Page 72 of Next in Line
“Like what exactly?” I ask, pushing my sleeves up so I can brace myself for what’s to come.
“For making you lie to my brother. For turning our friendship into a fuck buddy situation—”
“Fuck buddies?” I interrupt, my chest tightening at that crass label. “Is that what you think we are?”
She winces. “I thought so? I don’t know. What would you call us?”
“Not that,” I reply, turning my head to look away from her as my jaw ticks with frustration. What do I think we are? Definitely not just fuck buddies, that’s for damn sure.
“What is it then, Sam? What did you want to talk about?”
I look back at her, inspecting her face just as I did the first time we sat here. She’s changed since that day. She still has the same light eyes and dark hair, but her face holds something more to it now than it did when I met her—perhaps an inner strength that she was sorely missing.
I exhale heavily. “I want to come clean to Miles about us.”
Maggie’s eyes fly wide. “Are you nuts? He’s going to murder you!”
I shake my head from side to side. “I don’t care. I can’t do this to him anymore.”
She expels a deep breath, her cheeks puffing out. Clearly, she did not expect this from me today. She shifts forward in her seat and chews her lip thoughtfully. “I mean, I realize that we’ve taken this as far as it can go, but that doesn’t mean Miles needs to know about everything.”
I swallow a knot in my throat at her response. “He needs to know.”
She blinks rapidly. “But if we tell him about us, then he’ll think I cheated on Sterling.”
“You didn’t cheat because you aren’t with Sterling, and your brother deserves to know that as well.”
Her face pales. “So you’re saying you want to tell him like…everything?”
“Yes.”
“Why, Sam? Why the sudden need to be forthcoming about stuff that is none of his business?”
“Because he’s my best friend and your brother, Maggie. He cares about both of us, and this fantasy world you’re living in where you think he’ll hate Sterling for dumping you is just that…a fantasy.” I splay my hands out on the table, my heart thudding hard in my chest. “Your fairy tale can’t happen like this anyway. It’s tainted now.”
“You don’t know that,” Maggie sputters, her eyes wide and defiant as her face flushes with anger. “And besides, I’m not taking relationship advice from you. You’re a thirty-one-year-old who’s never been in love, let alone had a monogamous relationship. Just because your heart isn’t open to love doesn’t mean you have to ruin my chance at it.”
Her words punch me right in the gut because I don’t know for sure that my heart isn’t open to love. There’s a lot I don’t know about myself anymore because this spark plug of a woman barreled into my life and electrified everything I thought I knew. But right now, the most important thing on my mind is a clear conscience.
“My decision to talk to your brother is final.” I sit back in the booth and cross my arms over my chest.
Her lips twitch, anger bubbling up through her whole body all the way down to her clenched fists on the table. “So this is great. Now my entire family will know that I’m a desperate,basicloser who went to the most ridiculous extremes to win back a guy who doesn’t love me. Thanks for all your help, Sam!”
She moves to stand, and I reach out to grab her wrist, halting her in her tracks. She spins around, hitting me hard with her blue eyes full of pain and embarrassment. But above all…betrayal. She feels betrayed by me, and hell, maybe I deserve it.
“I’m sorry, Maggie,” I croak because it’s the only thing I can think of to say.
She huffs out a laugh, biting the inside of her cheek as she nods over and over. “It’s fine, Sam. It’s fine. Tell Miles everything, see if I care.” Inhaling deeply, she leans down to add, “But do you know what the worst part of all this is?”
I look up at her silently, waiting on bated breath for her to tell me.
“That a sick, delusional part of me thought you were bringing me out here today to tell me you had feelings for me.”
In a huff, she yanks her wrist out of my hand and storms out of Marv’s, leaving me completely tangled up like fishline in a tree.
Wishin’ I’d Gone Fishin’
When I was a kid, I was famous for epic tantrums. I remember everyone in my family always feeling so much bigger than me and smarter than me and stronger than me that if I didn’t roll around on the floor and make a gigantic scene, they wouldn’t even notice me.
