My Boyfriend's Best Friend Read online

  My Boyfriend’s

  Best Friend

  ——————————————

  Pixie Perkins

  Contents

  ——————————————————

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Author’s Note/Acknowledgments

  COMING SOON!

  About the Author

  Copyright

  ——————————————————

  Copyright © 2018 by Pixie Perkins

  All rights reserved.

  This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any electronic or mechanical means—without prior written permission of the author (Pixie Perkins).

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  ——————————————————

  To my biggest fan,

  I’ll never forget the morning that you read the beginnings of this story…because you’ll never let me forget lol. Thanks for sticking around, Nat. I love you! (Can you flippin’ believe this?!)

  Prologue: This is the End

  ——————————————————

  I feel like my world’s crashing down all around me. “You’re—you’re breaking up with me?”

  “It’s not a personal thing, Brittany.” Blake shrugs. “I just think that it’d be good for us to see different people.”

  I stare into his clear blue eyes, completely dumbfounded. “But…why?”

  How can he say this, after almost a year of us being together?

  “It is our senior year, Britt,” he replies in a nonchalant way, running a hand through his dark blond spiky hair, “it’ll be good to shake things up—have some change.”

  Still in shock, I manage to shake my head. “I don’t want change, I want—”

  A girl with light hair suddenly appears beside him and wraps her arm around his arm. “Hey, Blakey.”

  Blakey?

  I almost scoff as I look at Blake. “Who’s this?”

  “Savannah.” She has the nerve to smile at me.

  “Savannah?” I echo in disbelief. “Transfer student Savannah Camden?”

  Blake sighs. “Britt—”

  “Don’t ‘Britt’ me,” I cut him off. “You’re breaking up with me for this, this—her!?”

  Savannah rolls her gray eyes at me before looking at Blake. “Blake, let’s go! You promised that you’d take me to Tacky’s.”

  “Tacky’s?” I find myself laughing. “You’re taking her to Tacky’s?”

  “Look, Britt…I’m sorry, okay?” he tells me, not looking sorry at all and then he turns to Savannah. “Come on, Sav.”

  I watch as they walk off, his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist.

  Suddenly I feel somewhat sick, nauseous to be specific.

  The tears start to come down as I find a wall to lean against and I pull my phone out to quickly text Delanie and Liv that they need to meet me at my house in fifteen minutes.

  I don’t even bother to wait for any replies.

  Instead, I shove my phone back into my pocket and look around the empty basketball gym.

  Empty. Like me.

  Chapter 1: He Broke Up With Me

  ——————————————————

  “Brittany? Is that you?” Mom asks as I come through the front door of our two-story house.

  “Yes, Mom,” I reply, closing the door.

  “How was your day?”

  I start to walk up the stairs. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “And why not?” she asks, her voice coming closer.

  I sigh. “I just don’t, Mom.”

  “Well, when you do feel like it, let me know.”

  I give her a thumbs-up and then continue to walk upstairs.

  It’s not that I don’t want to talk to her, it’s just…she won’t understand.

  Especially considering both her and Dad have been Blake-ites ever since they met him.

  I lazily press down on my bedroom’s door handle and step inside, immediately wishing that I hadn’t.

  Pictures of Blake, pictures of Blake and me, and every little thing he’s ever given to me—hits me like a tsunami.

  I’m quick to step back and close the door before shutting my eyes…tight, determined not to cry again.

  Yeah, I cried all the way home.

  Yet somehow I managed to control myself before getting out of my car.

  “Brittany!” Mom calls from downstairs. “The girls are here!”

  I sigh in relief.

  Good…they’ll listen, understand.

  After all, they always do.

  I walk downstairs as calmly as possible and my two best friends come into view.

  Delanie flips her wavy blond hair over her shoulder, her blue eyes matching her bored expression.

  Liv, on the other hand, is carefully listening as Mom talks about some cooking show.

  “Mom,” I say, gathering her attention. “We’re going to be in the family room, okay?”

  She looks unsure, but thankfully nods. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

  I force a smile then wait until she’s in the kitchen to drag Delanie and Liv into the family room.

  “Britt, what’s—”

  I put a finger up and then close the door.

  “Okay,” Delanie continues. “What’s—”

  Then I can’t help myself, I burst into tears.

  “Britt!” they both exclaim with worried expressions.

  “Blake, he…he broke up with me,” I say in between sobs.

  Delanie sighs, leading me to one of the two black leather couches and then Liv hands me a tissue.

  I gratefully take it and wipe my eyes. “Thanks.”

  Liv sits on the coffee table so she’s across from me. “How’d it happen?”

  “Oh, it was terrible,” I groan, “it was on the basketball court.”

