Page 61 of Right Number

“That’s what he said,” I muttered. I sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed clutching my mug of coffee with both hands.

“Wait, do you think that didn’t really happen?” Sarah asked, her shock evident.

I sighed. “I don’t know what to think about anything anymore. You’ll see why as the story progresses.” I felt hot tears starting to form behind my eyes. I was still a little angry, but mostly, I was just really, really hurt by everything that’d happened with…him. I thought things with him were going to be different.

Bree stared at me for a moment, like she was trying to put the pieces together, before she continued. “So, you go to the Spring Art Show in your hot pink dress looking all kinds of super sexy and, for the first time, you see the painting Liam did…of you.” I nodded. “So, what was happening there? It doesn’t take a detective to figure out Sarah and I walked in on something going on between the two of you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, trying to collect myself before answering. Thanks to the coffee, my hangover headache had gone from “throbbing jackhammer” to “low roar,” but my thoughts still felt cloudy. After a deep breath, I opened my eyes. “Liam told me the painting was intended to be a grand romantic gesture. He started working on it the day after he and I went to the beach to get the pictures for my portfolio.”

Sarah let out a dreamy sigh. “Oh, wow! That’s so romantic!”

“It is.” I looked down into my almost-empty mug of coffee and kept my eyes locked on the remaining brown liquid as I spoke. “He told me the painting was the way he saw me. Liam had intended for us to still be together at the Spring Art Show and for it to be a big reveal.”

A silence hung in the room for several minutes before Bree finally broke it. “No wonder you were crying last night about ‘making a mistake’ after Liam brought you home. Which, by the way, how did you end up hammered off your ass with Liam bringing you home?”

I could feel my cheeks flush as I looked up from my coffee cup. That was a part of the night I really wasn’t proud of. “I spoke to Ma…Boy, on the phone and it went horribly. Long story short, I had way too much to drink after that and then…well, then Oliver popped up and tried to get me to go home with him.” I looked back down at my cup as I felt the embarrassment on my face.

“Are you serious?” Sarah shrieked loudly. I instinctively pressed my fingers into my temple at the sudden change in volume. “He’s such a disgusting creep!”

“He is,” I agreed. OK, time for the great admission. I braced myself knowing Bree and Sarah were not going to like what was coming next, but best to just get it out and over with. “I’m embarrassed to admit I actually considered it.”

Sarah gasped. “Anna! No!”

“I…I figured I’d already screwed things up with Liam and Mason. What was one more bad decision to add to the growing list?” I weakly shrugged my shoulders.

“Honey,” Bree said as she reached out and patted me on the leg. “That’s like next-level-bad decision making. The kind you don’t recover from.”

I sighed. “I know that now, but my head was a mess last night. Luckily, Liam showed up out of nowhere. I’d like to think, at some point, I would’ve come to my senses and told Oliver to eat shit, but I was drunk, heartbroken, lonely, and confused.”

“So, did Liam tell Oliver to back off?” Bree asked.

I nodded. “He did.” I paused and bit my lower lip. “Then he gave me a piggyback ride home.”

Sarah let out another one of those dreamy-sounding sights. “Double wow!”

Bree just rolled her eyes at Sarah. “So, what happened with this phone call?”

I could feel my heart tighten in my chest. “I…I called Mas…I mean, Boy and he…he was out at a bar with another girl.” My voice started to crack as I spoke.

“No!” Sarah quickly sat up. “How did you find out?”

“He went outside to talk when I called, and I could hear her talking to him in the background.” All the hurt from the previous night came flooding back. I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to make the ache in my heart stop.

“Oh, shit,” Bree said quietly.

“Yeah. I hung up on him. That’s when I kind of lost it and started pounding down glasses of champagne like it was my job.” I quickly drank the rest of my coffee.

“Did you talk to him again?” Bree asked.

I shook my head. “No. He tried to call back, but I sent it to voicemail.”

Sarah crossed her legs and rested her arms on her thighs. “Did he leave a message?”

I shrugged. “I think there might be a bunch of messages from him that I haven’t listened to.”

“Why?”

I looked over a Bree. Such a simple question, but such a complex answer. I sighed. “Part of me doesn’t want to hear his voice… I can’t get the sound of it, mixed with the girl he was with at the bar, out of my head. Besides, what’s he going to say that could possibly fix this? The damage is done. The night is gone. I knew this was a bad idea from the beginning…to try to make our relationship something it wasn’t intended to be.”

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