Filed to story: Cheating with My Boyfriend’s Best Friend Novel by Jane E L (Olive & Aaron)
I turned my head and saw Cinder’s unmistakable figure, jumping up and down like a little monkey with her phone still pressed to her ear.
Just beside her was a tall man in a long black trench coat. It was dark outside, and they were standing far away, so I couldn’t see exactly what he looked like.
Cinder sprinted toward me excitedly, grabbing me in a big hug. “Olive!
I haven’t seen you in so long, oh my g*d!”
Huh? Had it really been that long?
After Cinder finally let go of me, she said hello to Aaron and then grabbed my hand and tugged me over to her boyfriend to introduce us.
“Hi, I’m Olive Woods,” I said, holding out my hand.
“Nice to meet you.” He reached out and shook my hand with a firm grasp. “My name is Eliott Dubois.”
This whole time, I’d been curious to get a look at the new guy who had Cinder singing his praises every time we talked. Now I could see with my own eyes how handsome he was. He had dark eyebrows and big, soft eyes, and a relaxed, easy-going demeanor.
Cinder opened the back door of her nearby car and threw Aaron a casual wink. “Aaron, you don’t mind if I borrow Olive for an hour, right?”
I thought Aaron probably would mind.
Sure enough, Aaron didn’t even pretend to go along with Cinder’s request. He walked straight over to me, pushed me into the back seat, and immediately climbed in after me. “Close the door for me, please.”
I put my hands over my eyes, thinking Cinder would probably be p*ssed at Aaron.
Cinder froze, and her smile disappeared instantly. She stared at Aaron for a long time before slamming the door shut behind him with a bang.
But instead of getting into the passenger seat, she pulled open the door on the other side of me and squeezed in next to me, while Eliott got into the driver’s seat.
Now I was packed in between them like a sardine, completely unable to move, with both my arms pressed against my sides.
Cinder whispered in my ear, “He’s so bossy!”
I snorted, thinking, you haven’t seen him when he’s really bossy.
Cinder seemed to read my thoughts from my expression, and she suddenly reached out and laid a hand over my chest. “Has he been keeping you busy for the past few days? I noticed you haven’t been picking up any of my calls.”
Aaron glanced over at Cinder, and she immediately retracted, her hand.
Aaron grabbed my hand, the one Cinder’s boyfriend had just shaken, and rubbed it between his own hands vigorously, like he was trying to scrub away any trace of the other man.
I ignored Aaron; I was more interested to hear about Cinder’s new boyfriend.
“So, Cinder tells me you got your PhD at Columbia University, and now you’re researching cancer bioinformatics?” After chatting for a while, Eliott brought the topic to my school. Cinder must have told him a lot about me, for him to know exactly what field of study I was in.
When I nodded, Cinder butted into the conversation eagerly.
“Eliott is a medical student at Harvard! I bet you guys have a lot in common.”
This was a bit of a surprise. I looked over at the striking side profile of Cinder’s boy toy of the week. With his high, straight nose and thick eyebrows, he looked like he should be on the cover of a magazine. “I thought he was a model,” I said honestly.
He had such a great body and a handsome face to match. I didn’t expect someone like him to be a medical student. With a doctor like that, every woman in town would be running to the hospital.
Eliott kept his hands on the wheel and explained with a good- natured grin, “You guessed right. I actually work part-time as a model, shooting commercials and advertisements.”
That made sense; it would be a waste for a face like that to be kept away from the big screen.
But as a busy medical student, how could he find the time to shoot commercials and work on his career as a model? I guessed, “Is it to pay off your student loans?”
He smiled and shook his head.
I asked him again, “So did you meet Cinder while you were filming commercials?”
Eliott glanced up at the rearview mirror like he was trying to lock eyes with Cinder in the reflection.
But Cinder was clinging to my side like a koala, her face completely buried against the seat back, and Eliott couldn’t see her at all.
After trying and failing to make eye contact for a while, he had no choice but to answer my question. “No.”
I thought Cinder had good taste in picking her boyfriend this time.
Eliott was polite enough, and he seemed very reliable.
Cinder also nodded in agreement. “No, actually, I chose Eliott from thousands of people.”
“So how did you meet?” I was getting more and more curious now.
Cinder poked my waist teasingly and cupped her hand over my ear.
“You remember that annoying client, the one who wanted to have penguins in Malibu?”
Of course I remembered the story of Cinder’s obnoxious client, but I hadn’t expected her to bring it up now.
I remembered Cinder complaining nonstop about the client’s bad taste, and how her idiot young son wanted to have penguins in Malibu.
I glanced between Cinder and Eliott, a little shocked. “I thought that guy was a little kid!”
Eliott seemed more than old enough to know that Malibu wasn’t exactly a penguin’s natural habitat.
I was starting to question everything at this point.
“Ahem,” Cinder interrupted my speculation. “What are you talking about? Yes, the penguin-watching one was a little kid. And this is his older brother.”
“Wait, what? The family isn’t on vacation in Morocco? Did he stay in Switzerland just for you?” I couldn’t believe Cinder’s ability to wrap men around her little finger.
Cinder didn’t say anything, just gave me a very mysterious smile.
I was even more shocked by this indirect admission. “Oh my g*d! I thought you weren’t supposed to fall in love with your clients!”
Of course, Cinder was the type to break the rules for a hot guy, and this guy was undeniably hot. If I didn’t have Aaron, I might have made a move on him myself.