Forever An Ex by Victoria Christopher Murray Read Free Book Online Page A

hundred feet from the edge of the beach, but it was like I was sitting on top of the waves. Since Bobby’s latest rejection, I’d been holed up at home like a chicken in a coop. But there, I couldn’t think, I could hardly breathe.
    Out here in the open, I hoped to find clarity. Maybe I’d find all the solutions that would keep Angel in Los Angeles.
    â€œAsia!”
    I opened my eyes slowly, trying to maintain my calm and tranquility, even if Kendall was screaming at me.
    Sheridan and Kendall stood in front of my car, both with their arms crossed as if they’d been standing there for a minute.
    â€œOh, yeah, we definitely need to pray for you,” Kendall said. “I think you’re losing your hearing.”
    â€œLeave her alone,” Sheridan said as she pulled me off the car and into her arms. “Obviously, she has a lot on her mind.”
    â€œYeah, I guess,” Kendall grumbled. But then she did the same thing that Sheridan had done—she hugged me. And Kendall held me so tight, like she was trying to tell me that even though she didn’t know what was going on, everything was going to be all right.
    When I stepped back, Sheridan asked, “You okay?”
    I didn’t know what happened. Maybe it was just thinking about the talk with Angel. Maybe it was all of the fears that I had about Caroline. Maybe it was because now that Sheridan and Kendall were here, I wasn’t alone.
    Or maybe it was because no matter how Kendall acted, she really did love me.
    â€œYeah, are you okay?” Kendall repeated Sheridan’s question.
    That was when I lost it. I burst into tears. I could say that I just cried, but that would be a lie. I stood on the edge of that ocean and bawled like a baby; the only thing is that babies eventually stop, but I wasn’t sure if I ever would.
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    After I got myself together, we trekked down to the edge of the beach. I took off my sneakers and let the cool ocean water wash over my feet.
    Sheridan and Kendall kept their sneakers on, grumbling about it being too cold to be walking in the water. But to me, it was as refreshing as the cry fest I’d just had.
    â€œLet us know when you’re ready to talk,” Sheridan said gently.
    I took just a few more steps then told Sheridan and Kendall everything. From my talk with Bobby to my talk with Angel, though I did leave out the part about how I was gonna get Bobby back.
    â€œYou need to put that child on a plane tomorrow because she’s brilliant,” Kendall said when I’d finished.
    That stopped me right in my tracks. “Are you serious? You think I should let her go?”
    Kendall shrugged, then nodded. “Yeah, I don’t see the big deal. Angel is smart, she’s thought it out, she knows what she wants, even more than people who are triple her age, and it’s not like she’ll be in New York with someone she doesn’t know.”
    Yeah, she’ll be with Caroline, though I kept that thought to myself. That was another part of the story that I didn’t tell Sheridan and Kendall—my suspicions about Caroline trying to steal my daughter. I didn’t want them to think that this was all about some rivalry I had with Bobby’s wife.
    â€œLet her go, Asia,” Kendall continued. “It’ll be good for her.”
    I couldn’t believe what Kendall was telling me and I felt like crying all over again. “Why would you say that?” Before she could answer, I said, “Oh, wait. You don’t have any children. You don’t know what it’s like to be a mother!” Then I looked to Sheridan. And if she told me the same thing, I was going to throw myself into the ocean.
    â€œOkay, hold on, you two,” Sheridan said, being the peacemaker that she always was. “Kendall, you’re right. What Angel said . . . she’s clearly beyond her years. But”—she turned back to