"I'm sorry, he what?" My best friend, Ellis, asks as she trails behind me from the front door to her kitchen. She watches as I slump into one of the stools at her kitchen island.

After getting into my car and leaving my apartment, I didn't know where to go. That apartment was my home, after all. So, I just started driving aimlessly around until I ended up parked in front of her house on the Eastside of Seattle.

I quickly wipe away the tears with the sleeve of my sweater, my voice wobbly around the edges. "He was with another woman, Ellis."

"What?" Ellis questions, leaning forward, her eyes scrunching together like she's having a hard time grasping what I'm trying to tell her.

I close my eyes as I blow a breath between my lips and shake my head once, trying to pry loose the image of the girl in my bed. "He was having sex in our bed with another woman."

"He's cheating on you?" Ellis questions again, her gaze dropping to the counter as she processes the information before meeting my eyes again. "Are you sure? Like, did you actually see another woman?"

"God, Ellis. Yes, I'm sure," I croak out. She scrunches her nose at me as I continue, this time more softly. "She was blonde, and she had those same hoopy earrings you always like to wear."

"Oh my god." She reaches up to tug on the earrings she has on. "How could he? You know Delaney is going to kill him."

I look up at her, eyes blurry from tears, and it's only now that I notice her hair – one side perfectly curled, the other left straight. My brow furrows in confusion. "Why is only half of your hair curled?"

"Hmm?" She looks back at me, her hand absentmindedly patting her head as if she forgot. "Oh, I was filming a reel for Instagram."

She shakes her head and waves it off dismissively before quickly moving around the kitchen island to pull me into a tight hug. Ellis has always been good at hugs. "Are you okay, June?"

I manage to muster a watery "No," shaking my head again.

"God, of course, you're not," Ellis murmurs, rolling her eyes at herself as she pulls back to hold me at arm's length. "Why would I even ask that? You need alcohol."

Standing from her stool at the counter, she crosses the kitchen, heading towards the cabinet where she grabs two glass cups, then to the bar cart for the bottle of vodka.

I bury my face in my hands, my voice muffled by my palms as I speak, "I don't know where I'm going to go. I can't go back there." I lift my head up from my hands. "Oh my god. I'm going to have to move back home with my parents."

My parents mean the world to me, and I know they'll be heartbroken about this whole situation. But the thought of living with them feels suffocating. They're wonderful, they really are, but I'm their only child and they tend to hover and ask too many questions. Not to mention, their house is way too far from Seattle, a good hour up north.

Ellis returns to my side, placing the glasses and the bottle on the kitchen island. She places her hands on my shoulder, her hazel eyes softening. "No, you'll stay here as long as you need. Until we can get your stuff out of the apartment."

I nod in agreement, grateful for her support, as I watch her pour vodka into one of the cups before sliding it over to me.

"Oh my god. I can't believe he's cheating on you," she blurts out after a moment, setting the bottle down with a heavy clink. She watches me closely as I take the glass and gulp down its contents. "What did he say when you saw him?"

"I didn't really give him a chance to say much of anything. I ran out before he could explain," I mumble into the glass.

"That little prick. It's his stupid football ego, isn't it?"

It's true that Beckett has always had a bit of an ego, especially after playing as the quarterback for four years for the University of Washington Huskies. Even though I came into the picture after he didn't get drafted into the NFL, I don't think that ego ever fully faded. He would joke about how he was glad he never went pro, that he never really wanted to, but it's clear that there is a touch of bitterness in him.

"Screw him, Juniper. You can do way better, anyways," Ellis declares as she pours more vodka into my glass. I quickly down the drink, allowing the warmth to seep through me.

She suddenly jumps up from her seat, and I watch as she jogs into the other room before asking, "Where are you going?"

"I left my curling iron on," she yells from the bathroom before returning with her phone in hand, her thumbs flying across the screen. "And I'm texting Delaney."

Delaney, our other best friend. The three of us met during our freshman year at the University of Washington when we realized we had the exact same classes and schedule. We went from sitting next to each other in class to sharing the same apartment to being inseparable.

"I'm going to have her bring pizza over," she adds, her gaze shifting to me once more, a finger still tugging with her earring. Another tear escapes my eye, and I quickly brush it away. "June, forget about Beckett. Honestly, I knew you should have never moved in with him."

I sniffle, trying to wipe my nose with my sleeve, before asking, "You did?"

"Yeah," she leans in to grab the tissue box for me, delicately tucking a strand of her curled hair behind her ear. "He's always been a little asshole anyway."

"He has?"

"Well... yeah, sort of," she frowns, nodding before handing me the box.

"Oh," I mumble into the tissue.

"You don't need Beckett anyway, Juniper," she says, grabbing her drink from the counter. "He never did anything for you anyway. What we need are drinks and a rom-com."

And so, that's exactly what we do while we wait for Delaney to finish work. We drink—a lot. Then we settle into what we always do when either one of us has a bad day or gets broken up with. We watch Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, with a bottle of wine and a bowl of popcorn. Although tonight, we've gone with the latter because it's my favorite.

You've Got Mail, Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) are business rivals in the book industry who unknowingly strike up a deep online friendship using usernames. Eventually, Joe Fox discovers that he's been talking to Kathleen Kelly all along, and he spends the last quarter of the movie trying to become friends with her, leading to them falling in love.

It's romantic, dreamy, and everything you could ever want in a rom-com.

"Oh my God," Ellis slurs, sitting up from the couch to look at me, her hair still half curled. "Juniper, you need a Tom Hanks."

"What? Ew, no, I don't want a Tom Hanks." I scrunch my nose.

"No," she counters, shaking her head. "I mean, not an actual Tom Hanks. You need a Joe Fox. Someone who understands you the way he does with Kathleen Kelly."

