Page 68 of The Love Losers

“That sounds wonderful. I’m starving.”

In the car, I check my phone. I have messages from Joy, my brother, and Lainey, but nothing from Nicole.

I feel like my past is gearing up to grab my ponytail and tug me to a stop, but I’ll do what I always do.

I’ll keep running, even if it’s in circles.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

ANTHONY

I drum my fingers against the wheel as I drive to Smith House, feeling the silence settle between Rosie and me—uncomfortable this time.

As if she can feel the anxiety thrumming inside of me, pressing against my skin, she lowers a hand onto my thigh again, her heat easing into me. It shouldn’t help, but it does. Her presence always has an effect on me.

I give her a sidelong glance and catch her watching me.

“What’d Nina say?” I repeat for what must be the third time, unable to help myself.

“She still thinks she’s going to marry you,” Rosie says, which makes me laugh.

Nina took three of my mother’s expensive necklaces and walked out on me without any sign of remorse.

“I don’t think so,” I finally say as I pull off the highway and take the turn toward Smith House.

“But she literally told me,” Rosie says as she turns in her seat for a better look at me. “She was trying to get me to swap dudes with her.”

I almost hit the Honda Civic in front of me and then bear down on the brake so hard Rosie is jostled against her belt.

“Shit, sorry,” I say, going slower, my heart pounding hard. Because honestly, what the fuck?

Nina walked out on me.

She slept with my friendwhile we were engaged.

She hasn’t given my mother’s necklaces back. Just like she hasn’t returned the engagement ring I bought for her.

Where does she get off thinking I’d marry her now?

Unless…

I swallow, my mouth dry and completely deficient of the taste of strawberries. “Do you think she’s the one…”

“I don’t think she’s the one who set up the website,” Rosie says, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t put it past her, but she seemed genuinely surprised when I told her about it.”

“You told her?” I didn’t mean for it to sound so accusatory, but at the same time…

It was reckless, yet I know Rosie to be a reckless person. Most of the time, it’s part of her charm.

“I did,” she says, “but not about the countdown website. I just asked if she was the one threatening your mother.”

Leave it to her to come right out and ask. I wish I’d been there to see it instead of tethered to Wilson and his aching balls.

Rosie tips her head slightly, studying the wrought iron gate of Smith House as we approach it. “Still, I don’t think we can rule her out. She obviously doesn’t want you to get married, and one of her friends could have seen us at the bar on ladies’ night. She could have made that call to the police. I mean…she’s a sociopath. It wouldn’t surprise me if she can fake being surprised.”

I nod, but a bolt of worry pierces me. I don’t like that Nina and Wilson know Rosie is important to me. Even if they’re not the ones who set up that website or made the call, they could tell someone, and if we’re being watched…

The guard at the gate gives me a nod and lets us in. My mother left on some unspecified shopping trip earlier today, so we can avoid the inquisition for a while longer.

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