Free The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins Page A

You’re the one who said you were done with him, and he and
I just ran into each other one night at O’Rourke’s, and one thing led to
another. It was a complete shock to us both.”
    “I’m actually surprised you had waited as long as you did,
Dana.”
    Bitter Betty, table for one. But it
had only been six weeks since she’d been...betrayed. No other word would do.
    “Honor, I’m sorry, I really am. I know you wanted Brogan to
love you, but it’s not my fault he didn’t.”
    “Could you lower your voice, please?” Honor said, her face
burning.
    “Oh, please. She hasn’t heard anything since Clinton was
president.” Dana cut her a glance, her face softening. “How many times have you
and I talked about just this exact thing? The guy you least expect to fall for
and then boom, you’ve fallen. And he happened to fall for me, too. We were just
chatting at the bar.” She gave Honor a small, smug smile. “And all of a sudden,
there was this charge in the air.”
    Dana was gloating. Brogan and she knew each other, of course.
Sometimes, the three of them had gone out together. If there’d been any charge
in the air, Honor hadn’t noticed.
    Dana was quiet for a minute. “I know you had a crush on him
since the dawn of time.”
    “It was more than a crush, Dana. Don’t minimize my feelings to
make yourself feel less guilty.”
    “I don’t feel guilty,” she said,
turning back to Mrs. Jenkins, her scissors flying in a sinister hiss. She got
paid sixty-five dollars a haircut, Honor knew. Sixty-five bucks for taking a
millimeter off someone’s hair. “Look, I know you were surprised. But I still
think you owe me an apology.”
    The noise that came out of Honor’s mouth was somewhere between
a sputter, a choke and a laugh. “An apology?”
    “Just a little trim around the ears,” Mrs. Jenkins said. “Not
too short, dear.”
    “Got it, Mrs. Jenkins,” Dana barked. “Not too short.” Her voice
lowered, and she looked at Honor. “Yeah, an apology. I don’t appreciate having
wine thrown in my face, not to mention being shoved in a restaurant in front of
the guy I love.”
    Honor’s mouth opened and closed a few times. “You have got to
be kidding me.”
    “Listen. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but does that
mean that both Brogan and I are supposed to ignore what we feel for each other?”
Her words might’ve had more impact if her tone hadn’t been as sharp as her
scissors. The horrible, beautiful engagement ring flashed as her hands moved
over Mrs. Jenkins’s head. “Seriously, we didn’t plan it. It just happened.”
    Oh, that infuriating phrase! Nothing just happened. Vaginas didn’t just happen to fall on penises.
Unspoken words bubbled up like lava. Do I look that stupid?
You were supposed to be my friend. You made me a martini that night. I cried
on your couch! We watched Shark Week! And a few
weeks later, you were sleeping with the guy who broke my heart. For crying
out loud, you told me in a bar. Two against one, in a bar.
    Yes, she could say those things, and denigrate her pride even
further. Remind Dana just how pathetic she’d been...and give Dana more chance to
gloat. Because wasn’t that what she was doing?
    “I guess we have different ideas of what it means to be
friends,” she said tightly.
    “Yeah. Friends don’t throw wine in their friends’ faces.”
    “Fine. I was very surprised, and I reacted badly. But I seem to
remember you reacting just as badly in return.”
    “Someone throws wine into my face, yeah, I do react badly.” She
gave Honor a little smile. “So. Are we good?”
    In the mirror, Honor saw her own mouth fall open. She closed
it. “I don’t know that we’re ever going to be good, Dana.”
    “Why? Water under the bridge, right? It was dramatic, you feel
embarrassed, so do I, a little.” She shrugged, still smiling. “Let’s get past
it. I mean, what else are we gonna do? Hate each other forever? Okay. I have to
put this hearing aid back