"Ellis, they hate each other for more than half of the movie," I point out as I reach for the bowl of popcorn. "You want me to find someone who can't stand me and then fall for them?"

"You know what I mean," she says, rolling her eyes. I turn my attention back to the screen, cramming a handful of popcorn into my mouth.

"See," she points to the TV where Kathleen is waiting in the garden and the notes of Somewhere Over the Rainbow begin to play. She's taken back when she sees Joe Fox walking towards her, and Kathleen utters, "I wanted it to be you so badly."

"That's exactly what you need," Ellis continues. "Someone who's as crazy about books as you, who just gets you. Someone who brings you flowers when you're sick, who likes spending time at all your favorite places. Someone like Joe Fox, not stupid Beckett Moore."

"You don't think Beckett knows me that well?"

"God, no," Ellis exclaims, reaching across me to grab another handful of popcorn, and a kernel lands in my wine. I glance down at it, briefly considering fishing it out, but then I decide to just drink it instead.

"Did Beckett even know you work for a newspaper? I'm pretty sure he thought you wrote for a blog," she continues.

I snort out a laugh, accidentally spilling a bit of wine on my shirt.

"Oops," I murmur. Ellis reaches over to the coffee table and tosses me the rag she had used earlier to clean up her own wine spill.

"Did he ever even bother to read any of your articles?" she asks.

"I don't know, maybe once or twice," I pause for a moment, trying to remember. Although I'm fairly certain he never did. "I'm not entirely sure."

"I bet Joe Fox would devour every single one of yours," she says.

"Joe Fox," I say, mulling over the idea.

"Joe Fox"

We both hear the front door open, and Delaney's voice echoes through the hall. "Why did I get a text saying I need to bring over three pizzas, pasta, ice cream, and three bottles of wine on a Wednesday night?" She yells as she enters, shutting the door behind her. "I have first graders to teach in the morning. There's no way I'm going to be hungover with a bunch of screaming kids."

"In here, Delaney," Ellis yells back from where we're curled up on the couch.

I watch as she walks in, still dressed in her teacher outfit: jeans, that cardigan she always wears because she complains it's too cold, and her lanyard still draped around her neck. She sets the pizzas and bags down on the counter before turning to face us.

"Well, hello, Ms. Hart," Ellis says, glancing down at her lanyard. "Did you wear that into the grocery store?"

"Hmm?" Delaney follows Ellis's gaze, noticing the lanyard still around her neck. She quickly takes it off and throws it on the counter. Then, she looks over at me, her head tilting as her eyes move between Ellis and me. "Okay, who died?"

Ellis chokes back a laugh as she pauses the movie. "Beckett is cheating on Juniper."

Delaney's blue eyes widen. "Oh, shit, really? Don't joke with me."

"I came home earlier and found him in bed with another girl," I manage to slur out, nodding. Delaney's eyes widen even more. "He said it was an accident though, so it's okay."

Ellis barks out a laugh, and I can't help but join in, despite the tears welling up in my eyes.

Delaney stares at us, caught between half-smiling and wanting to frown. "Please tell me this is some weird joke. You've never been good at jokes Juniper."

I slowly shake my head at her as she plops down on the couch with us. Ellis relays the details of what I had shared with her earlier to Delaney.

"Oh my god," Delaney exclaims, her eyebrows pinched together as she looks over at me as I bury my face in a slice of pizza. "I'm going to kill him."

"I told you she would," Ellis says, glancing at me, her wine glass hovering by her lips. "But don't worry, Delaney, we're going to find Juniper her very own Joe Fox."

"Joe Fox?" Delaney's eyes dart between the two of us, clearly confused. "Who the fuck is Joe Fox? How much have you guys had to drink already?"

"Oh, at the lake! The bookstore!" Ellis exclaims, practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. "You'll find your Joe Fox at the little bookstore there."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Delaney says, peeling off a slice of pepperoni from her pizza and popping it into her mouth.

I close my eyes, picturing the lake. For the past five summers, the three of us have spent our entire summer in Chelan – me, Ellis, and Delaney. With Delaney having summers off as an elementary school teacher, Ellis being a social media influencer with over 900k followers on Instagram, and my ability to write from anywhere, it's the perfect setup. We make the three-hour drive to sunny and dry Eastern Washington and soak in the sun for the summer.

I set my pizza back on the plate, I blow a breath between my lips. "You know what? I think I'm just going to stay here this year."

"What?" Ellis exclaims, her eyes widening.

"No, you have to come!" Delaney insists.

I sigh because, after everything that happened earlier today, I kinda feel like I just want to curl up in bed all summer under my favorite turquoise heated blanket. "I'm not sure if I'll really be up for it, you know?"

Delaney's voice softens. "You're not bailing just because Beckett is a shithead. We do this every year, June, and I know you've been looking forward to it. You can heal, move on, do whatever you need to do to get over Beckett from there, far away from him where he can't find you."

I bite my bottom lip, my gaze drifting down to my wine glass. "But I have work, and all my things are at the apartment."

Ellis chimes in now. "So we'll go with you to get your things. And they let you work remotely every summer. It's nothing new!"

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head.

"No," Delaney says firmly. "There's no way you're going to mope around here all summer by yourself."

"But–" I try to interject.

She gives me a pointed look and continues, "Like I know you will. You're coming, and that's final. We leave in two weeks. Same day as always and we'll all go with you to pick up your things before we leave."

I glance at both of them and let out a sigh, knowing full well that between the two of them, there's no way I'll be able to get out of this. They'll never let it go. "Fine."

Ellis grins. "That's my girl."

Notes

I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please don't forget to vote and comment! ❤️