Chapter 2

My cab arrived. I climbed into the back seat.

Then, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to someone I had not contacted in a long time.

[Gloria, does your offer still stand?]

My phone buzzed almost immediately.

[Always.]

I breathed a sigh of relief. My finger slipped, and I ended up clicking on the chat history with Abby.

As I scrolled up, I found a photo she had sent me the previous afternoon. Gene was sitting in her office eating takeout.

[Your buddy invited himself over for lunch again. He’s so annoying.]

Further up was a message from the previous Friday. She said she was taking Gene’s car to the mechanic.

[He can’t handle it on his own, so I figured I’d help him out.]

Meanwhile, I had been in a minor car accident and could not reach her no matter how many times I called.

Then, there was her birthday last month. I had booked a restaurant a month in advance and waited over two hours for her to arrive.

[Something came up, and Gene needed my help. I’ll be there later.]

When she finally arrived, she took two bites of cake and spent the entire evening glued to her phone.

I had glanced at her screen and seen a steady stream of memes from Gene.

Ever since I introduced Gene to Abby, things like this had been happening more and more often.

Whenever I confronted her, she always gave me the same answer: “I only help him because he’s your best friend. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t give him the time of day.”

That always managed to shut me up. How much had I overlooked and silently put up with over the past five years?

When I got home, I opened the door and looked around. A bitter laugh escaped me.

The first thing I noticed was a pair of blue slides by the front door.

Gene’s.

Most of the shoes in the closet belonged to him as well. My three pairs had been crushed into a corner so tightly that the logos were peeling off.

His mug sat on the coffee table. The couch cushions were arranged exactly the way he liked them.

One of his shirts was hanging out on the balcony to dry.

Three months earlier, Gene had quit his job and had nowhere to go after his lease expired, so he came to stay with me.

From that point on, more and more of his belongings had spread through every corner of the apartment.

I sank onto the couch and noticed a stack of papers pinned beneath Gene’s mug.

I pulled them out and found a home purchase agreement.

The buyers listed on it were Abby Young and Gene Burke.

The contract had been signed a month earlier.

My hand began to shake as I gripped the papers.

What had Abby told me at the time?

“Tony, money’s a little tight right now. I don’t want to touch my savings, so we’ll have to put off buying a place together.”

I believed her. I even transferred everything I had saved over the past four years to her. “Take it. I can always rebuild my savings later.”

That night, she wrapped her arms around me, rested her head on my chest, and said, “I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like you.”

All the while, she had been using everything I gave her to build a future with Gene.

I clenched the contract until the pages crumpled beneath my fingers.

“Tony.”

Abby had come home. She moved closer and said in a soothing voice, “I explained everything to my dad. He said you shouldn’t read too much into it. We can have dinner with them next week instead.”

She said it so casually, as though what had happened today was no big deal.

I took a deep breath and hurled the contract at her. “We’ll talk about that later. Did you use my money to buy Gene a house?”

Her expression darkened when she saw the contract. She fell silent.

When she finally spoke again, her tone had hardened. “You went through my things?”

I laughed. “If I hadn’t, were you planning to keep this from me forever?”

“Tony, listen to me. Gene asked for my help because he felt awkward living with us indefinitely. I don’t want him constantly intruding on us either. Besides, it was a loan. He promised he’d pay me back.”

I stared at Gene’s name on the contract. I felt rage boiling inside me.

“This is a huge deal, yet instead of coming to me, he went behind my back and asked you. How exactly is he going to repay you? He doesn’t even have a job.

“He spends all his time hanging around your office and mooching off you! If he can’t pay you back, is he going to settle the debt in your bed?”

“Tony!” Abby’s voice rose sharply as she slapped me.

“How can you say something so disgusting? Gene is your best friend. Why do you always have it out for him? If this bothers you that much, fine. I’ll put the house in our names instead. Happy?”

I held my stinging cheek. The last bit of warmth in my heart turned cold.

“Abby, when you bought a house with him, did you stop for even a second to think about how I would feel?”

“I just said I could change the names…”

“Do you really think this is only about the house?” I cut her off, trembling with anger.

“Abby, we’re over.”

She froze before snapping, “No, we’re not! You’re too angry, and you’re not thinking straight. I’m not having this conversation right now.”

The door slammed with a deafening bang. Abby left without looking back.

I let out a bitter laugh and turned back toward the bedroom.