My Best Friend Stole Him. So I Stole Better. Chapter 09
I’d been giving lukewarm responses to Sienna’s messages.
Julian, meanwhile, had begun—rarely—asking me small-talk questions. What I’d eaten. If the weather was nice.
When he ignored me, I’d found it fascinating.
Now that he was chatting me up, I found it boring.
What had I ever seen in him? Stiff, dull. Handsome, yes, but the world was full of good-looking men.
“At least it’s better than some silly girls who fall for guys who are ugly and awful.”
Ethan comforted me.
I shuddered. Was there really someone that dumb?
My phone buzzed.
Sienna: “Summer, I picked out your birthday present! Are we doing it at The Plaza again this year?”
“You haven’t been talking to me much lately. Are you mad? Whatever it is, I’ll definitely be there. It’s your birthday. And I have great news to share—aren’t you curious about who I’m dating? I’ll bring him.”
“Mrs. Bennett told me you’re getting engaged. Bring your fiancé, okay? I’ll give him a once-over for you!”
Every line dripped with the urge to compete.
I’d been such a fool. I hadn’t noticed the friendship had already curdled.
The private investigator sent photos.
Sienna and Julian, locked in a passionate kiss.
So they’d made up.
Now Sienna’s words made sense.
Ethan narrowed his warm eyes and smiled.
“Summer, got some time? Help me pick out a suit. My fiancée’s birthday—I can’t embarrass you.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t have strong opinions on menswear.
But Ethan was gorgeous. He looked like a movie star on a red carpet no matter what he wore.
While he was in the dressing room, I browsed.
And ran into Sienna and Julian, who had come to the same place.
I glanced at the sign above the storefront. They were going all out to upstage me.
Sienna’s eyes flicked around. “Summer, you came alone to pick out clothes for Julian?”
Julian said, in that same dry voice with its edge of reproof, “Sorry I had to cancel last time. Something came up.”
“But shopping like this—why not come when I’m free?”
So that was why he hadn’t been on my case.
He’d stood me up again.
I nearly laughed in his face.
But remembering the birthday party next week, I forced down the urge to tear into him.
“Who said I was picking out clothes for you? Can’t you afford your own?”
Julian’s face went red.
He wasn’t rich. He was, quite literally, the cold and impoverished golden boy of academia.
Still doing his PhD at Columbia. He hadn’t started a company in college like Ethan. He didn’t have much money.
“Summer!”
I frowned.
“Your voice has never sounded so grating. Did you brush your teeth this morning?”
Julian was too angry to speak.
Sienna gave me a disapproving look, voice soft.
“Summer, even if you’re mad at Julian, do you have to talk like that? What if you leave a bad impression?”
Julian dutifully turned away, as if unwilling to look at me.
The two of them going back and forth—I would’ve found it funny if I weren’t the target.
Just as I was about to speak, Ethan emerged in a black suit. He’d added a pair of gold wire-frame glasses from somewhere.
He looked like a genteel rich boy with a wicked streak.
“What’s going on? Summer’s helping me shop. This is any of your business how?”
Sienna’s eyes went wide.
“What are you doing here? Why haven’t you been answering my messages?”
But her anger, again, landed on me.
“Summer, you’re engaged, and you’re out with another man?”
I looked between her and Julian, indifferent.
“Oh? So you two are together because neither of you had feelings for anyone else, then?”
Sienna went quiet.
I looked Ethan over in the suit.
“That works. Wrap it up. We’re leaving.”
“Both of you, remember to come to my birthday. Let’s not let small stuff spoil the mood.”
I didn’t bother with the looks on Sienna’s or Julian’s faces.
Ethan and I walked out.