Page 44 of Mr. Wrong Number

“Hey.”

I glanced up from my laptop as Olivia stepped out onto the balcony, squinting into the sun and wearing a weird little print dress that looked like a series of bandannas tied together. The red, white, and blue print made her dark hair shine and her skin glow. I had the luxury of wearing sunglasses, so it was a rare moment where I could size her up without getting caught.

“Hey yourself. How was the brunch date?”

I’d laughed my ass off when I’d read her last text. It was so on-brand for Olivia that it was almost cliché. And, for the record, it was the last text we would ever share because Iwasghosting her now. I didn’t know why the hell I’d interrupted her date that morning, other than the fact that turnabout was fair play and she’d interrupted mine the night before, but we were phone buddies no more—startingnow.

“It was good.” The sun brought out a few golden streaks in her hair as she stared at the city. “I ate too much.”

She was lying. Well, intentionally leaving out details at the very least. “And the guy?”

She shrugged and crossed her arms. “Nice but not really my type.”

I set the computer down on the table next to my patio chair. “Whatisyour type?”

That made her grin a tiny little grin and shake her head. “Nope. Not sharing. If anyone were capable of ruining my Prince Charming dreams, it’d be Colin Beck.”

“Oh, come on, Liv.” Why in the hell did I want to hear it in her words so badly? “I promise not to comment.”

“Fine.” She let loose with an eye roll and said, “Tall, handsome, and not a sexist pig; how about that?”

She took a step to go inside, but then she jerked to a stop and her mouth fell wide open as she stared off into the distance.I followed her gaze, or tried to, but there was an entire city in front of her so it was impossible to pinpoint.

“Oh, my God!” She squealed, and I swear she had tears in her eyes as she smiled the biggest, happiest smile and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Oh, my God—it’s just so beautiful.”

“What?”

“See that billboard?” She held out her phone and started taking pictures, but the only billboard I could see was for theTimesand had a cartoon on it.

“Where?”

“Over there.” She pointed toward that billboard, but then her face changed. She blinked and said, “Um, it’s a new promo for theTimes. Cool, huh?”

“I guess...?” I looked over at it and it just looked like an ad. “I mean, what am I missing here?”

Her mouth turned up into a proud smile and she said, “It’s our new parenting columnist. She’s totally anonymous, but hercolumns are funny and sarcastic, not the usual boring parental stuff. The first one runs tomorrow and I can’t wait to read it.”

“Holy shit.” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms, looking back and forth between her and the billboard.Of course.“It’s you, isn’t it?”

“What?” Her eyes got really wide and she was quiet for a second before she said, “No. Of course it’s not—I don’t have kids. I’m just excited—”

“Admit it, Livvie. You have theworstpoker face.” She’d always been a terrible liar, and clearly nothing had changed. “You’re the 402 Mom, aren’t you?”

She gnawed on the corner of her bottom lip, obviously trying to decide whether or not to come clean.

“Spill it, Marshall.”

“Fine.” Her face went from nervous indecision to that wide smile of excitement. “It’s me! But you cannot tell a soul.”

She plopped down on the patio chair next to me and made a little squealing noise while wringing her hands. “My boss assumed since I used to write content for a parent-ish gossip site that I had kids. I didn’t correct her in the interview, but then my sample column was apparently good enough and I got the job.”

Sounded like a recipe for disaster to me. “No shit?”

“No shit.” She beamed and said, “I’m serious, though—mum is the big old word. Like, no one can know.”

“I get it.” I cleared my throat. “But are you sure you want to go this route? People always find out the truth. I’m sure if you confess now—”

“I can’t do that—are you kidding me?” She looked at melike I was out of my mind. “It’s too late. They will one hundred percent can my ass if anyone finds out.”

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