Worst Best Friend Ever: A best friends to lovers military romance (A Time For Love Book 3) Read online

  “Fifty is more like it.” He opened up his wallet. “Welcome back, Cody.”

  “Thanks, man. It’s good to be back.”

  I looked around the bar. It was weird being back home. Seeing so many people in civilian clothes, just living their lives. The world had stayed the same, but I had changed in so many ways. You weren’t the same man you were once you’d been in a war zone, not if you had a heart and soul. I was almost having an out-of-body experience as I stood there. I could see Mikey saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. I was back in my hard bed, listening to the sounds of gunfire, picturing small innocent faces in the street, women begging in burqas—

  “Cody, you wanna break?” Mikey walked over to me. “Dude, you okay?”

  “Yeah, sorry.” I blinked and took another sip of beer. “I was just daydreaming.”

  “Dude, I know it’s been a while, but you can fuck them later, okay?” Mikey grinned. “I promise they ain’t going nowhere.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I leaned down to break. No need to tell him that my mind wasn’t on these women. No need to tell him about the hell I’d seen on earth.

  Chapter Three

  Emma

  “One more shot.” I looked around at my three best friends. “Isabella, Chloe, and Abby, I do not know what I would do without you three in my lives.” I downed the shot of vodka and continued. “You guys are the best friends that a woman could ever ask for.”

  Chloe looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Emma, are you drunk?”

  “No, I’m not.” I took a step back and stumbled slightly. My other drink spilled and I cursed under my breath.

  “Oh my gosh, you’re so drunk, Emma!” Chloe giggled.

  “Well, maybe a little bit”—I hiccuped—“but you know I’ve been stressed out.”

  “We know, and that’s why we came out tonight,” Isabella said gently, “but you still haven’t told us what the problem is and how we can help.”

  “You just want to go home to Jack.” I pouted. “You’re lucky.”

  Isabella gave me a sad look. “Do you really think that, Emma?”

  “I don’t know.” I sighed. “I just feel like I’m so over my head with this Cody thing, I don’t know what to do.”

  Abby looked at me thoughtfully. “I have an idea. Now, it’s not the best idea, but if you’re not going to tell him the truth, it could possibly work.”

  “What is the idea?” I focused all my attention on her. “It better be something good.”

  “Well, the best thing for you to do would be to tell him the truth. Just come out with it.”

  “How am I going to tell him that for two years I’ve been lying to him about everything?”

  “You haven’t been lying to him about absolutely everything, have you?” Chloe asked.

  “I mean, not everything, but I told him I like football and ice hockey and that I went to baseball games.”

  Isabella rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “You can’t stand sports.”

  “I know, but I thought it would make him happy.”

  “Why would he care if you were into sports or not?”

  “I don’t know. You know Justin fucked me up in the head, and I told Cody so many lies in the beginning, and then I didn’t know how to backtrack.”

  “Come on, let’s sit down,” Chloe said. “No more drinks. Tell us. So, what is the extent of your lies?”

  “Okay, but can we get some food? I’m hungry.”

  “Yeah, I’ll order some fries and some nachos.”

  “Sounds good.” I nodded. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Anyone else want anything?”

  “No, that’s good.” Abby nodded. “Come on, Emma, you come with us. Chloe, you order, we’ll meet at the table over there in the corner.”

  “Okay.”

  We headed to the corner booth and sat down. I was grateful that my friends were being so patient with me. I leaned back and closed my eyes. “I cannot believe that I did this to myself.” I opened my eyes again. “Thanks for being here, guys.”

  “We know, we know,” Isabella said with a small smile. “We’re your best friends and you love us and you’re grateful to have us in your life.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t about to say that.” I giggled. “I was just going to say, could someone get me a glass of water?”

  “Fine.” Abby got up. “I’ll get some.”

  “Thanks,” I squeaked out.

