including him – was expecting her to marry, and now she’s heading towards the bedroom of her childhood sweetheart. It didn’t exactly make her look like she should be winning the monogamy prize of the year.
“Uh-huh.” Cassie’s response is short, non-judgmental and Mia waits for the onslaught of questions that she knows is coming. “Sounds like it really has been a busy couple of days for you.” She chuckles lightly. “Damn, Mia. I didn’t know you had it in you!”
Mia bristles at this, the frustration from her argument with Eli leaping out of her mouth before she has the chance to contain it. “What? That I didn’t have it in me to cheat? Yeah, well I guess I proved us both wrong! Go me!” Her voice drips with sarcasm.
She hears Cassie’s gasp on the other end of the line. Mia isn’t known for her quick temper, but it seems like there are a lot of things recently that weren’t as they should be.
“I’m sorry, that was out of line. I’m just a little wired, I guess.” She huffs a sigh, wishing she could stop her brain from spinning out into a million different directions at once.
“Wired about your breakup convo with Eli or wired about seeing Ray in his motel room?” Cassie’s laugh is wicked and contagious, making Mia forget her self-loathing and smile more broadly than she has in a while.
“Both.” She doesn’t even try to pretend otherwise. Cassie isn’t someone she’s ever had to lie to and, at the moment, she’s the only person Mia could trust not to lie to her and to tell her the complete God’s honest truth, no matter how much it hurt. “Cassie, am I a really shitty person?”
Cassie doesn’t pause for breath, like she doesn’t even need to think about her answer. “Don’t you dare say that, Mia! Don’t even think it! You are the best person I know. You’re the kind of person who helps abused women get their life back while earning virtually no money for the privilege. You’re the kind of person who gives bums on the street take-out food!”
“It was just the one time.” Mia remembers the night that Cassie’s talking about; they had ordered Chine food and were taking it back to the room they shared at school. Mia had seen a guy begging in the street, looking like he hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time and she’d given him her dinner. She remembers Cassie staring at her open-mouthed as if she were a crazy person.
“Right, and I’m the Queen of Sheba!” Cassie snorts, not believing Mia’s evasion for one second. “You’re a good person, Mia. Just because you fell out of love with Eli doesn’t make you a bad one, no matter how much you want to believe it.”
“I cheated on him, Cassie. That’s not something a good person does!” Mia feels the tears welling behind her eyes, disappointed tears at her own lack of impulse control. But she knows that if she could go back in time to the night before in Ray’s bedroom, she would have done exactly the same thing. She can’t deny that the electricity between them made it impossible to keep her body from responding to him. All he had to do was look at her to make her hot.
“So you made a mistake. Big friggin’ deal, Mia! That makes you human, not a bad person. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” It’s a statement more than a question and Mia doesn’t feel the need to answer it. It almost seems disrespectful to Eli, to the memory of what they had together to admit Ray had stolen her heart. But had he really stolen it or had it always been his? “So when do I get the full run-down and when do I get to meet the famous Ray?”
“You met him already,” Mia points out smiling at how easily her friend makes her feel lighter.
“A two minute conversation when all he’s trying to do is pump me for information about you doesn’t count.” Mia can almost hear Cassie waving away her protests. “Besides, I need to check out if this guy is deserving of my
“Uh-huh.” Cassie’s response is short, non-judgmental and Mia waits for the onslaught of questions that she knows is coming. “Sounds like it really has been a busy couple of days for you.” She chuckles lightly. “Damn, Mia. I didn’t know you had it in you!”
Mia bristles at this, the frustration from her argument with Eli leaping out of her mouth before she has the chance to contain it. “What? That I didn’t have it in me to cheat? Yeah, well I guess I proved us both wrong! Go me!” Her voice drips with sarcasm.
She hears Cassie’s gasp on the other end of the line. Mia isn’t known for her quick temper, but it seems like there are a lot of things recently that weren’t as they should be.
“I’m sorry, that was out of line. I’m just a little wired, I guess.” She huffs a sigh, wishing she could stop her brain from spinning out into a million different directions at once.
“Wired about your breakup convo with Eli or wired about seeing Ray in his motel room?” Cassie’s laugh is wicked and contagious, making Mia forget her self-loathing and smile more broadly than she has in a while.
“Both.” She doesn’t even try to pretend otherwise. Cassie isn’t someone she’s ever had to lie to and, at the moment, she’s the only person Mia could trust not to lie to her and to tell her the complete God’s honest truth, no matter how much it hurt. “Cassie, am I a really shitty person?”
Cassie doesn’t pause for breath, like she doesn’t even need to think about her answer. “Don’t you dare say that, Mia! Don’t even think it! You are the best person I know. You’re the kind of person who helps abused women get their life back while earning virtually no money for the privilege. You’re the kind of person who gives bums on the street take-out food!”
“It was just the one time.” Mia remembers the night that Cassie’s talking about; they had ordered Chine food and were taking it back to the room they shared at school. Mia had seen a guy begging in the street, looking like he hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time and she’d given him her dinner. She remembers Cassie staring at her open-mouthed as if she were a crazy person.
“Right, and I’m the Queen of Sheba!” Cassie snorts, not believing Mia’s evasion for one second. “You’re a good person, Mia. Just because you fell out of love with Eli doesn’t make you a bad one, no matter how much you want to believe it.”
“I cheated on him, Cassie. That’s not something a good person does!” Mia feels the tears welling behind her eyes, disappointed tears at her own lack of impulse control. But she knows that if she could go back in time to the night before in Ray’s bedroom, she would have done exactly the same thing. She can’t deny that the electricity between them made it impossible to keep her body from responding to him. All he had to do was look at her to make her hot.
“So you made a mistake. Big friggin’ deal, Mia! That makes you human, not a bad person. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” It’s a statement more than a question and Mia doesn’t feel the need to answer it. It almost seems disrespectful to Eli, to the memory of what they had together to admit Ray had stolen her heart. But had he really stolen it or had it always been his? “So when do I get the full run-down and when do I get to meet the famous Ray?”
“You met him already,” Mia points out smiling at how easily her friend makes her feel lighter.
“A two minute conversation when all he’s trying to do is pump me for information about you doesn’t count.” Mia can almost hear Cassie waving away her protests. “Besides, I need to check out if this guy is deserving of my
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