Chapter 3 A Stranger in My Own Home

Kendra fell silent.

As soon as we stepped out of the car, she rushed to my side and reached for my hand. I slipped away, hands deep in my jacket pockets.

Before she could say anything, Josiah slipped between us and linked his arm through hers. Kendra didn't pull away. Instead, she instinctively reached out to keep him from bumping into the car door.

I saw it all, but I said nothing. I just turned and headed toward the house.

The instant we stepped inside, Josiah's stomachache vanished.

He grabbed Kendra's arm and whisked her from room to room, pointing things out and commenting on the decor as if the place were his.

"Kendra, remember those curtains in the guest room I told you I hated? Why haven't you changed them yet?"

"Because I told the contractors to leave them alone," I answered before she could speak. "The color you picked was hideous."

I looked straight at him. "Besides, this is supposed to be my home with Kendra. Since when do you get a say in how we decorate it?"

Josiah's smile faltered.

He stared at me for a moment, clearly caught off guard by my reply.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he came over and slipped his arm through mine.

"Come on, Xavier. Don't be like that," he said in his sweet, innocent voice. "Are you still upset about Cedarvale? Look, I'm sorry. You've been busy with work lately, and I figured you could use the weekend to rest. That was why we didn't invite you."

He gave my arm a gentle squeeze and smiled. "Besides, we've been best friends for eighteen years. What's mine is yours, right?"

"What's yours is mine? Seriously? So, what else are we sharing now? Should I let you marry Kendra too?" I pulled my arm free and let out a dry laugh. "Come on, Josiah. We've known each other for eighteen years. Do you really think I can't tell what you're up to? Just drop the act."

His smile vanished.

Then, his eyes welled up, and he looked at me as if I'd just said something unforgivable. "No, Xavier! It's all a misunderstanding. I swear, I was just trying to—"

"Enough, Josiah."

I'd bitten my tongue for months.

Now that the truth was out, I saw no point in keeping up the charade.

"Every time I say something in the group chat, you two ignore me. You talk to each other for hours, but the second I join, you guys have nothing to say. You can't even answer a simple question.

"And it's not just the messages. You go out to dinner, watch movies, and take vacations together without telling me. She's my fiancee, Josiah, but somehow, you're the one she does everything with. Whenever I bring it up, you act like I'm overreacting and use our eighteen years of friendship as an excuse."

I looked him straight in the eye and scoffed. "Seriously, ask anyone if they think that's normal. You know what you're doing, so stop playing innocent and have some shame."

Josiah seemed ready to argue, but he crumbled and burst into tears before speaking.

That was enough to set Kendra off.

She marched over and shoved me hard.

"Xavier! What the hell is wrong with you?" She snapped. "There's nothing going on between Josiah and me! We've known each other forever. If anything were going to happen, don't you think it would've happened years ago?"

Before I could respond, she went on, her voice growing louder.

"Why do you keep imagining things? I brought you here so you could talk to Josiah and make him feel better, not to stand here and humiliate him!"

The shove caught me off guard.

I stumbled backward and hit the wall, pain shooting through my back. I groaned and reached behind me instinctively.

Kendra moved toward me, one hand half-raised, but stopped short. After a moment's hesitation, she turned and went straight to Josiah, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

"Xavier, just apologize to him," she said. "Then, we can forget all this and move on. There's no need to make such a big deal of it."

I stared at her, stunned that I was suddenly the villain for daring to voice the hurt I'd been carrying for months.

But strangely enough, I wasn't even angry anymore. After all that, I was simply too tired to feel anything.

I steadied myself against the wall and slowly straightened up. "No."

Kendra frowned. "What do you mean, no?"

"I'm not apologizing, and I'm not going to pretend everything's fine." I met her gaze. "There's something I need to discuss with you in private. I'll be waiting in the master bedroom, and I don't want anyone else there."

Without waiting for her answer, I walked past them and headed upstairs.

Of course, Kendra didn't follow me right away. She stayed downstairs, comforting Josiah for several long minutes as though he'd been hurt.

…

By the time she finally came upstairs, she'd already given him a gift box and a set of keys.

"Take this, Xavier." She walked into the bedroom and held out another gift box. "Josiah and I picked this out for you in Cedarvale. See? We didn't forget about you while we were there."

She gave me a small, hopeful smile. "Come on, don't be mad anymore. I know I haven't been very considerate lately, but I'll do better. I promise I won't upset you like this again."

I glanced at the box but didn't reach for it. Instead, I held out my hand. "I don't want a present. Where is my house key?"

Kendra blinked. "What?"

"My key, Kendra. When we changed the locks, there were two keys. One for you and one for me. Where's mine?"

She hesitated and looked away. "Well, I'll be home to let you in anyway, so you don't really need one. Besides, knowing you, you'd probably lose it if you carried it with you."

I asked, "You gave it to Josiah, didn't you?"

She didn't answer, but she didn't have to. Her hesitation told me everything.

"Unbelievable." I scoffed. "Kendra, I'm your fiance. We're supposed to get married and live here together. Yet, I'm the only one without a key to this house. Does that make any sense to you?"

She started to speak, but I cut her off.

"You know how I feel about you and Josiah. You know how much your relationship bothers me, yet you still gave him my key without even asking me."

I stepped closer and met her eyes. "Tell me something. Is this supposed to be our home, or yours and Josiah's?"

Kendra fell silent.

After a while, she sighed. "Fine. I'll get another copy made for you."

She added almost defensively, "Look, you know Josiah had a rough childhood. He never really had much of a family to rely on. I just want him to feel like he belongs somewhere."

She looked at me as though I was supposed to understand.

"He's your best friend, Xavier. Don't you want him to be happy?"

I stared at her in disbelief. She'd given another man the key to the home we were supposed to share, yet somehow expected me to see it as a thoughtful gesture.

I finally lost my temper. "You know damn well that's not how best friends act!"

Before Kendra could respond, the bedroom door swung open.

Josiah appeared in the doorway, clutching the gift box she'd given him downstairs. He hurried toward us, visibly flustered. "Kendra! I think you mixed up the presents!"

He opened the box and pulled out a necklace.

"I was supposed to get the little souvenir, not this $6000 necklace!" he exclaimed. "Look, it even has my name engraved on it! You should give this to Xavier instead!"

Kendra barely glanced at it. "No, I didn't mix them up. That one's for you."

Josiah froze, looking stunned.

"You told me you'd never owned anything that expensive before," she explained. "So, I thought I'd get you something nice for once."

Then, she turned back to me and pressed the other gift box into my hands.

Seeing my expression, her voice softened. "Xavier, honey, I don't have much money to spare right now. Can you just make do with this one for now? Once I get my year-end bonus, I'll get you something even better. I promise."

I didn't say anything.

Apparently taking my silence as a sign I was still upset, she continued, "Besides, you know Josiah's situation. His family doesn't have much, and he barely makes enough to get by. You're the one who helped him get his job in the first place, remember?"

She reached for my hand, trying to coax me into agreeing. "Can't you just cut him some slack? It's only a necklace, Xavier. You don't have to make such a big deal out of it."

I glanced at her, then at Josiah, who was still standing there with the expensive necklace in his hands.

He looked back at me, his eyes brimming with tears once again.

"Xavier, please," he said, his voice trembling. "Can't you just forgive me?"