I Only Settle Down for the Best

After carrying my girlfriend, Vera Lane, to bed, she suddenly snuggles into my arms. "Your roommate seems pretty wild. Give me his number." I freeze and glance at her. She casually pulls the blanket over herself. "We're getting married sooner or later, but don't you think it's pretty boring to be with only one person forever? I don't want to sacrifice my freedom for you." I watch her for a long moment. Then, I push her hand away and nod. On the day I move out, she stands in the doorway, frowning in annoyance. "Yves, didn't we agree we could see other people? Why are you mad?" I pick up my suitcase. "Nope, that's not who I am." Soon, she gets tired of that lifestyle and comes running back to me. I glance at the wedding band on my hand and smile. "Sorry, I've already moved on." The world is full of choices. If I don't want her anymore, I'll choose someone else. I deserve nothing less than the best. Chapter 1 Vera Lane had finally managed to get the phone number of my roommate, the campus heartthrob. With a faint smile tugging at her lips, she wrapped her arms around my neck and burrowed herself back into my chest. I grabbed her wrists and pushed her away. Stepping out of bed, I picked up my clothes scattered across the floor and started dressing. A loud ringing filled my ears, echoing the words she had so casually thrown out moments before. My hands were trembling so badly that I fumbled the buttons over and over. Vera leaned back against the headboard, watching me with a smirk. "What's wrong with you now?" The thin sheet draped over her had slipped down, exposing her pale skin. The fresh mark I'd just left on her shoulder stood out starkly under the dim, warm glow of the bedside lamp. I averted my eyes. "I'm heading back." "Yves, stop being dramatic. It's late." "I have an early class tomorrow." Vera clicked her tongue in annoyance, then got out of bed and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. "It's not like this is your first time staying over. Just head straight to campus from here in the morning." I pressed my lips together and said nothing, breaking free from her hold. Walking over to the nightstand, I swept my tablet and charger into my bag and zipped it shut in one fluid motion. Vera's jaw tightened. She had only been nice to me because she was in a good mood, riding high on getting what she wanted. Seeing that I was refusing to budge, her expression instantly went cold. She returned to the bed. "Whatever. I'm not going to beg you to stay. You're the one throwing a fit. If you've got the balls, don't ever sleep with me again." The words hit me like a splash of ice water, making me feel impossibly small. I clenched my jaw, swallowing down the copper taste of blood in my mouth and forcing back the tremors threatening to break through. "Okay," I muttered, grabbing my bag and bolting out the door. Chapter 2 I walked into the dorm to find Danny Moore glued to his phone, a smug, giddy smile plastered across his face as he typed away. A dull ache settled in my chest. I knew instantly who he was messaging. "Oh, hey. You're back," Danny said when he noticed me. "I thought you were staying at your place tonight?" I gave a casual nod. My family lived right here in town, so my roommates always assumed I went home whenever I didn't return to the dorm. In reality, I spent most of those nights holed up in Vera's off-campus apartment. Danny was practically glowing as he tossed an arm over my shoulder. "I had no idea that was your sister who picked you up from the party earlier! I totally thought she was your girlfriend." I froze mid-unpacking. Sister? Something twisted hard in my gut. So that was how Vera had spun it. How classy. Sleeping with her own "brother". Our families had been friends for generations, and Vera and I grew up together. We'd been secretly dating since high school, keeping our relationship hidden from both our families for five long years. She had once promised she'd marry me after graduation. I never imagined she would turn around and tire of me so quickly. This wasn't even the first time she had fooled around with other men. I had caught her sending flirty texts in the past, and I was so consumed by jealousy that I'd even threatened to break up with her. But every single time, she would smooth things over, reassuring me that those men were just playthings to her, and that I was her one and only. Whenever I begged her to make us public, she always refused. Her excuse was always the same—since our families were so close, coming clean would mean being pushed straight into an engagement and forced into marriage the second we were old enough. I couldn't bear the thought of throwing five years away, so I backed down time and time again. But this time, I was done waiting for her. "Yves, what's wrong?" Danny eyed me with a hint of suspicion. I snapped back to reality. "Nothing. I'm just a little tired." Suspecting nothing, he excitedly shoved his phone screen in my face. "She invited me to go racing with her tomorrow! How did she know I was into cars? Hey, which outfit do you think looks cooler? You gotta know your sister's taste, right?" Vera once told me that racing was the only thing she loved almost as much as breathing. In five years together, she had never taken me along once. Yet now, to win Danny over, she was handing him the most exclusive spot by her side without a second thought. Everything I thought was sacred had meant nothing to her at all. I looked into Danny's eager eyes and felt an odd sense of weightlessness wash over me. The weight that had been chaining me down was finally lifted. "Wear this," I said, pulling a leather