
“Well, your mistake is on my couch.”
When Emily turned and walked away, I felt like someone crushed my heart with their hand.
“Emily?” Miranda’s voice said.
Except her voice was like Eee-mmm-eee-lleee…
I gritted my teeth.
I had no choice.
I had to face Miranda.
All I wanted to do was to run away with Emily.
Miranda looked at me and burst into tears.
I slowly shut the apartment door.
“Miranda, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I came to my best friend’s place to vent,” she yelled. “Because I didn’t want to face you!”
“You’re drunk.”
“I have to be. How can I mask the pain otherwise?”
“The pain…?”
Miranda stood up. She put her hands out to keep her balance. “You never came after me.”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you come to Boston?”
“I told you I was busy with work…”
“Not at the beginning,” she said, her drunk eyes shutting, staying shut for a second or two, then opening. “I meant now. Right now.”
“If I was in Boston now, I wouldn’t find you.”
“What?”
I opened my mouth. “Nothing. It was a joke.”
“Oh, I’m a joke to you?”
“This is a joke,” I said. “Showing up like this. Getting drunk like this. The position you put Emily in.”
“Position?” Miranda asked. “Oh, are you going to tell me I can’t be friends with her? Huh?”
“No. I’m talking about everything you’ve done to her. How many times you’ve screwed her over. And then you throw her into our wedding plans…”
Miranda let out a pppssss sound and shook her head.
She wasn’t listening.
And I was defending Emily way too much.
I moved toward Miranda. “We’re out of here. We’re going home.”
“Oh, we have a home? I thought by now you would have a new place.”
I ground my teeth. “Miranda…”
“Just tell me why