Page 70 of Second Chance Ex
“So, how are you?” Madison asks, tilting her head to the side.
“How much do you know?” I eye her uncertainly. I know she knows something because she asked me to dinner to talk about it.
“All I know is that you told him you don’t want him in your life anymore.” She looks at me pointedly, and I know what she’s thinking. It’s utter bullshit. Of course I want Joey in my life.
On a heavy exhale I look down at my hands, but before I can offer any more, we’re interrupted by the server bringing my glass of wine, and a plate of bruschetta to the table.
“Thank you.” Madison smiles up at the man and when he walks away, she looks back at me, softening a little. “Talk to me, P.”
I take a sip of my wine, considering my words. There is so much my best friend doesn’t know, but how can I tell her the whole truth now that she’s revealed she’s pregnant; this is an exciting and joyous time for her, and the last thing I want to do is overshadow her news with the tragic secrets of my past.
“You know how you told me at Tahoe that I should let you know if it all becomes too much?”
Madison nods slowly.
I smile through the sting of tears. “It’s too much, Mads.”
She doesn’t say anything, just reaches over and grabs my hand, holding it.
I swipe at the tear gathering in the corner of my eye, not wanting to bethatwoman, crying over wine in a goddamn restaurant. “I thought I could do it, I thought we could just… co-exist.” I shake my head. “But I can’t. There’s just—there’s too much that’s happened. I’ll still be there with you on the day, but the lead up to it… I can’t do it, Maddy. It physically hurts my heart to be around him.”
“Oh my god, P,” Madison whispers, and tears brim in her own eyes. She quickly jumps up and comes around to my side of the table, leaning in and wrapping her arms around. “I’m so sorry.”
I swallow my emotions, sniffling and wiping my tears with my napkin as Madison returns to her seat. “No. I really don’t want you to be sorry. This is nothing to do with you, I?—”
“I have a confession to make.”
I snap my mouth shut at Madison’s unexpected announcement.
She shifts a little uncomfortably in her chair andtakes a look around before settling her gaze on me again. “Ryan and I, we—oh God, this is going to soundsobad,” she groans, looking down at the tabletop, massaging her temples.
My heart feels like it’s dropped to the very pit of my stomach, but I wait for her to work through what it is she needs to tell me.
With a deep breath, she continues, “We’ve kind of been… helping Joey… try and… win you back.” Every second word is spoken reluctantly, almost as if in italics, like she knows she shouldn’t say them, but has to get them out one way or another.
And, of course, the server chooses this time to return to our table. “Would you like to order your mains, ladies?”
Madison offers him a sweet smile. “Can we please have a few more minutes?”
“Of course.” The man nods curtly, turning and walking off to another table of customers.
Madison takes a drink from her sparkling water, and all I can do is blink at her, because what the fuck did she just say?
“I’m sorry, it isn’t as conspiratorial as it sounds,” she’s quick to say as if she can read my mind. “We weren’t doing anythingshady, it was just… Joey’s been asking about you ever since… well, ever since you guys broke up. He’s constantly been asking for updates on your life likeis she happy,is she okay,is she seeing anyone,does she need anything,” she says this in a deep voice I assume is an impression of Joey but sounds more like Mr. Movie Trailer. “I knew about the whole bullshit fake relationship thing with Jessie. I knew about him still visiting your parents. I mean, I even helped him geteveryone out of Tahoe, just so you had no other option than to go home with him.”
My brows knit together.I’m not sure if I should be pissed right now, but I’m actually pretty damn impressed; Madison can’t keep a secret to save herself. I guess this explains why she’s been so flippant with me the last few weeks every time I’ve approached the topic of Joey.
“I’m sorry I went behind your back, P,” Madison says. “But Joey isn’t complete without you. And the two of you are perfect together. I just want you to be happy and loved the way you deserve to be and, dammit Prue, Joey’s your lobster.”
The tears still burn my eyes, but I swallow hard, lifting my chin a little higher, trying desperately to keep myself from crumbling.
“Sure, Joey made a mistake, a huge freaking mistake, and I remember just how bad you were hurting after what he did to you,” Madison continues, “but there is so much more to you guys, and I hate that you can’t see?—”
“I haven’t been completely honest with you, either,” I interrupt Madison’s rambling because I know what she’s going to say and frankly, I can’t bear to hear it. Not now. Maybe if she finally knows the truth—therealtruth—she might understand.
“Are we ready to order, ladies?” The server reappears, smiling down at us both, clearly not picking up on the tension hanging heavily over our table.
Madison shoots him a death-like glower that fully contradicts her tight smile and gritted teeth. “Five more minutes!”
