Page 71 of Defying Ella
“You’re allowed to be upset about this, honey,” Sophie said. “He fucked with you twice. You’re allowed to cry and rant and wish him harm. It goes with the breakup territory.”
“I’m fine.”
“See, if you want me to believe that, you need to stop using that word.” Mel bumped my shoulder. “Els, we know you too well not to see right through you. You’re as white as a pissing sheet, and there’s barely any life in those eyes of yours.”
“Yeah, where’s the fire-spitting girl I championed in school? Your tongue is so sharp, you can make grown men cower.”
I shrugged off their holds and stood. “Honestly, you don’t need to do this. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch and drinks, and we can get back to normal.” I paced away from them towards the door. “I love you both, but I really do need to get some more job applications off.”
They each stood, neither bothering to mask their concern as they walked toward me.
Mel pulled me into another hug. “We’ll go but you call if you need anything and we’ll be here as fast as we can, okay?” Her grip tightened. “You don’t have to put on a brave face for us,” she whispered in my ear.
“Thank you,” I said when she let me go. “But I’m—”
“If you say fine one more time, I’m going to camp out in your living room with sappy breakup films until you crack,” Sophie threatened, pointing a sharply manicured finger at me.
I chuckled and pushed her out the door. “Don’t stop being weird. I’d never recover from that loss.”
Sophie shook her head, a tiny thread of amusementsparking through the worry. She wandered down the stairs, followed by Mel.
I blew out a shaky breath when I finally locked the door. Falling back against it, I lost the control I’d carefully built, exhausted from keeping it together in front of the girls. Hot liquid splashed my cheeks as I slid down the door.
Maybefinewas of a stretch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The pub was surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon. For the first time since I’d started joining my sister at these lunches each weekend, I didn’t have to weave through a crowd. All of the screens were off, and a smattering of football fans huddled around their tables staring at their phones.
I made my way down the black band poster-covered hallway and found my sister, Sophie, Nia, Alys, and Daphne huddled in our usual booth. With Rhiannon’s return to Cardiff, and James and Dan winning their ways back into their lives, their girlfriend numbers had expanded to the point they now had to add some chairs at the end of the booth to accommodate everyone comfortably.
“There she is,” Sophie shouted. Her unexpected cheer drew the attention of every other patron in the space. “Alys has news for you.”
My gaze shot to Alys, who smiled at me sheepishly.
“We’re meant to wine and dine her and then ease her into it,” Nia hissed.
Sophie batted her objection away with a hand. “This can’t wait. She deserves to know.”
I sank into the empty seat with trepidation. “Am I going to regret leaving my flat?”
Silence followed my question. They all stared at each other, whether searching for the answer to daring each other to go first, I couldn’t tell. Either way, I didn’t need the suspense. I had enough turmoil in my life.
“Why don’t one of you tell me what’s going on before I decide I shouldn’t have set foot outside today?”
Mel turned to me, chewing at her lip. A sure-fire way to know that whatever was coming she didn’t think I’d like it. My shoulders tensed.
“We’re ninety-eight per cent certain Jared’s lying.”
“Ninety-eight per cent,” I repeated, absorbing the implications but also not letting them touch my hopeful heart.
“He wouldn’t outright say it,” Alys admitted. Her fingers strangled the stem of her wine glass as she spun it on the spot. “He got very cagey when I started digging into him and, I mean normally he’d flat out deny his feelings or wrongdoing.” Her lips twisted. “This time, he just wouldn’t answer. Tried everything imaginable to dodge it.”
Daphne raised her hand. “Just to be clear, I think it was an act to get him sympathy. The guys went out last night, and he did not hold back.”
Nia nodded. “Yeah, I have to agree with Daphne. He looked pretty normal to me.”
I rubbed my forehead, tension rippled through it as I struggled to figure out where they were going. “I’m confused. Is he lying, or is he just the manwhore piece of shit I think he is?”