  Isabella leaned forward on the table and stared at me. “Are you okay, Emma?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I don’t know, you just seem kind of out of it.”

  “I think I just feel guilty,” I admitted. “I mean, this guy, I don’t really know that much about him and he doesn’t know much about me, but our letters have been so heartfelt, and they were full of lies.”

  “How heartfelt could they have been?”

  I ignored her. “I mean, in the beginning, yes, and I talked about sports and I said I was in my midfifties, but everything else was the truth. It was how I felt, it was about my day-to-day life, and he told me about his life. And you know, he was in Afghanistan.”

  “That must have been pretty intense.”

  “It sounded intense, you know? And I didn’t want him to think about that all the time, so I wanted to tell him about what was going on with me in my day-to-day life, and…” I groaned. “I wasn’t thinking. I let it go on too long, and I don’t know how to tell this man that he was talking to someone that doesn’t exist.”

  “Well, he knows your name’s Emma, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So at least that wasn’t a lie.”

  “Yeah, but I’m not Emma in my midfifties with a boyfriend who loves going to sports games.”

  “Oh, boy,” she muttered. “Hey, look, Abby and Chloe are coming back,” she said. “Maybe Abby’s idea will be good.”

  “Come on, Isabella.” I rolled my eyes. “When are Abby’s ideas ever good?” I pressed my lips together as Abby took a seat. I didn’t want her to know that I was doubting her. I mean, I was the one that had gotten myself into this mess, I didn’t need to make any of my friends upset. “So, what’s the big idea, Abby?”

  “Have you thought about meeting him as yourself?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what if you said that you were Emma’s daughter?”

  “What?” I blinked. “How would that work?”

  “Just send a letter and say, yeah, I’d love to meet you. And then when he gets here, show up as the daughter and make some excuse like she had to go out of town. Maybe she had to go to Puerto Rico to see her parents or grandparents or whatever.”

  “I don’t know. Do you really think I’ll be able to pull that off?”

  “Come on, he’s from North Carolina. How long is he going to visit you for, like a weekend? You can pull off anything on a weekend. You’re a good actress.” She made a face and everyone started laughing. “Okay. Well, maybe you’re not going to win any Oscars anytime soon, but you can fake it for a weekend, right?”

  “I guess so. So I should tell him to come?”

  “Yeah. Tell him to come. Tell him you’ll meet him outside one of the museums or something on Saturday and then go as Emma’s daughter.”

  “I’m going to go as Emma’s daughter and my name is Emma?”

  “You’re going to fake your name, duh,” Chloe said.

  “I don’t want to fake my name as well.”

  “I mean, you’re not really faking your name, but you can’t be Emma, Emma’s daughter. Like, who names their kid after themselves?” Isabella pointed out. “It’s either that or just tell him the truth.”

  “I mean, maybe I will tell him the truth after he gets to know me a little bit better.” I sighed. “Oh gosh, this is absolutely horrible. What have I done?”

  “I don’t know, but pretending that you’re your own daughter doesn’t seem like a great idea,” Chloe said quietly.

 
“Maybe just tell him not to come,” Isabella suggested.

  “But I kind of want to meet him.” I put my face in my hands. “I know that’s selfish of me, and I know I’m just asking for trouble, but this is a guy I’ve been corresponding with for years, and I’ve never even seen what he looks like. I mean, is it bad of me to want to meet him?”

  “I understand why you want to meet him.” Chloe smiled. “You’re curious—shit, I want to meet him, and I’ve never even exchanged any letters with him. What if he’s like some Army hottie?”

  I shook my head. “He’s not going to be an Army hottie.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because he’s been writing to me for two years and he never even asked what I looked like. If he was some sort of hottie, he would’ve been trying to hit on me or something.”

  “Everyone is not going to try and hit on you. Plus he thinks you’re in your fifties, right? And didn’t you say he was like thirtysomething?”

  “Yeah, but men still want to know what you look like, don’t they?”

