Page 146 of Wingwoman
“Hey,” Nina said, her tone sharp, but still filled with love. “She’s done nothing wrong. And yes, she’s my friend too. Just like Josh is my friend. It doesn’t mean I don’t also love you.”
Jenn dropped her gaze, fidgeting with the gauze taped at her wrists before finally looking back up to me. “Sorry,” she muttered quickly.
I did my best to give her a friendly smile despite the uneasy turn of my stomach. “It’s okay. It’s nice to meet you,” I said and carefully took a seat in a chair by the window.
“I don’t always live here,” Jenn said with a quick gesture to the room.
“Are you from Austin?”
She shook her head. “My family moved here from California when I was in middle school. My brother and sister moved back to California after high school, but my parents are still here.”
What the hell happened to land Jenn in here… and from the looks of the scars on her arms, not for the first time either.
Suddenly, the lyrics from Josh’s first hit song, “Scars”, weaved through my mind. Had she started cutting back when they were together?
And hewroteabout it. In detail.
Made millions off of it with his first album.
My stomach twisted even more.
I thought back to the album I had only first heard a few weeks ago out of curiosity, trying hard to remember some of the song names and lyrics. I vaguely remembered his first hit ten years ago—Beam Patrol.
I’d initially thought beam as in light, but what if it was beam, as in smile? Smile Patrol.
The song was about a woman.Raven hair, emerald eyes.
I scanned Jenn’s dark brown hair and dull green eyes… eyes that had probably sparkled like emeralds at one point.
Check and check.
A smile like a shooting star—A rare and fleeting sight—It streaks across a velvet sky—dissolving in the void of night.
Sure sounded like it was about this girl sitting in front of me.
As Jenn bit into the brownie, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Had Josh used Jenn's struggles for his own gain, profiting off of her pain? I picked at the edge of my shirt, feeling the weight of the truth settle on my shoulders.
"Did you meet Nina through Josh?" Jenn's voice was soft, fragile, and croaked a little on Josh's name.
"Yeah." I nodded. "I did. How did you meet Josh?"
"In high school. We were friends all four years and started dating the summer after graduation. We were supposed to get married, but... but I fucked it all up."
I blinked, surprised at her answer. "Youfucked it all up?" I'd been so certain Josh had been the one who had ended things based on... well... I don't know. Assumptions, I guess.
Jenn's face remained impassive, but her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "I cheated on him when we were twenty. Just a few weeks before our wedding." With a single blink, the tears fell down her hollow cheeks.
Nina reached over and gave Jenn's hand a gentle squeeze. "It's ancient history. Josh forgave you, you know that."
"I ruined everything," Jenn said, her voice shaking. "I loved him. And I made a stupid, drunken mistake and ruined my life. He hates me now."
Nina caught my gaze, but continued to comfort Jenn. "No one hates you. Josh loves you... he's just notin lovewith you anymore."
"Because he loves her," she muttered, taking another bite of the brownie.
He doesn't love me, I wanted to say. But this wasn't about me. Pieces were falling into place, like I was finally getting a glimpse of the image a puzzle created. Josh was just a broken-hearted guy who wrote music after his fiancé cheated on him.
But it still didn’t explain the song he wrote aboutme.
