Page 3 of Vegas Daddies

“I hope.”I spin the phone around, and their faces illuminate from the screen. “Look.”

They widen their eyes in unison. Share a concerned glance with one another. Rachel’s eyes look more pitiful than Tammy’s. Tammy is…well.Tammy.

“Give me that.” She snatches the device and roots through my contact list for Levi. “What does he think he’s playing at? Is thissupposed to be some fucking joke? I don’t care how good he is with photoshop. How dare he. Maybe it’s a prank, but even if it is, you’re calling it off. You can’t marry an asshole like that.”

I take the phone from Tammy. “Let me call him.”

One ring…

Two…

I fiddle with the diamond on my finger.

The thought of taking it off worsens the pain in my stomach.

“Alice?” The receiver crackles from his breath. He’s running. Clearlynotseated behind his desk like he said he’d be doing all night. “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and fucking clear.”

Tammy sticks her thumb up.

My tone passes her test.

“What’s her name, then?”

“What?”

“Your new girlfriend.”

“Alice, I’m?—”

“I don’t want the bullshit. Just tell me straight.” My pulse rattles in my neck. “You’ve been seeing another woman. Yes or no?”

“Not seeing, as of right now, but yes. I was.”

Was…

So he’s not anymore.

I look up from the floor, phone clutched in my hand, and observe Tammy’s still-very-concerned face. The concern isn’t for the situation. It’s for me. Because she knows me. She knows what I’m like. She’s an independent woman undistracted by feelings, and I’m a woman who doesn’t have the balls to cut someone off.

He fucked somebody else.

But at some point he made the conscious decision to stop.

Isn’t that what counts? That it’s in the past? Character development and all?

Tammy’s stare deepens, her dark brown eyebrows knitting closer until finally she hisses, “Alice! Give me the phone.”

I shove away. “No. He’s not done yet.”

“Speaking isn’t a luxury he gets with you anymore. Aweddingisn’t a lux?—”

“Shhh!”

“I’m sorry, Alice, truly,” continues Levi, “for what I’ve done. And I’m sorry for what I’m about to say next.”

Tammy rolls her eyes and flops her posture. She’s had enough.

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