  “Don’t ask me.” Chloe shrugged. “No men care about me right now.”

  I laughed. “Well, they don’t care about me, either. Isabella and Abby have all the luck.”

  “Oh boy, here we go again.” Abby snorted. “Guys, you two are gorgeous. If you really wanted a man, you could have one.”

  “I don’t know about that. I mean, yes, if I just wanted to fuck someone tonight, I could probably find someone, but if I want a good guy to date, well you know it’s slim pickings out here.”

  “Well, worry about that later,” Isabella said. “I mean, right now you have bigger problems than trying to find a guy to date.”

  “Yeah, I know. Thanks for reminding me.” I sighed, “Okay, so I’m going to send him a letter back and I’ll say, sure, I’d love to meet you. Let me know when you’re coming into town.” I paused. “But he wants my phone number.”

  “He wants your phone number? Why?” Chloe asked.

  “Why do you think? Duh. If we’re going to meet, he wants to communicate with me other than by letter. What’s he going to do, write to me once he gets to New York City?”

  “Oh, true.” Chloe nodded. “Well, give him your number.”

  I started to freak out all over again. “But if I give him my number, he’s going to know that I’m not in my fifties!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, do I sound like I’m in my fifties?”

  “Oh yeah, sorry.” Chloe made a face. “I mean, I’m not used to this lying thing.”

  “I’m not used to this lying thing either.”

  “Well, you kind of are the one that lied,” Abby said.

  “Thanks, Abby.”

  “What? I mean, I’m not trying to be mean, but you did get yourself into this predicament.”

  “Because I was trying to help this guy who was in the Army serving our country.”

  “I know. I know. You’ve got all sorts of excuses.”

  “They’re not excuses, they’re—”

  “Guys,” Isabella spoke up. “There’s no point in us arguing or telling Emma off right now. Look, he’s just come home from being abroad. He probably wants to meet his pen pal, thank her, and then go back to North Carolina. Let him meet Emma, spend the weekend together. And you guys can just …” She paused.

  “Can just what?” I said.

  “I don’t know” —she shook her head—“I mean, I don’t even really know how it’s going to work, but you’ll figure something out.”

  “You see? You don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “No, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think you should tell him the truth. We all think you should tell him the truth.”

  “You don’t understand, it’s not that simple.”

  “Why isn’t it simple?”

  “Because I don’t want the first thing he finds out about me to be that I’m a liar. I don’t want him to think that our friendship wasn’t real. And it was real. I like this guy. He’s a friend of mine. I consider him a really good friend, and I don’t want to break his heart in that this woman that he thinks is one of his best friends—he’s actually called me one of his best friends—doesn’t even exist!”

  “Oh boy,” Chloe muttered. “I mean, good luck, Ems.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I guess I’ll write the letter tonight and send it to him.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Will you guys do me a favor?”

  Abby looked nervous. “What?”

  “Will you meet him with me?”

  “No way,” Abby said quickly. “That’s on you.”

  “I mean, I don’t need you at the first meeting, but like if we all go out or something, can you guys come?”

  “Fine.” Isabella nodded, “I’ll come.”

  “Me too,” Chloe said, “I’ll come because you’re my best friend.”

  “Fine,” Abby said, “I will come as well. But…”

  “But, what?”

  “You will owe me copious amounts of alcohol.”

  “Done.” I grinned, “Anything for you girls.”

  “Okay, well, let’s get ready to party because I have a feeling that it’s not going to be as exciting next week when the real Emma is fifty-something years old in Puerto Rico.”

  “Thanks for reminding me of that.” I rolled my eyes. “At least I am originally from Puerto Rico.”

  “Well, half of you is.” Isabella grinned.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Half of you is. Your dad is Puerto Rican, but your mom—”

  “I know, she’s just a white American lady,” I grumbled. “Don’t remind me.”

  “What?” Isabella said. “You’re proud of your heritage.”

