Her mouth shapes into an O. “Shit.”
“Yeah, shit. But thanks for blowing up my relationship! Really appreciate it. Listen, if you plan on giving me something for the holidays, just make a charitable donation instead, because I don’t think I can handle you ruining anything else in my life.”
When I’m back inside, I slide the lock closed and let out a relieved breath.
Fuck Amelia.
And while I’m at it, fuck Michael Oliver too.
I’ll be okay, I tell myself. Who needs him? He’ll just be off playing football all the time while I’m at home. Being on my own will be better.
I wipe an escaping tear. At least this way, I’ll get the heartache out of the way. Michael and I were never going to work out. In the long term, breaking up is the right thing to do. Because if I feel like death now, how much more would it hurt if we broke up in a year or two or five?
But my relief is short-lived because the next Braxton Hicks contraction takes me to my knees.
66
OLLY
We’re somewhere over Oklahoma when I start to calm down. Cam leans over. “You ready to talk about it yet?”
I’m exhausted from not sleeping last night, and my stomach is growling from skipping two meals. I’m a mess. And I have one of the biggest games of the season tomorrow.
My jaw tightens. “You heard about the endorsement deal going south?” His pained expression tells me he has. I debate whether I should tell him what went down today with Maggie. I don’t usually discuss my relationships, but I could use a friend right now. “Maggie might’ve had a role in it.”
He frowns. “No way.”
“She all but admitted it.”
“She said, ‘I personally designed the billboard?’ Or ‘I placed that photo?’”
“Well, no, but she said it’s in her portfolio, and she’s worked for advertising companies this last year as part of her work-study. I’ve seen a bunch of her work. Invitations and cards and crap. She’s really good.”
He makes a sound of disbelief. “Bro, I don’t know if you’re aware how work-study goes down, but my little sister has one and she has to cold-call donors for some benefit. She says she never gets to do anything interesting. Her duties are usually making coffee, getting lunch for her asshole boss, and if she’s lucky, she can proof a press release from time to time. My point being that work-study students never have any kind of big role as far as I’ve heard.”
Unease settles over me. Maggie complained about similar issues at her last gig. I close my eyes as I hear her words play back in my head that there was more to the story.
Only she never told me what it was.
Because you were a giant asshole and yelled at her. Even if she had played a role, you should’ve heard her out.
“She wanted to explain, but I was upset and in a rush to catch the team bus, and I might not have given her a chance to say what she needed to.”
Cam unwraps a sandwich. “Maggie’s in love with you, man. She’d probably give her right tit to science if you asked her to.”
“Don’t talk about her tits.”
He snickers. “I’m just saying that she’d never do anything to hurt you. And that woman is not someone I’d want to cross. The other soccer moms out there had better watch out, because she’ll go to town on anyone who messes with her kids.”
My throat is tight all of a sudden. “I was all fucked up when I got home. I couldn’t sleep last night because I was thinking about Vanessa being responsible for the blog that posted all that shit about me, and the new billboard going up, and how everything I want is almost within reach if I don’t screw up.” I scrub my face hard. “And then Amelia came at me about how I could forgive Maggie for the billboard when I couldn’t forgive her for the crap she did last year.”
Cam winces. “Please tell me you didn’t accuse Maggie based on what Amelia said. From day one, that chick has been out to sabotage your relationship. Why else would she be living in a shed behind your house? Not to mention how she’s always asking about you.”
That’s news to me. “You never told me that.”
“You never asked. I figured you knew Amelia was after your nut.”
“I don’t give a shit about Amelia.” Acid climbs up the back of my throat, but I swallow it down. “What if Maggie had a role in that billboard?”