  Sniffle.

  “And he said it wasn’t personal.”

  Sniffle.

  “But that we should see other people.” I let out a bitter laugh. “Because after all, it’s our senior year…it’ll be good to shake things up and have some change.”

  I wail after that
and Delanie rubs my upper back in slow circular motions. “I’m so sorry, Britt.”

  I sniffle again. “Not as sorry as I am.”

  Liv is kind enough to hand me another tissue. “Here, Britt.”

  I take it and blow my nose. “The worst part is he’s already found someone…Savannah Camden.”

  Ugh, just the thought of them being together is—

  Delanie and Liv exchange looks and my eyebrows crease. “What? What is it?”

  Liv sighs, running a hand through her gingery-red hair. “We didn’t know how to tell you, but…”

  “We saw them together when we were out shopping last week,” Delanie finishes.

  I look at them in disbelief. “What?”

  “It’s the truth, Britt,” Liv says, attempting a gentle tone. “And it didn’t seem like they were trying to keep it a secret either.”

  I bury my face in my hands and groan. “I’m such an idiot!”

  I thought we were happy, that he loved me…

  “You’re not an idiot, Britt.” Liv pries my hands away from my face. “I mean, if anyone’s an idiot, it’s—”

  “Blake,” Delanie says his name like it’s a curse word.

  Liv nods. “Exactly.”

  “I just…” I bite the tip of my thumbnail. “I just can’t believe it.”

  Yesterday we were laughing, smiling…

  Delanie shakes my leg. “Hey, you know what you need?”

  She stands up. “Some retail therapy.”

  I shake my head. “No, I don’t feel like shopping…thanks anyway.”

  She glances at Liv, who looks at me. “You should do something, Brittany. Something to keep your mind off him.”

  I sigh.

  They’re right, of course…

  But I don’t want to forget about him, us…what we—

  “See, you’re thinking about him,” Delanie interrupts my thoughts. “We need to get you out of the house.”

  I stand up. “All right…we’ll go.” They both smile in triumph. “Just let me tell my mom first.”

  Liv nods. “We’ll wait outside.”

  I throw my tissues away as I leave the family room and then walk into the kitchen. “Mom?”

  She stops chopping vegetables. “Yes?” She looks past me. “Did the girls leave?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “They’re waiting outside…is it okay if I go out for a bit?”

  She raises an eyebrow. “Are we going to talk afterward?”

  I offer her a weak smile. “If you want.”

  She nods. “Good, you can go.”

  I pat the counter. “Thanks, Mom, you’re the best.”

  “Uh-huh,” she says as she resumes chopping. “Dinner’s at six.”

  “I’ll be back around five thirty!” I exclaim over my shoulder as I leave the room.

  I open the front door and close it after I step down.

  They both look at me expectantly and Delanie asks, “Well?”

  “I have to be back by five thirty,” I reply as we walk down the driveway. “Whose car are we going in?”

  “We can take mine,” Delanie offers as she dangles her keys in the air. “I do have the convertible.”

  “Not to mention a speeding record.” Liv snorts, taking the keys. “I’ll drive.”

  Delanie looks at me then at Liv. “Fine, you can drive!” She proceeds to strut over to her car. “But I call shotgun!”

  Liv looks at me. “Do you mind?”

  I actually find myself smiling. “Do I ever?”

  “Come on!” Delanie shouts, already sitting in the car.

  Liv rolls her amber eyes. “All right, we’re coming!”

  We both get in the car and I buckle my seatbelt.

  Call me old-fashioned, but I believe in safety.

  Del? Not so much.

  She cheers with her arms thrown in the air the second Liv pulls out of the driveway as if we’re heading to Vegas or something.

  That’s just Del being Del though.

  Chapter 2: A Familiar Face

  ——————————————————

  “Come on, Liv!” Delanie complains as Liv stops at the red light. “You could’ve made that light.”

  “Del, yellow means to—”

  “‘Slow down, not speed up’.” Delanie rolls her eyes. “I know. How could I not when I have you to remind me constantly?”

  I smile as they proceed to bicker back and forth. It’s always playful fighting between the three of us…nothing more, nothing less.

  It’s the same way as it was with Blake and me.

  We never had a real fight, a big one anyway.

  Ugh. Why would he do this to me? To us?

  “Yoo-hoo? Britt?”

  I snap out of my thoughts and pay attention to Delanie. “Yeah?”

  “I asked what you’re going to wear to my party.”

  My stomach immediately sinks.

  Del’s birthday party, all of us…Blake, what—

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Delanie interrupts my thoughts. “Don’t worry, he’s officially uninvited.”

