Page 154 of Wingwoman
“Um… yes. Who’s this?”
Whoever it was sounded drunk as a skunk.
“It’s Rick! You know, Rick Evans… Hope’s father.”
Rick was calling me? I knew Hope had given my number to him in case of emergency, but his calling could only mean—oh my god. “Is Hope okay?”
I was already on my feet.
For a man who was a recovering alcoholic, it sounded like he fell off the wagon and got trampled by the horses too. “Where are you, Rick? Why are you calling from Nina’s phone?”
“Give me that,” Nina’s voice snapped on the other end of the line. “Josh? This guy’s drunk at my bar and has no phone or wallet on him. And he’s claiming he knows you.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “That’s Hope’s dad. Tell Rick to sit tight. I’ll be right there.”
Forty-Three
HOPE
Maggie hadher feet propped in my lap as I carefully painted her pinky toe.
Her head was buried in her phone and we were both only half-watching the true crime documentary on Netflix.
“He’s calling again,” Maggie said, waving her cell phone in the air.
“Matt?”
“Yep. That makes three times in the last hour for anyone keeping track.”
“Stop wiggling! Unless you want Passion Pink on the bottoms of your feet too. And for the love of God, if his calling is bothering you that much, just block him already.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, but at least she stopped shifting while I tried to paint her toenails. “Does that meanyoublocked Josh?”
“That’d be pretty pointless since he’s never called, wouldn’t you say?” I finished the final layer of topcoat with a flick of my wrist. “But hey, next time Matt texts, do me a solid and tell him to answer my freaking messages. I’m going to go crazy if I don’t find a way to return this stupid money to Josh somehow.”
Maggie tossed her phone onto the coffee table with a sigh. “I don’t know why you’re so hellbent on returning that money. You did your part. You were hismuseor whatever.” She twisted her face with the word, mocking it. If I hadn’t been so raw, I would have laughed.
“I didn’t do my part though. The contract was for six weeks… and I left after four.”
Maggie scooped a handful of M&M’s and popped them into her mouth. Speaking with her mouth full, she said, “No, he kicked you out after four weeks. There’s a difference. And judging from that stupid song that plays on a damn constant loop on every radio station, he got what he needed from you.”
That was what hurt the most. He used me. While I was falling for his dopey lovesick eyes and every line he gave me, he knew it was all just an act. He knew we were sabotaged from the start. He knew it so much that he’d already started writing songs about our demise while I was busy falling in love.
I shoved my feet up into Maggie’s lap and handed her the nearly black nail polish I had chosen for the wedding. Might not be the most traditional color, but with how I was feeling, they were lucky I was still participating at all. “My turn.”
Before taking the nail polish, Maggie leaned forward. “I need another hit,” she said, her bloodshot eyes wired.
“You sure? You’ve had four tonight already.”
Seriously, she held my gaze and nodded. “Hit me.” Then as she opened her mouth, I took the can of Reddi-Wip and sprayed it directly into her mouth.
“Okay, gimme your feet,” she said, the words barely understandable through her whipped cream-filled mouth.
I laughed for the millionth time this week; despite my broken heart, Maggie could make me giggle. I never thought I’d find another best friend on par with Carrow and Maxie, but Maggie was the real deal. Matt was an idiot to lie to her.
“Hey,” I said, nudging her with my toe. “If you did decide to forgive Matt, that’d be okay, you know? We don’t both have to suffer fools.”
The truth was, what Matt did was dumb. Deceitful. Kind of slimy. But I could also see he kept that secret because he was so damn afraid Maggie would leave him if he told her. And before he knew it, he was in too deep. I could also see how deeply he cared for her… maybe even loved her.
