Page 49 of Selfish Desires

Wen? That was my nickname for Wendy. My goddamn fucking name.

“That’s perfect.” Wendy grinned. “Stephen is hosting an event at his store for new items he curated. He does it every year around this time.”

“This year, I decided to get a little fancier and cater the best food. Obviously, I deferred to Wendy for that.” He shot her a wink.

I was about to gouge his eye out with my plastic fucking fork in a second.

“So, who’s getting engaged?” Stephen asked again, raking his eyes across the table.

“No one's getting engaged, Stephen,” Wendy responded quickly, shooting me an uneasy glare. “It was just a joke.”

“What are you even doing here?” I shot back and mouthed to Wendy, ‘Stalker.’

“Getting lunch, just like you.” Stephen held up a white paper bag and ran a hand through his hair. “This was fun.” He glanced at his watch, then back up at us. “Well, I should get going. Lots to prepare for this week.”

Wendy smiled brightly at him, her hand silently tugging on mine under the table. “Can't wait to see it all come together.”

Stephen left with a parting nod, his departure leaving an uneasy silence. Marjorie cleared her throat first. “He likes you.”

Wendy laughed. “Oh, that’s not true. We’re just friends.”

For the first time, Mom and I exchanged a knowing glance that Wendy had caught.

“Seriously, we both moved to Newport at the same time. And I don’t know.” Wendy shrugged. “We became easy friends. But that’s where it stopped. Plus, I’m taken.”

I was glad Wendy clarified that since Stephen's 'easy friends' statement raised a red flag. My jealousy gnawed at my insides, and I had to remind myself that I had no right to feel this way. After all, I was the one who left her. Suddenly, an idea gripped my attention, and I needed to act on it now. Pushing away from the table, I pulled my phone from my pocket.

“I just need to make a fast call.” I pointed to the device.

“Oh, okay,” said Wendy, a slight disappointment laced in her tone.

“I’m calling Zachary.” It was the truth.

“Alright. Tell him I say hi.” Wendy smiled.

“Go make your call.” Mom shooed me away. “We’ll be fine.”

As soon as I was out of earshot, I dialed Zachary's number. After a few rings, he answered.

“What do you want?” Zachary’s gruff voice punished my ear.

“I need a favor,” I said right away.

“Uh-huh. Sure you do.” Zachary was anything but amused, but I didn’t care.

“Come on, man. Drop the attitude already, okay? I’m doing right by Wendy, and you can’t tell me she hasn’t spoken to Blair about how well we’ve been doing. There’s no faking it over here.”

The line went silent, and for a second, I thought Zachary had hung up on me until he released a lazy sigh. “What’s the favor?”

“I need you to look into someone for me. I’d do it here, but I don’t want to feel like I’m snooping around Wendy, you know?”

“So, you’re using me instead to snoop around Wendy.”

“Zachary,” I warned through gritted teeth. “I. Need. Your. Help.”

“And who exactly is this ‘someone’?” Zachary asked, the curiosity evident in his tone.

“Stephen. He’s a... friend of Wendy’s.” The word 'friend' rolled off my tongue with distaste. “I got a strange vibe from him. I need you to find something about him that’s out of place.”

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