  “Don’t bother.” I sigh. “It’s not like I can avoid him forever.”

  “Yeah…” Delanie trails off, opening her black makeup compact. “I mean—you guys do go to the same school.”

  I feel the color drain from my face—school.

  By tomorrow everyone will know about Blake and me.

  “You okay, Britt?” Concern laces Liv’s voice. “You look kind of pale.”

  “School,” I state in a bitter tone. “How am I going to face everyone?”

  Delanie puckers her lips and applies pink lip gloss to them. “Just like you always do, Britt.”

  She puts her compact and lip gloss back in her purse. “You’re still Brittany Grayson: funny, smart, cute, talented, etc.”

  I sigh. “But I’m Brittany Grayson without a boyfriend.”

  Delanie looks over her shoulder at me. “Is that what you’re worried about? Not having a boyfriend?” A coy smile appears on her face. “I know a bunch of guys who—”

  “No, Del, it’s not just that…” I trail off as I lean my head against my hand. “It won’t be the same. No more walking to class together, no more dates, laughs, kisses.”

  Delanie turns back around. “You make him sound dead.”

  Liv rolls her eyes. “It just sounds like that to you because you’ve never been in a real relationship.”

  “I have too!” Delanie doesn’t hesitate in defending herself. “Remember John?”

  “Remember Chad?” Liv shoots back. “Or Kurt, or Lenny, or—”

  “All right,” Del cuts her off, “enough!”

  Del can never seem to stick with the same guy (or any guy for that matter) while Liv on-the-other-hand has had a few stray dates and one serious relationship that sadly ended when her boyfriend Liam moved to Pensacola…as in Pensacola, Florida?

  Seeing as we live nowhere near Florida, you can see the dilemma.

  That was before senior year started, and poor Liv was devastated.

  The funny part (or in my opinion the destiny/meant-to-be part) is that Derek Connors, Blake’s best friend and fellow basketball teammate, and his girlfriend broke up around the same time.

  So not a coincidence…and just because my love life is a wreck right now doesn’t mean there’s no hope for them.

  Even if neither of them has shown any actual interest, I’ve had a pretty sure feeling for a while now.

  Delanie eyes me suspiciously. “What are you thinking about?”

  I try my best to appear innocent. “Nothing.”

  “Uh-huh,” she says, looking unconvinced, “sure.”

  Soon we turn into the entrance of the mall, and being that it’s the only mall for miles, it’s usually crowded…making it hard to find parking.

  Delanie groans in frustration. “This is going to take forever!”

  “We could just go someplace else,” Liv suggests as she drives through a
nother aisle.

  “But it’s the mall,” Delanie whines, “the place to shop at!”

  “It was just a suggestion,” Liv replies, looking for an open space.

  “Look! Quick!” Delanie points up ahead. “There’s one!”

  Of course, how life goes…someone parks in the space before we can.

  Del looks like she’s about to pull her hair out to be honest. She loves her hair too much for that though.

  “Ugh! You know what? Forget this!” She turns to Liv. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

  Liv proceeds to drive toward the exit. “I guess we’ll just go downtown.”

  “Downtown doesn’t have a mall,” Del grumbles under her breath.

  “It has an outlet mall,” I point out.

  “That’s the point,” she drawls. “It’s an outlet mall…no escalators!”

  “Well, it works out better anyway,” Liv says, stopping at a red light. “Heights and I don’t mix well.”

  Delanie rolls her eyes. “Yes, Liv…we know.”

  Blake’s probably at Tacky’s right now—with her.

  Tacky’s is a hangout place, like a restaurant mixed with an arcade? More importantly though, it’s also where Blake and I had our first date.

  Plus, it’s where we all usually go.

  I probably won’t even go there now…and our little group!

  Exes never stay in a group together.

  Chloe Gibson (Derek’s ex, not to mention a total pain) left the group after they broke up.

  Well, technically she transferred schools to be with the guy she was seeing while she was dating Derek…so she left the group because of that.

  But still.

  “Well, here we are,” Liv announces when we finally turn into the shopping center.

  Personally, I happen to like this shopping center. It’s quieter and has our favorite coffee shop as well as several little stores.

  “Always Chic first,” Delanie says in reference to her favorite boutique as Liv pulls into an empty parking space.

  “Bossy, bossy,” Liv chides as she stops the car. “What if we want to go someplace else?”

  Delanie shrugs. “No one’s saying you can’t.” She looks at me. “Where do you want to go, Britt?”

  “I’m not sure.” I unbuckle my seatbelt. “I guess you two can go where you want and we can meet for coffee.”

  Delanie turns to Liv. “See? Britt can compromise.” She gets out and pats the car’s hood. “See ya!”