Page 92 of The Other Room

“How are you not checking it? OMG! Turn that thing on and let’s see what he has to say for himself.”

I didn’t want to look. I knew he’d have messaged by now and I dreaded reading whatever words he’d strung together to apologize. Or make excuses. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to know. It would hurt too much.

“I think I’m going to throw my phone in the lake and change my number.”

“Give me the phone. I’ll look.”

Even though I didn’t want to see it, part of me was dying to know if he’d reached out. Or maybe he was still curled up in Nikki’s arms and he hadn’t even thought about me since.

That image almost made me toss up the half of a bottle of wine I’d downed last night.

“Fine. But don’t tell me what it says.”

“Deal.”

I grabbed my purse from the nightstand and fished out my phone. After turning it on, I unlocked it and saw the message from Matt waiting.

My heart hammered at the sight of his name, and I passed it to Jenna with a shaky hand.

While she read the message, her lips pressed into a thin line, and worry lines creased her forehead.

“What? Is it bad?”

“It says—”

“Stop! Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

Ignoring me, she went on. “It says, ‘I am not with Nikki. I swear to God, Jo. It was a total misunderstanding and you’ll know that once you learn the truth. I love you. Only you. Always have and always will.’”

She looked up, and I swallowed the golf ball-sized lump forming in my throat.

“Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand what you saw?”

Her arms around his neck. His arms around her waist. Her lips against his neck.

The same visual crashed back into my mind, and I shook my head. “No. I definitely saw what I saw. Aaron even confirmed it when I started to question it.”

“Well he sounds pretty sincere.”

A year ago I would have believed anything Matt told me. A year ago he was a stand-up guy. The person I trusted most in this world. And then he’d gone and done what he did and blew my trust in him out of the water. Now I didn’t even recognize him anymore.

The phone rang, and she screamed and turned it toward me. Matt’s name flashed across the screen, and I flew backward and slammed against the wall. “Turn it off! Turn it off!”

Fumbling with the buttons, Jenna hit ignore and squealed until it finally powered down.

“Oh my God! He called!” She tossed the phone back at me. “He must have been trying you all morning! That phone was on for like a minute!”

My heart raced so fast I thought it might jump out of my chest. I looked down at the dark screen and wondered if he was leaving a message.

I love you. Only you. Always have, always will.

The words Jenna had read bounced around in my head. But then they collided with the image of Nikki in his arms, along with Aaron’s disgust with his friend, and I swallowed down my doubt.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not talking to him again. Matt’s not who I thought he was, and the sooner I get him out of my life the better.”

“Well, whatever you need, you know I’m here for you. You can stay as long as you’d like, and whenever you’re ready for me to start kicking some ass, just say the word.”

Exhaling a stilling breath, I nodded. “Deal.”