Page 16 of Right Number, Wrong Man
“Where are you going?” Hailey asks.
In a perfect world, I’d stay and promise to love her forever, but I can’t… because I’m not him.
I held the love of my life, yet only for a moment. She ain’t mine to keep.
When I don’t answer, the sparkle in her eyes dulls. She feels used and I feel like an asshole. I should’ve thought about what this would do to her, but I was selfish.
I hate myself for it.
Steps thundering, I rush out the door and down the stairs with her taste on my lips and her blood on my cock.
She doesn’t know it, but I leave a part of myself withher. Losing her carves a hole where my heart should be, shaped like her lips, her eyes, her smile. I feel like an open gash, raw and sore and bloody. A wound that’ll never heal.
When I walk out into the dark garden, my soul shatters.
Without her, I’ll always be half a man.
I remember her note in my pocket and a wry smile splits my face. This doesn’t have to end badly for her.
I can make it right.
Mike is blackout drunk and high. If I sneak her note back into his pocket and make up a story about what happened, he’ll believe me.
I’ll claim that I saw him and Hailey going into the guest house and he’ll assume they had sex. It wouldn’t be the first time he was too fucked up to remember whole nights and the girls he spent them with. Then I’ll make him apologize to Hailey for leaving her after the act.
If he refuses, I’ll threaten to tell everybody about his prank. No matter what it takes, I’ll make him do the right thing this once—cause I can’t do it myself.
I choke back a sob.
She can still have a happy ever after. Not with me, but with the man she really loves, and that’s good enough for me.
7
HAILEY
PRESENT DAY
A bouquetof wine-red dahlias answers my video call.
“What do you think?” Andrea’s melodious voice comes through my phone speakers. “Too gloomy for the dinner centerpiece? The florist said it would add abold pop of color.”
I smile and lean back on the sofa as I take a sip of extra hot, extra sweet and milky coffee from my devil Hey Kitty mug. Good thing I didn’t cancel our weekly Friday morning call. After last night’s texting accident with that rude stranger I wasn’t in a chatty mood, but my bestie’s voice is making me feel so much better.
I purse my lips. “Maybe a little too goth for a boho wedding? I thought you wanted softer colors.”
Andrea’s freckled face pops onto the screen. “You’re right.” Grinning, she points the flowers at the wall behind me. “Wow, you finally framed the posters! Let me see!”
“I put them up last weekend,” I explain, swiveling my phone around the living room.
She squeals. “They look amazing, Hails! You got the whole gang. Wraithface, Chucky, Halloween,Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th… and a bunch of movies I don’t know. But they still look awesome!”
“Thanks! Now that Mike can’t tell me how tacky he thinks they are, it seemed like a great time to hang them up.”
Andrea huffs. “Fuck him and fuck his stupid opinions!”
Mentally I add,And fuck the guy who got my pussy vids and made a big deal out of it!
I don’t know if itwasa man, but his response gave toxic male vibes, so I’m going with it. I’ll never hear from him again anyway.
