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“We’ve been looking for you.”
“Talking to my cousin.” I know she can see the tears in my eyes and the sadness on my face and I’m grateful that she takes it to mean it’s about this situation.
“He’s going to be fine, Whitney.” She wraps a hand around me. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”
The call drops and I realize Whitney must have had unexpected company to make her end the call with me so abruptly. A part of me is pissed she was forced to do that but I know she’s overwhelmed at the moment. I can feel her anxiety even across the country, so I just send her a text.
Me: Take a deep breath. I love you. Call me when you can.
I move back into the living room to see Trey on my couch with some of the leftovers I took with me from Kevin and Michelle’s the other night. “How is she?”
“I think she’s about to have a nervous breakdown.” I sit next to him on the couch and rest my elbows on my thighs allowing my head to fall into my hands. “Have you met him?”
“You mean Parker? Once I think? Early on in their relationship. He came to Kev and Michelle’s. But that was the beginning of the end for Chloe and me, so things were rocky and whenever I was around, there was always some shit going on between us so I didn’t really get to know him well.”
It’s driving me crazy that I don’t know more about this guy. How did he treat her? What does he call her, what does she call him? “I’m going to tell Kevin and Michelle.”
The shock is written all over him. “When?”
“Today? I don’t know. Maybe I should tell them before I’m supposed to be set up with their friend.” I rub a hand down my face. I hadn’t anticipated telling them this soon. I know Whitney wanted to break things off with Parker first but the plans have changed with him being in the hospital and who knows when it would be appropriate to tell him. I mean could she really tell him while he’s in the hospital? While he’s injured? Who knows what the recovery period is and how long she’ll be forced to hold up this ruse? “This is a fucking mess.”
Trey scratches his jaw and gives me a look that leads me to believe that he’s about to say something to piss me off. “I think I recall warning you to stay away.”Yep, pissed off.
“And I told you I would if I saw Whitney was happy. She was not. She wants to be with me, Trey.”
“At the cost of a lot of people’s feelings, it seems.”
Irritation spikes and I fight the urge to tell my brother to leave. “Okay and what about hers? And mine? She should just marry this joker out of what? Obligation? Fuck that.”
“No, considering what the two of you were doing last night, she definitely shouldn’t marry him.” He takes a bite of pasta salad and continues through a mouthful of food. “So, you’re going to tell them now? Can I watch?” he jokes and I glare at him.
“Get out if you’re going to be a dick.” I point at the door before letting my head fall back into my hands. I pull at my hair before running a hand through it.
He raises his hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m a dick that helped keep your story straight this morning when Michelle called Chloe looking foryourwoman who couldn’t be bothered to answer the phone for eight hours.”
I called Kevin shortly after my conversation with Trey to see if I could come over under the illusion of wanting to hangout before we went out later but Michelle went to a spa with her sister and Kevin was catching up on some work. So now it’s quarter to seven and I’m just getting to their house before we go out with Georgina.
I’ve only talked to Whitney once since earlier and it was through text and I was getting more anxious with each passing second that I haven’t heard from her. I hated that she was there and I was here. She is with another man while I am about to go out with another woman. Not that either of us had any interest in anyone else but the perception we had to maintain irritated the shit out of me. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
“You’re so early!” Michelle exclaims as she opens the door while sliding an earring through her ear. Michelle was notoriously late so it’s no surprise that while she’s dressed, her hair is still in a towel and only half of her makeup is done.
“We’ve been over this; fifteen minutes early is hardlysoearly, Miche.” I close the door behind me as Kevin jogs down the stairs as Michelle runs back up giving her middle finger to me on the way. Kevin and I are dressed similarly, both of us in dark jeans and a button-down shirt though I’m wearing a black leather jacket over mine. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I curse mine and Whitney’s terrible timing when I see her name flash across the screen.
“One sec, Kev,” I tell him as I step outside and close the door behind me. “Talk to me baby, you okay?”
“Yes.” She lets out a shaky breath. “I’m still at the hospital.”
“Everything still okay?”
“Yes. Parker is sleeping now so I’m just in the waiting area.”
“Have you eaten anything?”
“I had some terrible hospital food and some coffee that was only slightly better than that. What I need is a drink and a bed… and you.”
My heart aches in my chest thinking about her out there by herself. Uncomfortable. Hungry. Lonely. “Do you want me to order something to the hospital for you?”
“You’re so sweet but I can do that.”
