Page 64 of The Wingman

“Please, for me,” she begs in that whiny voice that truly is giving me a headache. Awesome.

I roll on my bed, and even though I washed the sheets, I can still smell Rider’s scent. As I listen to Lindsay beg, I shut my eyes. For the life of me, I can’t understand why she’s so desperate for me to go. She’s quite capable of functioning in a crowd without me. I have no doubt everyone will fall in love with her and welcome her into their tightly knit group.

“Can I let you know tomorrow?” I say.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll pick you up at eight,” she announces, taking my answer as a yes. “Wear that cute blue dress we got from Westers.”

“Now you’re dressing me?”

“I want you to look your best.”

“Why?” My God, who is this woman and what has she done with my best friend?

“I don’t know. I’m just nervous, okay?”

Honestly, I’ve never seen her like this before. Things must be pretty serious between her and Kane. I groan and toss on my bed. If my best friend needs me, I can’t let her down. We’re there for each other, and when I lost Brett, and was ridiculed by Jason, she was left to put the pieces back together. How can I not be at her side when she asks so little from me?

“See you at eight,” I say, and I can almost picture her throwing her hands up in victory. “Now I’m going to go and get a good night’s sleep.”

“Thanks, babe,” she says and I swipe my finger across the screen to end the call. I check one more time to see if there is anything from Rider, and my stomach falls when there’s nothing. I toy with my phone, and almost send off ‘karaoke’, but toss my phone before I go through with it.

I toss and turn and the next thing I know, morning is upon me. I pull myself out of bed, and glance down at Peaches, who is sauntering into my room. I laugh. “Well, Peaches, it looks like it’s just you and me girl. I’m going to become that crazy cat lady far before my time.”

Peaches meows, rubs up against me and jumps into bed, curling up where the man I’m in love with had recently been.

“Yeah, I know. He grows on you.”

I head downstairs, make myself a huge pot of coffee and spend the better part of the day doing chores. In my quiet house, which seems deafening without Rider’s presence, I make myself something to eat, and sit at the table to eat, despite the fact that I’ve not had an appetite in days. By the time I look at the clock, it’s nearing six, and my stomach lurches. Lindsay and Kane will be here in less than two hours and I’m not so sure I’m ready to come face to face with Rider. Or worse, have him try to set me up with his buddy. I want to bail, wish I could bail, but I can’t do that to Lindsay.

I force myself into the shower, and tonight, instead of tying my hair back, the way Rider likes, I use the flat iron and smooth it out. I also put on makeup, more than I normally would, and tug on the dress Lindsay suggested. I take a glance at myself in the mirror and smile. I clean up pretty good, and look nothing like the girl Rider first met.

Wait.

Oh God, am I dressing up and caking on the makeup because…because I want to look more like the girls he’s normally attracted to? Crap. I rush to the bathroom, and wash my face clean, until my cheeks are red and rubbed raw.

Girl, you are in so much trouble.

The doorbell rings and my dinner rises in my throat. “Okay, Jules. You can do this for Lindsay.” I stare at myself in the mirror, swipe lipstick across my lips and saunter downstairs, even though my knees are rubbery.

I pull open the door and plaster on a smile. Lindsay frowns at me. Goddammit, I hate how well she can read me.

“What?” I ask and glance down at the dress I’m wearing. Anything to avoid eye contact. “I’m wearing what you suggested.”

“Have you been crying?” she asks, and worries her bottom lip.

“No, of course not. I just got soap in my eye when I showered.”

“Okay, good. You have nothing to be sad about. I want you to know that.”

“Uh, okay,” I say, having no idea what she’s talking about.

“Okay, good. Come on. Tonight is going to be a huge surprise for you.”

“You mean for Kane.”

“Yeah, exactly. That’s exactly what I mean. I’m just all weirdly nervous tonight.”

“It’s just a surprise birthday party,” I say with a shrug, my voice low so Kane doesn’t here. She goes still and looks at me for a moment. She might know me, but I know her too.

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