He shrugs and takes a bite of his hoagie. “So what if she did? It was probably before y’all got together, right?”
“I’m not sure. Amelia made it sound like she had a role in all of them.”
Shaking his sandwich at me, he says, “There you go again with Amelia. Forget Amelia, bro. The word ‘toxic’ was invented for her. Let me put it this way, whatever happened, however Maggie was involved, it was not malicious. You have to hear her out.”
I nod slowly, his words making so much sense. I’ve been in a freefall since I heard about the new billboard yesterday, but Cam’s advice is finally making me settle down.
As my head starts to clear, my heart plummets.
Amelia leveled me by knowing that Maggie used to work for Evergreen Advertising, which happens to be the company Gerald sold the photo to. And then she said Maggie was joking about getting revenge and how it’s a dish best served cold.
I don’t know why, but at that particular moment, it felt like she’d detonated a bomb in my life.
But now that I’ve calmed my ass down, I think Cam’s right. Maggie would never do something malicious like that. Plus, Maggie started working for a new company second semester.
“I think I screwed up. No, ‘screwed up’ denotes something small, like I misplaced my cleats. I think I’ve just fucked up the best thing in my life. Like, so royally, it’ll be a wonder if Maggie ever talks to me again.”
“That bad?”
“She and I used to argue constantly. It wasn’t until my sister’s wedding that we hashed things out and became friends again. I’m worried that I just nuked our entire relationship, and now we’re back to our old war zone.”
He tilts his head one way and then the other. “Only if she knows Amelia is the reason you accused her of backstabbing you.”
I groan and lean forward to rest my head in my hands.
After a minute, he pats my back. “Yeah, you mighta fucked up.”
The second we land in Chicago, I call Maggie, but it goes to voicemail.
I check the time. It’s late. She’s probably asleep, so I leave a message. Cam has gone to the bathroom, so I have a little privacy while we taxi.
“Magnolia… darlin’… I know I said some shitty things, and I want to apologize. I was an utter ass. You didn’t deserve my tirade. I want to hear what you have to say about everything. I’m sorry I left without giving you a chance. I was afraid I was gonna miss the team bus to the airport. That’s no excuse for picking a fight with you and taking off, though. I hope you’ll forgive me for the way I spoke to you and for the dumb shit I said.”
Someone knocks into me from behind, and I turn to find Billy. “Let’s grab some pizza when we get to the hotel.”
I scowl and hunch back toward the corner by the window. “Love you, baby. Please text me to let me know you’re all right.”
“I luuuuurve you, Magnolia!” Billy howls from behind me.
The guys in the rows around me laugh, and I hold up my middle finger. “Shut up, assholes.”
By the time we get to the hotel, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. Maggie’s been feeling much better since she went on modified bed rest, but regardless, she’s not supposed to get stressed out, and I made her cry.
I made my pregnant girlfriend fucking cry. What kind of monster am I?
God, I hate myself right now. Of all the people in my life to melt down on, why did it have to be her? Why couldn’t I have freaked out on one of the guys? They would’ve sat my ass down to chill out. Either that or punched me in the face, and honestly, I probably needed a good beatdown.
I keep checking my phone to see if she’s texted me. There are voice messages and texts from a million people, which is typical before a big game, but I only want to talk to Maggie.
She usually knocks out around nine. She’s probably asleep.
Except no amount of rationalizing makes the dread in my chest subside. Once we get to the hotel, I call the only person I can think of who would drive over to Maggie’s house right now to check on her.
Sebastian answers in two rings. His voice is thick with sleep. “This better be good, Olly. It’s late, asshole.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Bash, but I need a favor. I got in a huge argument with your sister today before I left for the Northwestern game.” If ever I deserved a right hook from my best friend, it’s tonight. “I’m worried about her. I called several times. Left a message. It’s late, and she’s probably asleep, but I’m still afraid. I upset her, and now I can’t get a hold of her. I’m going out of my mind. She’s had a tough pregnancy. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. It’s like I had an out-of-body experience. She’s never gonna fucking forgive me for the shit I said.”
“Chill, dude. I talked to her. We made plans to meet for lunch tomorrow. It’s all good.”
