Page 125 of I Heart Mason Cartwright
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Zach says during a commercial break. “But I feel like she left me too. I mean, I know I didn’t just propose, or fuck her brains out this morning, or anything like that. Because gross. But she chose Daddy. Again. And I really thought she was getting past that. Especially once you guys were together. I mean, that was a hella tough fucking hurdle for her to get over. Between her insecurities about AshLynn and what her parents would think. But she did it. She chose you.”
“Right, but she hadn’t told them we’re together. So, I think that made it easier for her.”
“Good point.” He nods sagely.
“But I agree about the insecurities with AshLynn stuff.”
“What did you ever see in her?” Zach asks.
“In AshLynn?” I think about it for a second. “I didn’t see anything in AshLynn.” I scoff. “I was just giving her a ride from Leavenworth to Seattle. She blackmailed me into faking the engagement when she caught me watching Willow through her window one night.”
Zach laughs. “You’re a Peeping Tom.”
“No, man, I was playing fetch with P-Tink, and Willow was in her room putting lotion on after a shower. I just happened to walk by. The curtains were sheer. It wasn’t my fault. I think that’s when I fell in love with her. Right then.”
“So fucking sweet,” Zach says. “But, seriously, it was all fake? All that energy and effort was pretend?”
“One hundred percent pretend. AshLynn and I were never really engaged. I’d just met her the night before we came here. Never even kissed. Couldn’t stand her.”
“Are you kidding me right now? Did I just hear that right? I come back after facing absolute hell with my family, mostly over stealing my sister’s fiancé, and the two of you are talking about how the whole thing was faked?” I hear Willow’s voice. It gets louder as she continues talking until she ends in a scream at the wordfaked.
I turn. “Baby. Willow. Oh my god, you’re home. Thank god. I was so worried.” I stand and move to go to her. But when I do things get a bit woozy. Or maybe it’s me that’s a bit woozy. And I fall over the ottoman. Zach laughs. So I do too. Because when you’re drunk and you fall and the person you are drunk with laughs at you, you laugh with them.
Which is why I don’t get it at first. When Willow leans over me and says something and I have to say, “Wait a minute, baby. I’m sorry. I need to stop laughing before I can hear you.” Which makes Zach laugh more. And well, you already know what happens when Zach laughs.
“GET OUT!” Willow screams. Which shuts us both up.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Oh, I think you’re in trouble, my man,” Zach says.
“I mean both of you,” Willow says. Her face fierce. God, she looks beautiful when she’s mad. Maybe I should tell her that.
“You’re so beautiful when you’re mad.”
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly, then points to the door.
Zach stands and stumbles. Not quite like I did, but enough to look dumb. It takes everything I have in me not to laugh. I might have scoffed a bit though.
He looks at me. “You can’t drive.”
“You can’t drive,” I say back.
Zach looks at Willow and shrugs. “We can’t drive. Therefore, we can’t leave.”
“Call an Uber,” she says. “Call a cab. Walk. Crawl. I don’t fucking care. Just get the fuck out.”
Did Willow just say fuck? She never cusses. Ever.
She’s still pointing at the door. Eyes closed, face hard.
So, I go. In sweats, a T-shirt, and no shoes. I go.
Zach, dressed similarly, follows.
“She cussed,” Zach says after Willow slams the front door and locks it.
“I know,” I say. “I think she’s really mad.”
