“I need you to pass on a message to Hayden.”
Harper is quiet for a second. “As in my brother-in-law Hayden?”
I pick at a frayed thread on the sofa. “Yes, your brother-in-law.”
“What message could you possibly have for Hayden?”
“I…arrhh…have his watch.”
Another second of silence. “You have his watch?”
“Yes. It looks expensive. I need to get it back to him. Can you call him and tell him I have it? I’ll be home all day if he wants to drop by to pick it up.”
“Wait…wait…wait… I’m confused. Although it might be baby brain. Why do you have his watch? When did you see himtohave his watch?”
I could lie and tell her I found it as we passed each other on the street. Or think of any other way I could have it, yet I can’t lie to my best friend. “He…arrhh…dropped it in my apartment last night.”
“Why was he in your apartment?” She gasps. “Oh my God. You’re the woman Hayden was with last night! He was going to have sex with you?”
Here I am trying to keep what happened private and Hayden has told them. “We weren’t… We were just…”
Harper scoffs. “Oh, please. His shirt buttons were all over the place. You’re seeing Hayden, and I’m just finding out about this now? I thought we were best friends. We tell each other everything.” I hear her sniffle.
“Are you crying?”
“No… Just a little. I swear my hormones are all over the place. I’m crying over coffee commercials!”
I giggle. “The one with the dog running home is sweet.”
“I know, right? I break down every time I see it— Hey! I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to change the subject.”
Damn it. She’s onto me. Then something hits me. Harper mentioned something about his shirt. Did she see him after he left my apartment? “Did you or Finn call Hayden last night?”
“Yes. If I’d known what he was up to, maybe I would have waited a little longer to make the call. It wasn’t urgent. I even said so on the phone.”
I rub my temple. “So, nothing serious happened?”
“His daughter had a bad dream and wanted her dad. I told him he didn’t have to rush over, because after the dream had worn off, she was happy and helping me with Avery.”
The breath knocks out of my lungs. “When he left me in my bedroom to answer the phone, he ran out of my apartment without saying a word to me. I thought it was urgent. He was just using the phone call as an excuse to leave.”
“Tell me you’re joking.” Harper’s tone turns serious.
“I wish I was.”
“I’m going to kill him. How could he do that to you?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” I say through a tight jaw.
“It’s not nothing. I’m coming over. I’ll bring ice-cream.”
I shake my head. “No. You have too much going on with Avery. I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
“Give me time to feed Avery—I hear whimpering—and I’ll be right there.”
“Harper, it’s not necessary—”
She interrupts me. “I’ll leave Avery with Finn and be there soon.” With that, she ends the call.
