Page 93 of Recklessly, Wildly Yours

“Is that Ethan?” Leigh asks.

I nod but I don’t drag my attention from my phone.

“What did he say?”

I show her his messages. “What do you think he means?”

She reads the three messages before looking at me like I have ten heads. “What do you mean? It’s pretty obvious what he’s saying.”

I snatch the phone back and re-read the texts. “No, it’s not.”

The look she gives me can only be described as woman-draining-all-her-life-blood-cranky. “What do you think it means?”

“That he wants to tell me he won’t walk away from his responsibility.”

She gapes. “That is so not what I took from those texts. Maddie, come on, stop letting your brain mess with you. Call him. Everything’s going to be okay.”

The idea of calling Ethan fills me with panic. “I’m tired, Leigh. It’s like three a.m. our time. I’ll text and let him know I’ll call after we’ve both had some sleep.”

I tap out a text quickly before I can overthink this.

Me: We’ve just landed. I’m exhausted and you must be too. I don’t think this is a conversation to have when we’re not at our best. I’ll call you tomorrow. I hope you’re okay after what your Dad said to you.

I switch my phone off again and slip it into my purse, ignoring the look Leigh gives me. She wasn’t the one who told him she was pregnant. She doesn’t know how he responded. She has no idea how it made me feel.

All he kept saying was that we needed to take a test.

That we shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet.

Let’s get a test and make sure before we go any further.

Leigh doesn’t know that these were almost exactly the same words Tucker said to me before he made me get an abortion.

I can’t call Ethan back now because I’m not ready to have my heart broken if all he wants to talk about is getting a damn test.

32

Ethan

Gage: Have you heard from her?

Me: She sent a text an hour ago when she arrived in London telling me she’d call today.

Me: Why are you awake? It’s 4am. I thought you were doing better with your insomnia.

Gage: Not while Shayla’s fucking with me.

Me: Sorry, man. Maybe it’s time to take Blair’s advice?

Gage: There would have to be no other option before I’d hire her.

Gage: What are you going to do?

Me: I’m about to board a plane.

Me: I’ve really fucked this up, Gage.

Gage: Yeah, you did, but it’s not the end of the world. You’ll get face-to-face with her and fix it.

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