Finding Mr. Write (Business of Love #5) - Ali Parker Page 0,64

understood my predicament. She offered me a warm smile and took her jacket off the hook on the back of the door. “I’ll tell you what. How about I run out and pick us up something to eat? You don’t have to talk about it. We can just sit and eat good food and watch a movie together and you don’t have to be alone. Okay?”

I swallowed past a swell of emotion. “That sounds really nice. Thank you, Sonia.”

“You got it. Any preferences? Pizza? Indian? There’s a great place down the block that has the absolute best pakora and butter chicken. Or we could do sushi? Donairs? Chicken basket?”

“Indian sounds delicious,” I said. “I just don’t know how much of an appetite I’ll have.”

“What you don’t eat, I will. That’s a promise.” Sonia opened the door and stepped into the hall. “Get comfy. Put on those cozy jammies of yours. Have a bath or shower or something. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

I gave her a tight-lipped smile that I hoped expressed my gratitude before she hurried off down the hall and I closed the door. I turned to face the empty apartment and struggled to find the energy just to drag my feet to the sofa, which I fell face first into so I could scream in frustration into the decorative throw pillow.

I thrashed and beat my fists into the pillow. “You’re such an idiot!”

I wailed into the pillow until my throat was hoarse and the tears wouldn’t come anymore. After that, I took Sonia’s advice and changed into my favorite pajama set. I made myself comfortable back on the sofa under a thin fleece blanket and pulled out my phone, hoping against all rhyme and reason that Wes might have texted me saying not to worry, that we would work through this, and that he just needed time to process.

There was no such message.

Desperate to quiet the bullying voices in my head, I called Madison’s phone.

She didn’t answer, so I called Riley.

Riley’s always bubbly voice filled the line. “Hey, babe!” She burst into a fit of giggles and I heard Madison cackling in the background. I could easily picture them both together in our old apartment, most likely cracking open an evening drink and getting ready to go out for dinner or make something themselves. “How are you? We were literally just talking about you and how much we miss your face. Madison, it’s Briar.”

Madison bellowed hello in the background.

I sniffled and cursed my turbulent emotions for betraying me.

Riley went quiet. “Briar? Are you okay? What’s wrong, babe?”

“I messed up,” I croaked. Fresh tears flowed freely. A sob escaped me and the guilt I’d been struggling to keep at bay came rushing back in.

“Oh no,” Riley said. “What happened? What do you need? Fuck. I wish I was there to give you a hug. Where are you?”

“My apartment.”

“Are you alone?”

“For now. My roommate is coming back with food and she’s going to keep me company.”

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Riley said. Seconds later, Madison said hello in an empathetic voice. Riley cleared her throat. “I’m glad you’re not alone. What’s going on, Briar?”

How did I tell them what had happened between me and Wes without compromising his identity?

“It’s hard to explain,” I said. “But bear with me.”

I told them all about how I’d met someone who chose to live outside the public eye but who would be decently famous should they decide to reveal their identity to the public. I explained how things had started between us, and how they heated up, and how genuine feelings started to form.

And I told them how I’d blown it all to hell by confiding in the wrong person.

“This Callie chick sounds like a bad egg,” Madison said.

“She’s not.” I sighed. “I never clarified how important it was not to say anything about this guy. She didn’t do anything wrong. I did.”

Riley made a thoughtful sound in the back of her throat. “Does this happen to have anything to do with this writer friend of yours you told me about? What’s his name? Wes?”

My stomach churned.

Could I seriously not keep my mouth shut?

“No,” I said. “This is someone else.”

Riley bought it. “Well, personally, I think it’s a little unrealistic to ask someone else to keep a secret for you.”

“Agreed,” Madison said. “If this guy really didn’t want it getting out there, he shouldn’t have told you in the first place. It’s not an easy thing to carry around something like that