Page 24 of Still The One

Matty’s attention is on me like a beacon. It was going too smoothly. I should have known I’d not get away with this.

‘Years?’ he says with a laugh. ‘More like months.’

I shush him under my breath.

‘Months?’ Chelsea asks with surprise in her tone.

‘Yeah, you’re backward. They were married for only months, and ended things years ago,’ Matty continues, not reading the cues on my face for him to shut up.

Chelsea stops what she’s doing, placing a single hand on her hip and staring me down like I’ve done something wrong. ‘I thought you said you were his wife?’

I nod, shoving the rest of the blueberry bliss into my gullet so maybe she’ll mishear my words. ‘Iwashis wife,’ I say, my mouth full.

My gaze meets Foster’s and he gives me this look – one that I know well. It’s of admiration and forgiveness. How on earth can we still have silent conversations when we haven’t laid eyes on each other since I left?

‘Now she’s his ex-wife, sort of,’ Matty says, earning a glare from Foster that I’d know anywhere. That’s hisshut the fuck upglare. I feel like there’s more going on here than just my original lie to get in to see him.

‘You know what?’ Chelsea says after jotting down his vitals. ‘I’m going to just let you three be, and we’ll talk later.’ Her eyes are glued to me, and even though I don’t know her well, those are the accusatory eyes of someone who’s just realized I lied. Oops. Does it help that it was for a good reason? I sure hope so.

10

GUY ‘FOSTER’

I don’t know what the uncomfortable silence radiating through my hospital room is exactly. But I wish Matty would read me and shut the fuck up before he says too much and sends Eve sprinting away from me already. Sure, I’ve daydreamed about this moment for the last five years, but honestly, I never expected to see her again, and certainly not in this way. But she’s in my hospital room and has been for days on end. I feel like that’s a big enough sign that I need to spend some time with her until I can figure out when the right moment to say what I’ve meant to say and have never had the balls to say is. All I know is that the time is not now.

‘You told her you two were still married, didn’t you?’ Matty accuses Eve.

Her eyes widen. ‘I had to, because to get into ICU you must be close or family.’ She glances up at Matty, then at me and guilt flashes across her face. ‘My heart couldn’t let him be alone, so I left out one word and nobody asked questions. Anyone could have walked in here and done it, had they known Foster’s full name.’

Her heart couldn’t let me be alone. The beeping to my left speeds and Eve’s gaze moves to the monitor.

‘You alright?’ she asks, standing with worry.

‘Fine,’ I lie, rubbing my chest.Slow down, heart. She’s gonna know what you’re up to and that’ll make her run.

‘Wow,’ Matty says with a laugh. ‘If it’s that easy, you could have ended up with way worse than your ex-wife here. Gia could be sitting in that exact chair right now complaining about that soup. How she hates plastic cutlery. Bitchin’ about the AC blowing down on her and drying out her hair. And I don’t doubt sterile environments make her feel just as icky as hot days on the track do.’

Matty and I share a full-body shiver, only I groan through mine as it sends pain through my body.

‘Who’s Gia?’ Eve asks, suddenly interested.

‘Asks the girl who knows Google me better than I do,’ I tease, drinking the last of the lobster bisque that I don’t remember ordering. It’s alright – sort of bland, but I’m pretty sure I’m on the bland food diet right now. I’ve got apple juice, a now-empty soup bowl, and green Jell-O sitting in front of me. I wonder if Chelsea specifically requested the green because of my bike color? Not that she’s a fan, but by now I’m sure Eve’s convinced her to do a little digging – it was one of Eve’s favorite things to do, Google Foster – then quiz me on the information to see how much of it was true. I didn’t hate the game because it gave me a chance to clear some shit up.

Based on the shy smile creeping up on her face, I’d say she doesn’t want to admit the Google thing, or she’s not done it this time. But I know this woman – or at least I did – and I’d say she’s for sure googled me recently. And she knows exactly who Gia is.

When neither Matty nor I answer her question, she continues. ‘Did you really refuse to marry her?’

I chuckle, coughing as I’ve still got a tickle in my throat that’s driving me up a wall. ‘Yes. I refused to marry Gia.’

‘Why?’ she asks, seemingly perplexed. ‘She’s like – perfect.’

‘ShedidGoogle you,’ Matty says, midway through a third burger.

Eve looks at me, her interest clearly piqued.

I grab my juice cup, peeling off the metallic seal. ‘Gia wasn’t my girl.’

Matty is nodding his head repeatedly. ‘He found that out when he called her by the wrong name when she popped the question.’

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