  “Of course I am.” I sighed. “But, oh my gosh, I don’t even want to talk about this anymore. I feel like an idiot.”

  “You should,” they agreed.

  I tried to glare at them but ended up laughing. They were right, of course, but I just couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth.

  I had to figure this out before Cody got into town. I knew lying was bad, and I knew that by the time he got here I was going to regret the lies I was going to have to tell. But once we got to know each other and he saw that I was a good person, I’d tell him the truth. I just needed him to trust me initially and then I’d let him know. This way, I wouldn’t break his heart and he wouldn’t break mine.

  Chapter Four

  Cody

  “Hey, Cody!” my mom shouted up the stairs. I lay on my bed, reading a book. It’d been such a long time since I’d been able to just relax and read.

  “Yeah, Mom?”

  “You got a letter.”

  “Okay. Bills?”

  “No, it’s handwritten. Didn’t you say you were expecting something from your pen pal or something?”

  “Oh, shit. Yeah, I’m coming.”

  I tossed the book aside and ran out of the room, my heart pounding. Had Emma finally written me back? I was starting to think that I’d scared her by asking her to meet up.

  Mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a smile on her face. “Well, someone’s eager for this letter,” she said, waving it around.

  “Let me have it, Mom.”

  “Okay, here you go. I’m making meatloaf for dinner.”

  “Cool.”

  “Your dad will be home around seven, so we’ll eat then?”

  “Sounds good.” I tried not to sound impatient. I wanted to get to my letter.

  “And he was hoping you guys could go to the game next week.”

  “Um, I don’t know, Mom.”

  “But you know Dad’s been waiting for this.”

  “I might be going to New York City.”

  “To New York City? Why?” She frowned and pushed her glasses up her nose so that she could look at me better.

  “I told you, my pen pal’s in New York City, and I want to meet her.”

  “But didn’t you say sh
e’s in her fifties?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why do you want to meet some fifty-year-old?” My mom started tidying up my desk in the home office, and I took a deep breath.

  “Because we’re friends, and I want to thank her for writing me every week. No one else wrote me every week.” I moved over to the desk and grabbed her hand to stop her from putting all my papers into one big pile.

  “Okay,” she said, her lips parting slightly. “Well, here you go.”

  I saw the handwriting on the envelope and my heart got excited. It was Emma. I ripped it open and read it quickly, my heart thudding as my eyes devoured the page.

  “Hi there, soldier. Glad to hear that you’re back stateside safe and sound. Sorry about the delay. Been a crazy week. I would love to see you. I hate for you to have to come all the way to New York City, though. It seems like such an expensive trip, but if you’re dead set on coming, I’d love to meet up with you. I might be going to Puerto Rico soon, but hopefully, the dates don’t conflict. Here’s my phone number. If I don’t answer, my daughter will. She’s nice, and I’ve told her all about you.

  “Stay safe. Been thinking about you a lot. I’m sure the transition from Afghanistan to being back in the USA must be very difficult. I can only imagine what you must be going through and the different emotions.

  “Really excited to meet you in person. I can’t believe we’ve been corresponding for so many years without actually knowing what each other looks like. Hopefully, when you see and meet this old woman, you won’t be turned off and want to end the friendship. You are someone I’ve come to value and admire in my life, and even though we’ve never actually met in person, I do consider you one of my best friends. I hope you’ll always remember that, no matter what happens.

  “Anyway, here is my phone number. Call me whenever you like.

  “Love always, Emma.”

  I read the letter two times and then grabbed my phone. I wanted to call her right away, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d never spoken to her before. I didn’t even know what she sounded like. Maybe she had a heavily accented voice. Would I even be able to understand her?

  “You’re an idiot, Cody,” I muttered to myself. “She’s lived in New York City for most of her life, if not all of her life.” I realized then I didn’t know when she’d left Puerto Rico or if she’d ever lived in Puerto Rico. There was so much for me to find out.