Page 167 of Sincerely, Butterfly

I’m not one of those stupid women they fuck and toss to the side like they mean nothing.

I’m their soulmate. Their future fucking wife!

And it’s about time they know it.

Now I just need to figure out how to reveal who I am and what I’ve done.

Because I’ll be fucking damned if I end up in the friend zone. It’s me, or no one else. There are no other options.

“What's wrong?” Mom asks. We’re sitting around the kitchen table having breakfast.

Normally, I love hanging out with them, catching up on life. But I’m feeling a little down after the guys turned me down yesterday.

“Huh?” I ask, blinking up at her from where I was staring at my plate, moving the bacon around mindlessly.

“We asked if you wanted to come to the parade with us tonight. But you look upset. What's wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” I force a smile. “Just having an off day.”

Mom frowns. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” I shrug.

“Well, we’re here when or if you do.” She grabs my hand, giving me a soft, motherly smile. “I think you should come with us, though. Let’s get out of the house, do something fun!”

“Yeah.” I nod, giving her a smile, this one a little less forced. “Yeah, let’s have a fun family day.”

“Yay!” She claps her hands. “Okay, I’m going to go get ready. Let’s say, we leave in an hour?”

“Sounds good,” Dad confirms, giving her a loving smile.

She’s a ball of excitement, and seeing her so happy helps lift my mood.

“Okay, spill,” Dad demands as soon as Mom exits the room.

I sigh heavily, leaning back in my chair. “Boy problems.”

“What did they do?” He narrows his eyes. “I’ll kill them.”

“No, you won’t.” I point my fork at him. “I love them. You can’t kill the guys I love.”

“I can if they hurt my baby girl,” he growls.

“They didn’t hurt me,” I mutter. “At least not physically. My pride, however...”

“What happened?”

“I asked them to hang out for Mardi Gras, and they turned me down,” I pout.

“I thought since Callie moved here, the group as a whole were becoming closer?”

“We are.” I throw my arms up. “At least, I thought we were. But just as soon as they show signs that maybe a murder list isn’t the only thing that's going to solidify my place in their life, they turn around and become assholes.”

“I’m so lost right now,” he states, blinking at me.

“Doesn’t matter. What I need to do to fix this is to just come out with it. Tell them who I am, what I’ve been doing. Am I going to miss it? Sure. But I only became the Butterfly Killer to impress them.”

“They have no idea what they’re missing. How many can say they’ve had girls become full-fledged serial killers just for them? They don’t know romance, and it shows.” Dad shakes his head. “I hope when they find out, they realize what a bunch of idiots they've been and that their perfect woman has been in front of them all this time.”