My Ex's Best Friend Is Worth More Than Him

Eloise's POV

Before summer break, we'd already planned a beach trip to Nantucket.

A few days before we left, Chase, my boyfriend of two years, said he wanted to hit the water park outside town first, kind of like a warm-up for the beach.

I even bought a new swimsuit for it, thinking it'd be a day for just the two of us.

Then I got to the gate, and my best friend Skylar was standing there in a bikini that was basically a few strings.

I quietly told her the ties might come undone on the slides. She shot me a dirty look and told me to mind my own business.

Chase got annoyed too. He dumped his phone, his towel, and Skylar's makeup bag on me.

"Eloise, can you not ruin this? She's scared to go by herself. I'm just keeping her company."

He spent the whole afternoon horsing around with her in the waves, his arms around her.

She took the drink right out of my hand, had a sip, and passed it to him. He drank half of it in one go.

I stood there in the sun holding all their stuff like their personal pack mule.

For two years, I'd kept telling myself to be understanding, to be the bigger person. All it got me was him pushing it a little further every time.

Fine. If he liked my best friend that much, two could play that game. I'd call the guy he grew up with, Sebastian.

"Sebastian, can you come pick me up?"

"Chase, don't let go! I'm seriously gonna get swept away!"

In the wave pool, Skylar shrieked and burrowed into Chase's chest, her arms locked around his neck.

He didn't pull away. He put a hand on her back and grinned down at her.

"If you're this scared, why'd you want the deep end? Hang on tight. If you end up choking on pool water, don't blame me."

A wave hit and knocked them both over. They came up laughing.

Anyone watching probably thought they were the couple.

And me, the actual girlfriend? I was sitting under an umbrella by the pool with a stuffed beach bag in my lap. Neither of them looked my way once.

My lower stomach had started cramping the second we walked in. My period was due any day now.

I told Chase I didn't want to go in the deep end. I'd just hang out in the shallow end.

He got irritated right away. "Seriously, Eloise? We're supposed to be having fun. You don't wanna do anything. So why'd you even come?"

Before I could finish, Skylar looped her arm through his and tugged on it, whining that she wanted to try the steepest slide but was too scared to go alone.

Just like that, his irritation was gone.

He piled everything onto my lap and walked off with her without even saying "wait here."

I watched them walk away, and my chest went tight.

Chase wasn't always like this.

At the end of sophomore year, I ended up in the hospital with a bad stomach bug. He skipped the last review session before finals and spent the whole night in a folding chair next to my bed.

The next morning, he showed up with a bowl of my favorite clam chowder.

Back then, he looked at me like I was the only person in the world.

Things started changing when Skylar transferred in.

She didn't know anyone at first. I kept seeing her eat lunch alone, so I went and sat across from her.

After that, she came along on every date Chase and I went on.

In the car, she claimed she got carsick, so shotgun was always hers.

When we got drinks, she'd grab Chase's cup and drink from it, laughing that friends shouldn't be weird about sharing.

If I looked even a little upset, Chase would frown.

"Why are you being so petty? She barely has any friends here. Is it really that bad if I look out for her a little?"

Look out for her?

I glanced back at the wave pool. He had her wrapped up in his arms, blocking the waves for her.

That wasn't looking out for someone. That was crossing a line.

I pressed my bottle of ice-cold lemonade to my forehead and let the chill take the edge off the anger in my chest.

For two years, I'd forced myself to be the sweet, easygoing girlfriend. I never made a scene. I always gave in.

I thought if I kept backing down, he'd eventually notice.

All he noticed was that he could keep pushing me further.

"Eloise! Why are you just sitting there spacing out? Come on!"

Skylar finally got tired, and Chase led her out of the pool by the hand.

Her hair was still dripping. She pulled Chase's towel off my lap, wrapped herself up in it, and gave me this helpless little look.

Then, without even blinking, she plucked the lemonade from my hand, twisted the cap off, and drank.

"Oh my God, it's so cold, it hurts my teeth." She scrunched up her nose and shoved the bottle at Chase. "Here, you have it."

He didn't even look. He put his mouth right where hers had been and chugged more than half of it.

I felt sick to my stomach.

"Chase, she drank from that."

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand like it was nothing.

"So? We're all friends. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Eloise, you've had an attitude since we walked in. What is your problem?"