Chapter 28
Garrett
My phone rings and I look down to see an incoming call.
Decline.
“Who was that?” Irene asks.
“Jake.”
“Serves him right. He’s been doing the same thing to me since Saturday Bons.”
I took Irene and Lori on a picnic lunch, hoping to get time in with my niece before moving to wherever the wind takes me. I worry about her growing up without a father, though I have to admit, Irene makes an excellent mother.
I also have some things I need to discuss, and as much as I’d rather not discuss these matters with my sister, she is a lawyer.
“I need your help,” I say.
“What have you gotten yourself into? Ya need me to cosign on an apartment?”
“No, it’s with Ali.”
It’s hard saying her name because it’s accompanied by so many emotions. It’s become obvious that a casual fling was never in the cards for me. Not with Ali. I can’t believe I was so stupid that I didn’t see just how strongly I felt for her.
How I didn’t realize that I loved her.
“You in touch with her?”
“No, but but remember that reporter woman at my shop, Hillary Basion?
“From Chatter Entertainment? The one that interviewed that douche Brett and his waffle-cunt wife?”
“That’s a colorful one, but yeah.”
“Wait—are you thinking of talking to her? That ain’t right.”
“I wasn’t, but after that interview with Brett and Rose, I just feel so bad. Like it’s my fault. I just want to put it out there that Ali’s innocent.”
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing—they don’t care about innocence. They want whatever will give them the most readers.”
“I get it, but I’ve got to try.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You know that, right?”
“If I had just been more firm with Eva, this all wouldn’t have happened.”
“First, Eva was a force to be reckoned with. If you would have resisted, she woulda just caused a bigger scene. Second, Ali’s earned some responsibility. She was making a damn fool of herself because she couldn’t just go over and pull Eva off of you herself. Third, you had nothing to do with Brett lying.”
“I can’t believe he would go on air and lie like he did.”
“He was always a mother fucker. When Ali wouldn’t kiss him, he dumped her. When she made it big, he came crawling to me—”
I furrow my brow. “Wait, what?”
“Yeah, we were seeing each other for a hot minute. God, he’s such a weirdo.”
“How so?”