biker jacket from his closet. "She goes for the wild type." Chapter 3 Notifications from our childhood friends' group chat kept blowing up my phone all night. Someone dropped a photo from the racetrack showing Vera's red convertible parked at the lookout point. Smiling brightly, she leaned against the car door, tilting her head up to kiss the guy beside her as the headlights outlined her profile. The chat went into a complete frenzy. "Holy shit! Vera actually brought a guy along? She never even did that with Yves!" "Did they have a fight?" "Yeah, I thought they were doing fine at the party earlier." I was about to close the app when a message from Vera popped up. "Drop it, guys. Yves is like a brother to me." A second later, a notification announced a new member had joined, and Danny's profile picture appeared in the chat. Vera wrote, "Say hi to my boyfriend." Her words were short and simple. A sudden sharp pang pierced my chest—a heavy, lingering ache that refused to fade. By the time I pulled myself together, the chat was already flooded with messages congratulating Danny and welcoming him to the group. Without a shred of emotion, I typed, "You two look great together. Wishing you the best." Then I slid my phone under the pillow. Even though I had made up my mind to walk away, my heart still ached. It felt like pressing on an old, barely healed wound—it wasn't bleeding anymore, but the dull throb remained. … Danny didn't get back until late that night. A smudge of lipstick stained his collar. I recognized the shade instantly—it was the exact one I had bought for Vera. His lips were swollen and red, his collar was rumpled, and faint hickeys lined his collarbone. He practically beamed as he announced, "Vera professed to me tonight, and I said yes." Our roommates swarmed him immediately, erupting into a wall of chatter. "Holy crap! That's Vera Lane we're talking about! She's the top beauty at the university next door—guys are literally beating down her door!" "Wait, she's never had a boyfriend before, right? And she asked you out? Man, she must be head over heels for you!" "She told me I'm her first love…" Danny couldn't hide the smug satisfaction in his voice. I could feel my heart breaking all over again. Suddenly, Danny turned to look at me, looking a little uneasy. "Yves, I just found out you're not actually Vera's brother. Right after I agreed to be her boyfriend, I saw messages in that group chat saying… you liked her." Uncertainty flickered across his face. "Yves, I'm so sorry. If it really bothers you, I can—" "It's not true," I cut in, flashing a careless smile. "They were just messing around." Danny stared at me, clearly skeptical. I paused before adding, "I'm into someone else." "Oh? Who?" That set off another explosion among my roommates. "I always suspected you were seeing someone. Who is she?" Right then, my phone screen lit up with a notification from the campus forum announcing the final results of the annual campus beauty contest. Unsurprisingly, Eliza Fuller took first place. In the winning photo, she wore a simple white top and jeans, looking effortlessly stunning. The comment section was going wild over her. "Eliza is so damn gorgeous!" "It's that cool, effortless vibe that makes her so attractive!" If Vera was my childhood sweetheart, then Eliza was my lifelong nemesis. We had been at each other's throats since day one—fighting over the slide in kindergarten, competing for class monitor in elementary school, battling for first place in middle school, and fighting for student council president in high school. We were fierce rivals for over a decade. Every time we ran into each other, sparks flew, and neither of us ever backed down. It wasn't until several years ago—when I started dating Vera and stopped having time for Eliza—that our rivalry finally fizzled out. "Her," I said, tapping the screen. "I've had a crush on Eliza for years." Chapter 4 The next day, I decided to skip class and head to Vera's apartment. In less than two hours, I had packed up all my belongings, erasing every last trace of myself from the place. As I made my way to the entryway, the front door clicked open and Vera walked in. She glanced at my suitcase, her impatience flaring. "Yves, what are you doing?" "I don't want people getting the wrong idea," I said. "There is no one else. Yves, this is our home. I won't bring anyone else here." I let out a humorless laugh, choosing to ignore her as I stepped toward the door. She blocked my path, her voice dropping into an angry hiss. "Yves Keller! What's with the sudden tantrum? We haven't broken up! We're just giving each other some space and seeing other people." I stopped and looked at her. The eyes that had once completely captivated me were now filled with an arrogance that made me feel sick. "No thanks," I said calmly. "I'm traditional. I'm not interested in an open relationship. I've spent all these years terrified of losing you. I'm tired. Let's just end things here." Vera froze, staring at me as if I'd just said the most absurd thing she'd ever heard. "End things here?" She stepped closer, tilting her head up until her warm breath brushed my neck. "Then what's this bullshit about you and Eliza? Yves, rumors that you have a crush on her and are planning to go after her have already reached my campus." I paused for a fraction of a second before meeting her gaze. "So?" Vera scoffed. "Yves, even if you're trying to spite me, there was no need to drag Eliza into this. Everyone knows she's hated you since we were kids. Have you already forgotten how she took that birthday gift you gave her and threw it straight in the trash?" Of course I remembered. That