Page 79 of Moonstruck at Midnight
A car’s headlights illuminated the way into the driveway—a black BMW M6 Convertible. It was Joel. And. He. Wasn’t. Alone.
“HONEY! I’M HOME!”William shouted as he got out of the car, grabbing a few grocery bags from the backseat.You’ve got to be kidding me. I wanted to seem annoyed but couldn’t help myself from laughing at his greeting.
I stood up and drank what was left of my fourth glass of wine. “I’ll be right back, okay? I’m a mess,” I said to Lily, tying my hair into a pulled-back pony.
I escaped to the bathroom before William and Joel got to us. I blew my nose and washed my face with water. I felt dizzy.
I took a deep breath, stared at my reflection in the mirror one last time, and finally came out of the bathroom. William and Joel sat with Lily outside with beers in their hands.
“Guille.” William stood up and kissed me once on each cheek. Lily laughed, which mademelaugh. I was having trouble pretending to be annoyed by him. It was the wine’s fault.
“What? That’s how she likes saying hi to people,” he said. I sat down and raised my glass to Lily. She poured more wine into it—a mistake.
“Hey, Joel.” I glanced back at William and took a sip of my wine. “I recall telling you that you weren’t invited.” I joked. “Yet here you are.” He couldn’t seem any less disturbed by my remark.
“Huh. I’ve never been uninvited to my own home. I’ll say that’s … a first, don’t you think?” He winked. I hated his winks.
Did I?
I think I hated what they stirred up inside me. I didn’t need anything else to be stirred. And now, I was stuck in Sagaponack with this—stirrer.
My phone startled me when it buzzed on the other side of the table. Joel passed it to William and William to me. It was Thomas, but I sent the call to voicemail.
I stared at the cell phone’s screen, thinking if I should’ve answered the call or not. I quickly shook my head, trying to disconnect from my thoughts. “Um, sorry about that.” I placed my phone back on the table.
Lily and Joel had just walked into the house and plated snacks in the kitchen from what I could see. “Your eyes look a little irritated,” William said, lifting an eyebrow—inquiring.
“I know it’s—been a long day with the shoot,” I stuttered. I wasn’t planning on letting him know I’ve been crying.
“You’re drunk, aren’t you?” He laughed.
“What? Psh. No!” I was. A little. But it was none of his business.
I should’ve grabbed my phone and called up Caleb to tell him I had changed my mind about spending the night. That would’ve been the smart thing. Apparently, wine makes me dumb. Very, very dumb.
“Stick your tongue out.” He ordered playfully.
“No!”
“Oh, come on.” He insisted. “I won’t bite.”
I wanted to be angry and sad about breaking up with Thomas, and William was ruining it for me. He was making me laugh, which was a much better idea.
I stuck my tongue out, and he chuckled under his breath. “Oh, yeah, you’re drunk. Your tongue is purple.”
I mentioned how the wine was delicious, and it was one of the best wines I’ve ever tried, which was true. But I tried to create a diversion from exposing myself to the real reason I was overdrinking. “I can tell you liked it. You girls are drinking my best wine.”
His best wine?My face shrank into thought. I was about to ask if those bottles belonged to him, but my phone buzzed again—send to voicemail.
“If you need to pick it up, go ahead,” he said, analyzing me. I shook my head. I wouldn’t risk answering only to have William’s voice overheard in the background. Besides, there was nothing to talk about at the moment. Things needed to cool off.
It rang once again, and I tossed the phone to the side without looking. William burst out laughing. “What?” I asked obtusely.
“Your phone’s drowning,” he said calmly, sipping on his beer.
“What!” I ran to the pool and saw my Blackberry lying at the bottom of the water. William sauntered my way, and we both watched how the screen glitched until it went black. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no!”
“You might still be able to save it. But you need to get it out of the water. The faster, the better.” He lifted the right corner of his lip into a smirk. I was wearing a white tank top and had nothing else to wear afterward, so diving in the water to retrieve it myself wasnotan option.
