I wasn't sure, but when I heard the rest of his greeting followed by the beep, I took a deep breath and just started talking. "Um, yeah. Listen, it's me. But I guess you knew that already, huh? Anyway, earlier you asked for an apology, and I didn't give you one. At the time, I didn't think I needed to, but I've been sitting here thinking about howIwould've felt if you'd just disappeared, and well…Iwould've been angry, too – and pretty worried, to be honest."
I let out a nervous laugh. "It's probably a good thing you're not the worrying type, huh?" Laughter or not, I felt tears prick at my eyes. "But sinceIam, I should've been more considerate. Anyway, I'm sorry for disappearing like that. And…" I gave a hard swallow. "I just wanted to let you know for what it's worth."
Probably nothing.
Still, I felt better for having left the message. More than once, he'd told me that he didn't like games.Ididn't like games either. But Ididlike him.
Probably, Imorethan liked him.
And if that wasn't a scary thought, I didn't know what was.
For the next couple of hours, I waited on pins and needles, praying that Bryce would call me back. But he never did.
On the upside – which wasn't an upside at all – concern for my sister provided a not-so-nice distraction from my worries about Bryce.
By now, Lexie should have been back. And the fact that she wasn't, well that was yet another reason to worry.
Finally I saw Lexie's car pulling into the driveway. I bolted upright and met her at the door to ask, "So, how'd it go?"
She froze like a kid caught eating Santa's cookies, and I watched with growing horror as a slow blush crept up her cheeks.
I gave a little gasp. "Oh, my God."
Lexie looked around. "What?"
I was staring now. "You had sex with him."
Turns out, I was right. Sure, it was like pulling teeth to get her to admit it, but once she did, I realized something truly awful.
This, too, was all my fault.
On the phone, I'd given her only the highlights. I hadn't offered specific examples of what he'd been saying – that Lexie had questionable hygiene and a potential drinking problem.
But I told hernow, relaying in detail everything Mitchell had said.
Finally, this did the trick. Even Gwen, who'd wandered in to join the discussion, seemed to realize what a monster the guy truly was.
Abruptly, Lexie said, "I've gotta go."
I asked, "To where?"
Her mouth tightened as she glanced in the general direction of Cole Henster's house. "Youknowwhere."
I hated the idea of her going alone. "I'm coming with you."
But once again, Lexie insisted on going by herself, leaving me to wonder and worry as she confronted her old boss about what he'd done.
She returned maybe fifteen minutes later looking just as angry as I felt. Apparently, Cole Henster was still denying it, and now Lexie was paying the price.
Not only had he trashed her job prospects, he'd obviously broken her heart – exactly as I'd feared all along.
As far my own situation, Bryce still hadn't called and obviously wasn't going to – which meant that my own heart was just a little broken, too.
Or maybe a lot.
Chapter 46
Harper
