Page 63 of My Ex-Best Men
“Do you have Sal’s number? I haven’t seen him since the end of the wedding, either.”
“Yeah, I have it. I’ll call him.” Will pulled out his phone and after a few seconds he frowned. “He’s not answering, either.”
“Call him again.”
Another few seconds passed and then I heard Sal pick up. Will put him on speaker phone and we both leaned in. “Sal? It’s Will. Where are you? Is Claire with you?”
The older man, who I’d liked before those next few moments, let out his own version of a growl. “Yep. And that’s all I’m going to say to you. Now we’re trying to listen to a podcast about women murdering men and your calls keep interrupting it. Take a hint.”
I pressed my palms into my eyes and groaned. “Jesus.”
Will shoved his phone back into his pocket and tugged at his hair. “We know that she’s with Sal. That’s something. Let’s go over to his trailer so I can start begging her to forgive me for being a fucking idiot.”
I hesitated and replayed the short call with Sal. “Were those car noises?”
Will swore. “I think so. The trailer is probably a pointless place to look. He could be driving her anywhere. Let’s go over to the house and see if she grabbed her stuff. If she packed, that narrows the distance they could’ve gotten by now.”
“We’ll go as soon as Zane finishes. If she’s having second thoughts about us, we’ll just have him sing a love song or something.” Still, the sinking feeling in my stomach made me feel like a love song wouldn’t be enough.
55
***Zane***
Isaw Madeline trying to slip away after I finished up my song for Jake and Sophia and I made a beeline for her. Shifting away from the reaching hands of the other wedding guests, I followed her back into the hotel and caught her arm just before she slipped into the bathroom.
She swung around and frowned when she saw it was me. “Zane? What is it?”
“Claire is missing. Can you think of any reason she’d be missing, Madeline?” I was doing everything I could to not snarl at the woman. I had nothing more than a hunch that she was somehow involved with Claire being gone but it was a strong hunch.
To her credit, Madeline kept her face perfectly blank in the face of my obvious ire. That was the giveaway, though. She’d never once looked at Claire or talked about Claire without a slight scowl on her face. “What are you talking about? Claire’s missing?”
“Don’t bullshit me, Madeline. You’ve had your sights on Claire since the day she got here. She was more than happy when she left our bed this morning so what happened?”
“I haven’t seen Jordan lately, either, you know. Maybe she decided three men was just one too short. Have you checked behind all the dumpsters and in all the dirty alleys on the island?” Her lips lifted in a mean smirk. “I don’t know where she went and I don’t care. Now leave me alone.”
I growled at her. “It’s big of you to insult Claire while following Will around like a sad little pet. Everyone sees your pathetic games and everyone sees Will look right past you, Madeline. Say what you want about her but that woman is loved by the man you’re desperate for.”
Her face flared red and her hands fisted at her side. “Fuck you. You should’ve seen the look on her face when I told her about your little bet with Will and Anthony over who would fuck her first. I can’t lie; it was everything to see her realize that she’s just a whore to the three of you.”
I slammed my fist into the wall next to her. “What the fuck did you do?”
She didn’t even flinch. “I gave her some information and then let her see what Will and I share. He may want to fuck her but he cares about me. Deeply. Lust fades. Friendship like mine and Will’s lasts. Itwilllast. Whatever Claire did with that information, I don’t know.”
“You’re fucking nuts. Fully fuckingSingle White Femalenuts.” I scowled at her and backed away, needing to find Claire more than ever. “If you’ve seen the way Will looks at Claire and still think there’s a chance for you, you need help. You’ll never have him and after this? You won’t even have his friendship. You fucked yourself, Madeline.”
I turned and ran back to the ballroom, searching for Will and Anthony. There was no telling what exactly Madeline had toldClaire but the mention of the stupid bet was boggling my mind. How did Madeline even know about it?
The moment I saw Will coming towards me with Anthony, I knew. Hitting him was a gut-deep reaction. Of course, the second my fist connected with his rock hard face, pain radiated up my arm and I swore, swinging away and shaking it out.
Will stumbled back several steps and then froze, his reaction telling. “Did I deserve that?”
I paused and looked back at him. “What do you think?”
He rubbed his jaw and sighed. “I have a feeling I did. That’s your one free hit, though, asshole. Touch me again and I’ll make sure you never play guitar again.”
Ignoring his threat, I stared him down. “Tell me something, Will. How does Madeline know about that stupid bet we made?”
Anthony’s body seemed to turn into stone. He froze solid. “What?”
