He Called Me Boring, I Dumped Him

Chapter 2

The next time I saw Pete was at a birthday party my best friend had put together.

I pushed the door open and caught sight of a girl perched right on his lap. She looked young and fresh, cheeks flushed pink as she tilted her head up toward his lips, the two of them sharing a single cracker.

They were playing some silly party game: you pass one soda cracker back and forth, and whoever finishes their part fast enough to touch the other person's lips first loses.

The whoops and cheers died mid-sentence the second I walked in. My arrival threw the whole room into awkward silence.

Camille, who'd been sitting in the middle of the crowd, hopped up right away and tugged me over to an empty seat, grinning to defuse the tension.

"Nicola! There you are, I was wondering when you'd show up. My birthday wouldn't be half as fun without you."

I smiled back, handed her the gift I'd brought, and wished the birthday girl a happy birthday.

The girl in Pete's lap flushed deeper and scrambled to stand up.

But his arm locked tight around her waist, holding her firmly in place.

"Where d'you think you're running off to, baby girl?"

Her face burned even brighter, and she gave him a cute, annoyed glare.

He laughed openly, his whole attention fixed entirely on the girl in his lap.

Once upon a time, I'd been that girl curled up in his lap. The sweet, intimate scene in front of me stung so bad I almost had to look away.

Camille's voice went sharp and cold as she stuck up for me. "Pete, don't you think that's a little much? Nicola is right here."

One of Pete's friends cut in before he could answer, his voice sharp with annoyance. "Who's actually out of line here? She called off the engagement out of nowhere, didn't tell anyone beforehand, just ran off traveling. You don't treat people like that."

He turned his gaze straight to me. "Nicola, if you never wanted to marry Pete, why did you put him on the spot with that whole fancy surprise proposal in the first place?"

Two weeks prior, Pete and I were supposed to have our engagement ceremony. We'd booked the venue, sent out all the invitations weeks in advance.

But on the day of the ceremony, I left nothing but a short note: The world is so big, I want to go see it first.

Then I vanished completely, and no one had heard a word from me until today.

On paper, I was the selfish, reckless one. The one who'd broken my promise and left everyone hanging.

If everyone already thought I was the villain, fine. I'd keep playing the part.

I smiled faintly, twisted the engagement ring off my finger, and set it down lightly on the table. I lifted my eyes, locking gazes with Pete, whose face hadn't shifted an inch, no trace of emotion anywhere.

"The engagement is off. Congratulations. You're free."