“What do you want me to do with this?”
“See what she had to say.”
Blythe entered Ricki’s backup passcode and opened the message.
Missy:It was great seeing you last night. I’ve missed you. Have fun this weekend. ♥
Blythe was relieved to see the last text message was sent the day after Ricki had visited Twilights, and Ricki hadn’t responded. At least via text. Paranoia gripped her. Had Ricki called Missy?
No,Ricki claimed it was the last time she’d talked to Missy, and Blythe had to believe her. Ricki had never lied to her before.
“What’d she say?” Ricki asked.
Blythe read the message, putting extra venom in her voice when she ended with the heart emoji.
“Pretty benign, huh?”
“There’s nothing benign when it comes to Missy. She knows what she’s doing.”
“Yep, telling me to have fun this weekend. The bitch.”
“Come on, Ricki. You’re talking to me. The entire thing was purposeful. She’s subtle and conniving. She’ll reel you in without you even knowing it.”
They drove in silence for a few miles until Blythe couldn’t stand it any longer. “Please can you tell me why? I don’tunderstand. There’re plenty of available women, so why would you go near someone like her?”
Ricki let out a humorless laugh. “Ha. Right. I’ve got a million women knocking down my door to date me.” Ricki turned and glared at Blythe before her gaze returned to the road. “I’m not like you, picking up another woman every six months.”
“That’s because you won’t put yourself out there. If you’d let me drop a couple of videos with you in them, you’d have women crawling all over you.”
“I don’t want women crawling all over me. I want to findthewoman.”
Blythe stared at Ricki in horror. “And you think Missy is theone.”
Ricki shrugged. “No. I guess not. But it’s been two years, and nobody else has—I mean, I haven’t dated anyone since.”
“That’s because you spend all your time working—at a job you hate. If you’d just let me make a few videos of you, I’m telling you, your life would change.”
“Maybe I’ll attract an upstanding woman like Dapper did.”
“I’d vet them.”
Ricki snorted.
“Or how about a dating app?”
Ricki shook her head. “Can we just drop this conversation? Chalk Missy up as a moment of weakness?”
“But why now?”
Ricki bit her bottom lip and didn’t speak for some time. “Maybe because I’ve finally healed from the damage she did.”
“Well, that almost makes sense. So let her rip open all the scars and create new wounds?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.” Ricki let out a small chuckle.
At hearing Ricki’s attempt at joking, the tightness in Blythe’s chest loosened. Whenever they argued, it was always humor that got them through.
“You’re not completely unfortunate-looking, so I’m sure someone would want you,” Blythe teased.
