Chapter 1

The year I turned twenty-three, I had a dream.

In it, a middle-aged man kept warning me, patient and pained.

"Break up with your girlfriend, and do it soon. Otherwise those two will play you for a fool."

"She and your so-called best friend fell for each other a long time ago."

"Don't believe me? Go look at your girlfriend's screen name."

"The initials already tell you everything."

I went and checked her username. Sure enough, it was Bradley Simmons's initials.

Even so, it struck me as ridiculous. "That could just be a coincidence."

The man only gave a bitter smile.

"You don't believe me? In a little while she'll cancel the hot-spring resort you booked for your birthday,"

"and pick the country cabin your best friend set up instead."

I jerked awake, and only then realized it had been a dream.

I was about to share the strange, unsettling dream with my girlfriend and my best friend when, all at once,

a message popped up in our three-person group chat.

"Keith, your birthday's in three days. Let's skip the hot-spring resort and do a country cabin instead, okay?"

1

I stared at the message.

A chill ran through me.

They really wanted to scrap my hot-spring resort and switch to a country cabin?

"Keith? Why aren't you answering? Do you like the country cabin idea?"

Bradley's messages kept popping up, one after another.

"I searched forever to find this place, the reviews online are amazing!"

"They say their country-style roast chicken is one of a kind, and you can pick strawberries too!"

Bradley's icon kept surfacing again and again.

Then my girlfriend, Lorraine Gilbert, chimed in right behind him.

"Keith, Brad's right."

"The hot-spring lodge is packed right now, and it's expensive, no fun at all."

"A country cabin gets us close to nature, some fresh air, way better than soaking in a tub of disinfectant."

I closed my eyes, the man's bitter smile from the dream echoing in my head.

"Break up with your girlfriend soon… they fell for each other long ago…"

"You don't believe me? In a little while she'll cancel the hot-spring resort you booked for your birthday and pick your best friend's country cabin."

It had come true.

Those three words landed on my heart, a dull, heavy ache.

Before I could even reply, the chat had already scrolled up under new messages.

The two of them were chatting away, warm and easy.

Even without me there, they never seemed to run out of things to say.

The line I'd typed out:

"But I'd still rather do the hot-spring resort…"

I deleted again, one character at a time.

I tried, gently, to say I didn't want to go.

But Bradley shoved three tickets in front of me and waved them.

"Tickets to the country cabin, already bought for you. Thoughtful, right?"

I said nothing.

Lorraine frowned, impatience showing in her eyes.

"Keith Henson, you've got a best friend this good arranging everything, booking everything for you, you should count yourself lucky."

"Could you stop sitting here with that face and ruining the mood? Nobody owes you anything."

I lowered my head. "Fine."

In the end, they forced me into the car anyway.

In the yard of the country cabin,

a plump woman in a blue apron came out to greet us, her voice loud and cheerful.

"You'd be the party Brad booked, right? Come on in, we've already got the fire going for you!"

Bradley chatted eagerly with her.

"So this must be your girlfriend, what a good-looking pair, real handsome, real pretty, perfect match."

Lorraine just stood there, smiling.

She let the misunderstanding stand and didn't correct it.

Bradley cut a testing glance my way out of the corner of his eye, then said with a shy little laugh,

"Ma'am, you've got it wrong, my best friend here is her boyfriend!"

The woman gave two awkward chuckles and walked off.

Bradley leaned in close to my shoulder, smiling, coaxing.

"That woman just didn't know, that's all, so she got it wrong. Keith, you're not upset, are you?"

I stayed quiet, saying nothing.

Any other time, I'd have jumped to clear it up first thing.

"You're my best friend. How could I ever take that to heart?"

Besides, this wasn't the first or second time it had happened.

Every time, I'd cheerfully explained it to people.

"One's my girlfriend, one's my best friend, both the people closest to me."

I never kept my guard up around them.

Once, the three of us went hiking together. I was too worn out to climb any farther and waited alone at the foot of the mountain.

The two of them went up to the summit to take photos.

And I never once suspected anything happened behind my back.

But now, something seemed to have shifted.

Just then, the owner came over carrying a birthday cake.

"There's a birthday cake too. The yard's running a promotion today, so we sent one over for you all."

I lowered my head, my eyes fell on the birthday cake, and everything stopped short.

Written across it in bold, glaring letters: