Free So. Long.: Bad Boy Next Door by Kelley Harvey Page A

my life and kept close because we held each other up and
made each other’s lives better.
    Until she betrayed me.
    I drag in a sharp breath.
    Matt’s infidelity didn’t really surprise me. It was the
third time he fucked around on me. I only stayed with him because of Clarissa.
I didn’t want her to grow up in a broken home.
    And frankly? Being a single mom is tough. My mom told me so
enough throughout my childhood. I had no illusions that things would be better
without him. So…the other times, when he begged me to take him back, I did.
    But Marcy?
    I’d never have thought she was capable of this type of thing.
Elementary school teachers are supposed to be wholesome and good. And she was— or
so I thought . And we’d been best friends for almost six years. She
threw six years of friendship away on a guy she already knew is a cheater.
    Three times makes him a serial cheater in my book. Thus the
exit from my life.
    Well, I like to tell myself that’s why he’s gone.
    In reality? He doesn’t want me back—I’m not so sure he ever
really wanted me at all. I was dumped.
    In fact, I was dumped twice —in one day—by people I
loved.
    Love. Actively love.
    Present tense.
    That’s the thing that burns my ass. Even though they’ve
ripped my heart out, I still love them.
    I mean, I don’t love Matt the same as I did when I was in love with him. But I do still care about him. Though I so wish I didn’t
care at all. Oh, how I wish I didn’t.
    I suppose that’s just not how everyday love works.
    The shitty thing about love? It only lasts if it’s true on both sides. One-sided love can never withstand the rigors of life—or a best friend
on the prowl.
    Tears sting the backs of my eyes and my chest tightens.
    An oddly high-pitched version of Joy to the World plays somewhere outside, pulling me back from the brink of an emotional break.
I shake myself out of my own head.
    Haven’t had a breakdown in three or four months. I’m not having one today.
    I let myself outside to see what the wretched music is all
about. When I get to the end of my driveway, a big boxy truck rounds the
corner. On its rooftop, a speaker disguised as a giant ice cream cone pumps out
crackly music.
    The Pied Piper pulls over at the curb across from Adam’s
house.
    I step inside and grab my wallet.
    When I come back outside, there’s a small horde of
neighborhood kids vying to be noticed by the lady in the side window of the
truck.
    Adam meets me at the end of his front walk. “I haven’t seen
one of these trucks since I was a kid.”
    I shrug.
    No need to get excited. He didn’t come outside to see me. He
just wants what all the boys want—sugared cream.
    I’m just another pussy to him.
    “How’s the writing? Did we loosen up those words for you?”
    I avoid meeting his eyes. “Not a bit.”
    A smaller kid steps up to the window, but a couple of bigger
boys push him aside and rush in to take his place, laughing as his knees hit
the concrete.
    Those little shits.
    I grit my teeth and move toward the truck. Adam gets to them
first.
    He leans so he’s face to face with the two bullies.
    “Now, boys, I know how much you want to buy your friend here
some ice cream.” Adam nods to the kid brushing his knees off from where he fell
to the ground. “But let’s let him do it for himself. All right?”
    The boys’ eyes widen as they nod and step aside. The little
boy steps to the window. He looks over his shoulder to Adam, his smile timid.
    Then he turns to the lady. “I-I wa-want a choc-chocolate
bomb. P-p-please.”
    The older kids giggle at the stuttering boy. Adam sends them
a hard look and clears his throat.
    “I’ve got his.” He steps in behind the little boy. “And hers
too.”
    I wave my wallet at the lady in the truck. “Oh, no. I’ve got
mine.”
    The woman hands the boy his chocolate bomb and he runs off,
stopping a few yards away to turn and wave to Adam.
    Adam’s smile is enough to melt so much more than my