“You had a meeting with studio execs at an exclusive, private club where taking a photo risks getting kicked out as a member or losing your job for the staff. Yet someone just happened to be around at the exact moment Maddie tripped to snap a photo that made it look like something was going on between the two of you. Does that sum up what happened earlier this afternoon?”
I nodded with a wince. “Yes, but?—”
“It was a yes or no question, so you’ve already answered,” she snapped. “And I’m not done yet.”
Her fiery side only came out when she was really pissed about something, which didn’t bode well for me. But that didn’t stop me from appreciating how incredibly hot she was when she was all riled up. “I understand.”
“Then while the entire freaking world was speculating about the two of you, she stopped at her apartment after running errands. Instead of going back to your place, which was the point of the task she was being paid to complete.” She quirked a brow. “Even though I’m willing to bet not a single place she needed to go for you was anywhere near where she lives. Unless you’veswitched your dry-cleaning from the guy who’s done a great job for you for a decade?”
“I haven’t,” I confirmed, only now starting to wonder why Maddie hadn’t come straight to my house after running errands.
“Then while she was at her apartment, her car broke down, and instead of calling roadside assistance so she could have it towed to a shop to figure out what was wrong…she asked you to come over to help.” Tilting her head toward my SUV, she added, “The guy who owns five vehicles but doesn’t take a single one of them in to be serviced because he’s got people for stuff like that. Do I have that right?”
I couldn’t deny the truth. “Yes.”
“How did your dry-cleaning get into her apartment, conveniently giving you something to change into between those photos that did not show your clothes in or out of her place?”
“She brought it up when she realized her car wouldn’t start.” Which made sense until I said it out loud.
“Which was such a lucky coincidence when she accidentally spilled coffee on you,” she drawled in a sarcastic tone. “Otherwise, you would’ve gone back out with a stained shirt instead of a totally different one, which changed the story from you looking like a slob to potentially cheating on me.”
The more she pointed out, the worse this all sounded.
“And why was someone staking out Maddie’s apartment for possible photos?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t mean this in a bad way, but I’m not sure how else to put it. Paparazzi aren’t known to waste their time, and she’s a nobody in this town. Even with the earlier photo, it makes no sense.”
Fucking hell, the situation looked suspicious when she put it that way. “I don’t know.”
“There’s one possible explanation that seems obvious to me, especially when you consider all the other little things she’s done that you’ve let slide.” She dropped her arms to her sidesand planted her hands on her hips. “Maddie found a new and improved way to mess with our relationship. One that proved to be much more successful because I’m done.”
“Do you really think Maddie engineered all this?”
She didn’t answer, just looked at me with anguished eyes before quietly closing the door. That in and of itself was a response impossible to misconstrue. Serena truly thought Maddie was behind it all. That she’d been trying to break us up all along with each little thing I’d made excuses for.
And Serena meant it when she texted that she couldn’t keep doing this. The woman I loved had been pushed to the brink by my childhood friend, and I’d allowed it to happen.
I stood there alone on her doorstep, wondering what the fuck I was supposed to do now. Even if Maddie was innocent and I could prove it, I wasn’t sure that would be enough for Serena to change her mind. And after the way she’d laid everything out for me, I began to wonder if there was a chance she was right about Maddie.
It was more than possible that I had defended someone who’d been out to hurt the woman I loved for months. That I’d let Maddie’s “accidents” chip away at her while I kept insisting it was nothing. Even if they were perfectly innocent, that didn’t make it okay. Not while Serena was suffering.
I turned and walked back to my car, the weight of my blindness finally crashing down on me. I might have lost her.
And it was entirely my fault.
Now I had to figure out how to prove to Serena that I would spend the rest of my life making it right.
11
SERENA
It was a good thing I had packed before Hudson showed up because I needed every minute until I had to leave to pick up Avery to pull myself together. Our conversation probably needed to happen instead of just the text I sent—and I could’ve sworn I saw a glimmer of dawning realization in his dark eyes—but it’d been rough.
I was sad, frustrated, angry, and relieved all at once. Screaming into a pillow got some of the feelings out. So did crying. But underneath it all was a growing fury—at Maddie for chipping away at my life, at Hudson for letting her, and at myself for allowing it to go on this long. I couldn't go on like this anymore.
When I headed over to the high school with our overnight bags in the trunk, I still felt like the weight of the day was pressing down on my chest. Everything that happened swirled in my head, and I was hoping a spur-of-the-moment sisters’ night would help me come to terms with the fact my relationship with the man I loved was probably over.
Avery was waiting in front when I pulled up, her backpack slung over one shoulder. As soon as she saw my car, she hurriedover, climbing into the passenger seat and buckling up without a word.
I pulled away from the curb before either of us spoke.
