Page 75 of Second Chance Ex
Madison goes to object, but I don’t let her.
“ButI just want you to know that I love you so much, and I am so happy for you, and you and Ryan deserve all the happiness in the world. And I am so thankful that I can be here by your side today to help you start the next chapter of your life.”
Madison’s face slowly crumbles as she breaks down. I don’t doubt her tears are happy ones, but we’re literally ten minutes from go-time, so she really needs to get her shit together. I hastily reach over and pluck a tissue from the box on the dresser.
“Thanks.” She takes it from me, carefully dabbing at the tears that have spilled over. With a delicate sniffle, she manages an albeit tremulous smile. “I love you, Prue.”
I hug her tight, holding the embrace for a few moments longer than necessary because this almost feels like the end of an era. I know Madison and I will be best friends forever, but things are going to change whether we want them to or not; in less than an hour, she’s going to be Ryan’s wife, and a mom soon enough. I know my position of best friend is going to be relegated down a few rungs on the ladder of importance, and I fully expect it; selfishly, I need this moment, because we’ve been through so much, and it really does mean the world to me to be able to stand by her side today.
A gentle knock interrupts our moment and, after a brief pause, Heather enters the room, smiling at the both of us. “Hey, that wedding dictator just gave us the five-minute warning.”
“Coordinator,” I correct.
Heather snorts. “If you say so…”
I shake my head.
“We’ll be right out,” Madison laughs, confusing me as to why we don’t just follow Heather.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
Once the door closes again, Madison walks over to the table where her Marc Jacobs tote sits, and I follow her, watching on with curious regard. She pulls something out of the bag and hands it to me. An envelope with a familiar looking handwriting scrawled across the front. I eye her suspiciously.
“I know I promised I’d stay out of it,” she begins.
“Maddy…” I spear her with a look.
She holds her hands up in surrender. “In my defense he slipped it into my bag without me even noticing!” She arches a brow. “If this whole NFL thing doesn’t work out, maybe he has a future as one of those people who serve court documents.”
I stare down at the plain white envelope, my name written on the front of it. I cast my mind back to the last time I received a letter from Joey; way back in high school when he first broke my heart. My stomach knots at that thought. What if this is it? What if he’s writing to me to break my heart once and for all, to tell me that he’s finally moved on?
“Do you want to meet us out there?” Madison asks, gently touching my shoulder.
I jump, looking up and meeting her eyes. “Uh, yeah. I won’t be long.”
Madison leans in and hugs me once more, and then she turns and leaves the room.
Taking a seat on the sofa by the picture window, I carefully slide my nail under the envelope tab, but when I pull out the letter, I’m confused to see it isn’t a letter after all, and my brows knit together as I read the first line written in Joey’s terrible handwriting.
My confessions, truths, and secrets – Joey Tanner:
1. Maddy never told me where you lived, despite my best friend selling you the damn house. I had to bribe your dad with box seats in exchange for your address. Frankly, I was shocked he agreed. I was going to give him the tickets regardless.
2. The number of times I’ve driven from Sacramento to Rosewood in the middle of the night just to park outside your house for a few hours so I can be close to you is borderline stalker and I’m pretty sure it could be classified as a felony.
3. I still visit your parents at their house every chance I get. And I want you to know that I won’t ever stop doing this. Your mom and dad are the parents I never had, and no matter what happens betweenyou and me, please don’t ever take them away from me.
4. The first night I met you wasn’t the coincidence you think it was. I’d been playing beer pong downstairs when I noticed you walking around on your own looking adorably out of place wearing that knitted sweater with the big rainbow on the front. I followed you upstairs and watched you lock yourself in the bathroom. Then I went to my bedroom and set it up so it looked like I’d been in there all night, and I came back and busted into the bathroom. Actually, while I’m on the topic of bathrooms, I did the same thing at Ryan and Maddy’s house on the night of their engagement party. I watched you run off from the party with your ass hanging out of your dress, and I followed you because I’d been waiting two years to be close to you again and that felt like my one and only chance.
5. I’ve put the Sacramento house on the market and I bought a couple of acres on the outskirts of Rosewood, overlooking Ponderosa Lake. I’m going to build a house there so I can be closer to the people I love the most.
6. I stayed up all night at Tahoe and memorized the words to Cruel Summer so I could impress you on the drive home the next day.
7. I stole your Jonas Brothers t-shirt and I slept with it every night while I was at Ohio State. One morning, one of my teammates walked in uninvited and saw it, and after that the whole team grilled me for like two months; they nicknamed me the other brother.
8. I have every voice message you’ve ever left me saved on my phone, and sometimes when I miss you so much it feels like my heart is going to stop, I’ll listen to them and pretend like you’re right there next to me.
9. Adam Hopper and I have hung out a few times since Tahoe, and I have to admit that once you get past his obnoxious face, he’s actually a pretty decent guy. He offered to try and convince you to get back together with me, but I told him no. He also said that kissing you meant nothing, and it was like kissing his sister. And I will punch him again for saying that if you want me to.
