Crushed - Pamela Ann Page 0,2

undoubtedly add more to Emma’s escalating blood pressure.

“One hundred percent?”

Emma made a cute sounding growl, surprising me that she was still acting like a lady, before she declared to the both of us, “I better go, or I might be in danger of choking you!”

We both watched Emma sashay her way towards Lindsey and Dimitris’ hot European friends before I huffed out a breath with a small, disapproving shake of my head.

“What’s gotten into you?” I glared at my best friend. “You can’t just grill her like that. She’s pregnant, Trista!”

She shrugged like she didn’t feel as if she had crossed the line with her crazy interrogation. “Oh, come on, you make it sound like she was in labor. She’ll be fine.”

“You’re crazy.”

She truly was. I didn’t even know how or why she came up with her ideas. Then again, this was Trista after all. Out of the four of us, she was always the one who had more guts to say things that weren’t meant to be said. Even Lindsey, who was normally unabashed about things, would be left speechless with Trista’s direct approach to confronting things between us friends.

“It was a valid question, Amber. I love Carter and Bass, too. I mean, we’re all invested in them, and if some odd shit happens, would you be shocked if that baby turned out to be Carter’s? ‘Cause, hell, I wouldn’t be.” She shrugged, deep in thought. “Just sayin’ is all.”

It was no question we were all invested in our friends’ relationships, most especially Emma’s confusing love triangle, because we had all been there when it happened. We had been witnesses to her downfall and blossoming love life. As a result, I got that Trista came from a good place, but seriously? There was a time and place for such intrusive subjects, and that very moment hadn’t been the time.

Reflecting on Emma’s rollercoaster love life, it wasn’t a hard question to come up with, but after her almost losing Bass and going through a tragic miscarriage that seriously rocked everything in her life, she deserved a break from it all. Trista needed to understand and respect that.

“She did go back and forth there for quite some time…” I started to say, remembering how passionately broken she had been when Bass had broken her heart the first time around after wrapping up their first film together. “But Emma wouldn’t do that … not with Bass, not when she has everything to lose.”

Emma had made a daring choice. She had chosen the one she couldn’t live without. Even though it had been tearing her apart, she had made a choice, and I couldn’t have been more proud of her.

“Carter is hot—holy flippin’ hot—but Bass … He’s mighty delish.”

Trista was rather too enthusiastic to say the least. I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but seriously, I wondered what Taylor would think if he heard her adore other men that way. He was a secure man—I knew that—but surely he would feel a tinge of something, wouldn’t he?

“You have a boyfriend who’s really head over heels in love with your crazy ass. Please take note.”

She beamed before wistfully sighing. “I love my Taylor, but one can dream. Who would you have chosen, Carter or Bass?” she asked before shaking her head. “Oh, never mind, knowing your singular taste in men, you’d choose Carter.”

Was that a light jab? I knew I had been obsessed with one man all my life, but there wasn’t any need to talk down to me.

“Wow, you’re on it today, aren’t you? Good, ol’, judgmental you. Who knew?”

She made a face, as if stating she was sorry I had taken offence in her jab. “I think it’s all this bullshit wedding gloom. It’s just us two left. No surprise there.”

Uh, what was this woman on?

“Oh, shut up. You’re practically married. While I, on the other hand, have been purely and truly single for as long as I can remember.”

She immediately had a somber look about her, as though thinking on my personal pain. “You can change that any time you want, but you’re so fucking stubborn. I’m not even going to start on that.”

“It’s not that easy.” Thinking it was different than acting on it. The taking initiative part was the hardest thing of all. She was with me through it all. Surely she must know how tough it was for me. I had tried, hadn’t I?

“Nothing ever is, but you gotta try harder until it’s not hard anymore.