Page 76 of Puck with Karma
This is new. I haven’t heard from him at all since I left for Minnesota. We ended our relationship on a good note.
“Oh, is he begging you to take him back?” Hannah teases. “Does he even know you’re not together anymore?”
“What?” Riley squeaks. “You’re cheating on Wesley with Xander?”
“No!” I press a hand to my chest. “I can’t believe you’d even think I am that kind of a person, Rye!”
She has the decency to look ashamed by her assumption.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into me today. I can tell I’m bitchy, and I don’t know why.”
“Well, dial it down, sister,” Hannah chimes in. “That’s my job, and you’re stealing it from me.”
Riley rolls her eyes again, but at least this time she’s smiling.
“What does Wesley want?”
I turn my phone over to look at the message.
“He is asking if I can go home this weekend. He says it’s important.”
“Hmmm, isn’t that what your mother said as well?” Hannah taps a finger to her lips.
“I saw him in town with a girl,” Riley whispers, like she’s telling us a secret. “I wonder if it’s got anything to do with this.
“Were they kissing?” Hannah asks.
“Uh, no…”
“Holding hands?” she fires another question.
“No…”
Hannah is like a dog with a bone now.
“Making googly eyes at each other?”
“Googly eyes,” I laugh, and she starts laughing, too.
“I didn’t know what else to call it.”
“Nobody was doing anything inappropriate,” Riley interrupts us to answer.
“So they were just walking down the street?” Hannah sounds incredulous.
“Well, yes…”
“That’s the lamest piece of news you could’ve reported, Rye,” she informs our friend. “Doesn’t even make any sense.”
They go back and forth on the subject, with Riley’s much gentler voice trying to explain what she meant.
Meanwhile, I stare at my phone, wondering what the deal is with Wesley. In the end, curiosity wins.
Me: why do I need to come home
I am shocked when he responds right away, like he’s been watching his phone, waiting for me to text him back.
Wesley: it is for a business deal I am working on. And we can also announce our split