was precisely why I felt safe using Eliza as my shield—there was zero chance of anything ever coming of it. "This has nothing to do with you." "Yves, cut it out." She frowned, her voice turning stern. "A girl like Eliza isn't someone you can mess around with. Don't bite off more than you can chew." My remaining patience snapped. I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and moved to push past her. This time, Vera didn't stop me. Instead, her cold, mocking voice trailed behind me as I walked out. "Do you honestly think Eliza would ever want you? Even if everyone else is in the dark, she knows you've been with me all these years. "Go to her if you want. I'm sure she will humiliate you and make you the laughingstock of the entire campus. And when you get hurt, you'll come crawling back to me." A cold wave of humiliation washed over me. Leave it to Vera to strike with surgical precision right where it hurt most. I turned back to look at her self-righteous, sneering face, then yanked my arm out of her reach as she tried to grab me. Vera stumbled back, barely catching her balance. She stood frozen for a few seconds, staring at me in utter disbelief. "Fine, you've got guts," she snapped. "Listen to me, Yves. A guy like you doesn't get infinite second chances with me." Without a word, I turned away and walked out the door without looking back. Chapter 5 I deleted every single photo, message, and memory of Vera from my phone and cloud storage. Then I packed everything she had ever given me over the years into a massive cardboard box and had it delivered to her apartment. From here on out, I wouldn't spend another second caring about anything that had to do with her. This was the end. Unfortunately, Danny and I still shared a dorm. He was constantly bringing her up in passing—gushing about how clingy she was, and how incredible she was at making him feel loved. Vera was an exceptional girlfriend when she wanted to be. When she set her mind to it, she could wrap any guy around her finger with that soft, teasing voice of hers. Only I was no longer on the receiving end of it. On Valentine's Day, Danny insisted on taking the whole dorm out for dinner. It was an unwritten rule among us—whenever someone started seeing a girl, he had to bring her out to meet the guys. Yet, Vera had never once met them as my girlfriend. I tried to excuse myself from joining, claiming I had a headache. But Danny wouldn't take no for an answer. "Come on, man, it's just a quick meal. Yves, you gotta come." So I was dragged along to a high-end restaurant against my will. Throughout the entire dinner, Vera didn't spare me a single glance. She was entirely focused on catering to Danny's every need. Amid the playful cheering of my roommates, she shared an intimate toast with Danny and fed him cake straight from her mouth. When a dab of cream lingered at the corner of his mouth, she leaned in and gently licked it away. I kept my head down, silently cutting into the steak on my plate. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I caught Vera's expression growing darker by the minute. She was probably realizing that I remained completely unfazed, and it was taking the fun out of her little performance. After dinner, my roommates—who all had their girlfriends with them—had other plans for the night. That left me standing completely alone outside the bustling restaurant entrance. After a moment's hesitation, Vera walked over, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Do you… want a ride home?" She probably assumed I was still the same desperate idiot. No matter how hurt I was, the second she threw me a bone, I'd fall right back into the line. Before I could answer, Danny wrapped an arm possessively around her waist. "Vera, I think I drank a little too much. My head's spinning. Come lie down with me for a bit." I let out a faint, bitter smile. "I'm good. Someone's coming to pick me up." Vera's face turned frosty when she heard that. "Suit yourself." Without another word, she hooked her arm through Danny's, walked over to her sports car idling by the curb, and sped off into the night. I stood rooted to the spot as the biting wind whipped against my face, making my head throb. Not feeling like taking a cab home, I started walking aimlessly down the sidewalk toward campus. Just as I reached the school gates, an electric scooter riding on the wrong side of the road suddenly shot out from the dark, clipping me hard and knocking me to the pavement. The rider cursed at me, gunned the throttle, and vanished into the night. An agonizing pain shot up through my leg. Purely on instinct, my thumb pressed a speed-dial button on my phone. It rang four times. On the fifth ring, the call was disconnected. The flat busy signal echoed in my ear as I froze on the deserted street. Only then did it hit me—the number I had just dialed belonged to Vera. The woman who used to answer on the first ring and rush to my side no matter how late it was was never coming back. Expressionless, I didn't try calling a second time. Forcing myself off the ground, I dialed 911. … After cleaning my wounds, the doctor put me on an IV and gave me a tetanus shot. I lay in the quiet hospital room, staring blankly at the dripping IV bag overhead. Suddenly, the door swung open. A figure stood framed in the doorway, silhouetted against the bright hallway light like an angel descending from above. My breath hitched the second I realized who it was. I stared in utter disbelief as she walked into the room, coming to a stop right beside my bed. "Yves, I thought you were supposed to be tough. How'd you manage to get yourself into such a pathetic state?"