The grandma frowned but put her phone away without making a fuss at my cousin pushing her out of the way.
“Actually, I’m not a Cuddle Master. I’m a Cuddle—”
Bev snorted as she yanked my sleeve. “Cuddle Queen. Goddess of teddy bears. Yeah, yeah. I get it.” She linked her arm with mine after I rounded the counter. Damn, was she hungry, or what?
And I’m the girl who did what with which veggie?
“You’re also a crappy friend and lousy cousin.”
Was she still mad about Jack and me stealing her thunder? A sigh collected in my lungs but she continued on before I could reply. Just before we exited the store, I did blurt out, “Sorry.”
“How could you?”
“Well…” It just happened. Jack and I were simply two parts of some connection that couldn’t be parted. Not even a deleted phone number could keep us separated.
Bev glared at me as we walked to the left. “How could you not tell me about that dickface dumping you like that?”
Oh.
My shrug was easy as she led the way to Cupcake World. “You were busy with the wedding and all.”
She grabbed my arms and turned me to face her. “I will never be too busy to kick someone’s ass if they mess with you.”
Finally. There was the Bev I used to know. Smiling, I nodded and we entered the delicacy shop.
“I had to find out on the plane to the honeymoon.” She huffed. “But it wasn’t like I didn’t have reach there.”
A nagging urge started at the back of my brain, the part that hadn’t been overwhelmed by the aroma of frosting and baked sugar yet.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I got him good, Lex.”
Got who good? My ex? Jesus, what did she do? Revenge of some kind, clearly. Carly and I had debated getting back at my ex, but really, what was the point? My biggest headache at being virally dumped was that he had defined who I had to be according to his status. That kind of declaration was a waste of time, something I realized as Jack and I enjoyed the start of a real relationship. I had no desire to give my ex any more of my energy because I wanted to save it all for me and one sexy former one-time model.
I grabbed my cell from my back pocket. It’d been days since I’d ventured on social media. Kind of too busy spending my free time with Jack. Seemed I needed to take stock of what was up now, though.
“What do you mean?” I repeated as I logged on.
Bev stepped up to order—a dill pickle cupcake? Yeah, this place had a few oddball flavors. But…eww?
“You want your usual?” she asked as I scrolled down my feed. I nodded and then gasped as I found it.
It was a photo of Jack and me kissing, an image I hadn’t seen yet. His hands were on my ass, my fingers gripping his hair. It wasn’t a sloppy smooch, but a picture captured when we’d parted and were smiling at each other’s lips. Why Bev had logged in under my account and shared it was one issue. The words she’d added with the post…
Oh, she didn’t.
But the text was right there. She had.
good riddance to you little man, I found something better.
#babycarrotversuscucumber
#sotinyitmustbeinvisble
#brokenheartedmyass
#yourereplaced
#wasteofmytime
#whoslaughingnow
So, yes. I was the girl who replaced the carrot guy. Laughter shot out of me as I logged out. I’d seen enough for a day, maybe a year. Because if there was one thing I learned, social media wasn’t the place I wanted to air relationship woes.
It was the perfect place to compare vegetables, though.
I’d love to know what you thought of Lexi and Jack.
Please consider leaving a review.
Acknowledgments
I owe many thanks to my family and friends for their constant encouragement to listen to characters’ voices and keep writing
.
For editing, I thank Expression Editing, and C.J. Pinard at www.cjpinard.com. For the cover design, I thank Kellie Dennis at Book Cover By Design at www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk. For proofreading, I thank Cat at Cat’s Eye Proofing and Promo.
For the mental cheerleading that all authors need from one another, I thank Rachel (and Michael for giving her time to assist me!). For writerly commiseration and debating words, I thank my expert friend Allyson. Let’s see where the muse goes next, eh?
About the Author
Amabel Daniels lives in Northwest Ohio with her patient husband, three adventurous girls, and a collection of too many cats and dogs. Although she holds a Master’s degree in Ecology, her true love is finding a good book. When she isn’t spending time outdoors, or wondering how to negotiate with her mightily independent daughters, she’s busy brewing up her next novel, usually as she lets her mind run off with the addictive words of “what if…”
For more information about Amabel’s work, please stop by http://amabeldaniels.com/.
For the latest heads up about new releases, consider joining my newsletter.
Other Books by the Author
Better Than the Best
Appetite of Envy
Resisting Redemption
Covert Identities
Don’t Go Back
Flawed Plan
Indeed
Always Was
Secrecy
Discovery
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Next To Me
Across From You Page 17
