Page 22 of Wicked Games We Play

I let the fact that he was calling me ma’am go and flipped over my phone again to see if Oliver had messaged back.

He hadn’t.

Staring out the window into the parking lot, I could just barely make out the colors painted across the sky as the sun had almost reached its final descent on the horizon. The glass on the window was tinted, muting the oranges and pinks that I knew were just about faded. I sighed, disappointed that my date was now almost thirty minutes late.

He wasn’t coming. I didn’t have to receive a message back to know that. It was upsetting, but unfortunately, not surprising.

My server, Parker, approached with my water, tea kettle, and two teacups. He nearly spilled the entire tray while trying to place the drinks and drink ware in front of me. I resisted the urge to giggle as I watched him. When he had completed his task, I told him “thank you” before I picked up the kettle and poured myself some tea. He walked away, before again realizing his mistake, and turning back around to me again.

“Are you ready to order? Or would you like to wait until the rest of your party arrives?”

“I’ll go ahead and order,” I told him. “I’m not so sure they’re going to make it after all.” Sayingthemwas intentional. I wasnotwanting to reveal to a kid who didn’t look old enough to be out of high school yet that I’d been stood up on a date. Ghosted, as they call it.

“Okay cool… er, perfect. What can I get you?”

“I’d love a bowl of wonton soup, and one of the dinner plates. Beef and broccoli with lo mein, please.” He took notes diligently as I told him my order, nodding along as I spoke. The sight brought a grin to my face. The kid was trying.

“The dinner plate comes with your choice of vegetable spring roll or crab rangoon.”

“Surprise me,” I told him, my indecision completely throwing off his confidence. His eyes widened as he stared at me in complete confusion, unsure of how to continue writing my order. I laughed and repeated myself. “Truly, just surprise me. I like both.”

He eyed me skeptically before writing something down on the notepad and scurried away. I laughed again, looking over at the man, who I suspected was the manager, watching nearby.

“He’s doing a good job,” I whisper yelled, not wanting to disturb the other patrons but also wanting to let his boss know he was trying hard at his new job.

The man approached my table with a smile on his face. “Kid’s nervous as hell, but once he gains a little confidence, he’ll do a fine job. He has a heart of gold, that one. I’m an old friend of his family’s. Known Parker since he was a tike. We appreciate your kindness, ma’am.”

“The least I can do is be kind.”

“It’s more than some can say. Had a table last night that wasn’t as understanding and practically rendered the kid to tears.”

My jaw fell. People could be such jerks. “That’s awful.”

The man nodded once as he touched my shoulder lightly and walked away. Once alone, I reached for my phone again and checked my messages.

There was nothing, but this time when I clicked the message I noticed something that I hadn’t before.

Oliver had read and ignored my message.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Did I feel guilty about sabotaging Lily’s date?

Not one fucking bit.

Did I feel guilty about using my career and my coworker as a method to sabotage Lily’s date?

Again, not a fucking bit.

When I had called Aaron from the road and asked him to get over to Prosperity ASAP, he didn’t even ask questions before he was en route. Only when he pulled into the parking lot, did he call back to ask me what he needed to do. For a pretty little fuck-boy, he sure was a loyal son-of-a-bitch.

Hacking into Lily’s SparksFly account hadn’t been my finest moment, but she made it so easy for me to do… well, she would never find out, anyway. We would, however, be having a conversation about creating more secure internet passwords than your child’s name and birth date.

After accessing her messages withOliver, finding the time and location of their date had been easy. They had hardly spoken after arranging the details, so the information I needed was front and center.

My initial plan had been to create a diversion—have Aaron tell Oliver that the restaurant had to emergency close for the night because of health code violations and send him on his way. Oliver wouldn’t even question it if it was told to him by a cop who was literally standing out front of the restaurant, but after seeing a picture of Oliver, I knew he would be a non-issue to get rid of for good. He wasn’t the type of guy who would give us,me, any pushback. If he was told to stay away from Lily, he would. He was a little pussy bitch like that. I just knew.

So Aaron’s task was simple: stand outside of Prosperity, keep an eye out for the guy in the picture that I had texted over to him, and tell him that unfortunately he wouldn’t be having his date with Lily tonight, or any other night. His instructions to lose her number were clear, and Aaron said that the guy practically pissed himself when he told him so.

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