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“Why?”
“Well, it started off as sort of a joke, because he was being a dick and then it just stuck.”
Paige was shaking her head at him when the waitress appeared with their dinners—Gang Gai with shrimp for Paige and Pad Kee Mao with chicken for David.
Just as they began eating their meals, David’s phone whooshed with an incoming text. When he glanced down and saw that it was from his mom he immediately opened it because she was watching Jacob and his first thought was that something was wrong. However, when he saw her message his ‘concern’ turned to amusement.
“Is everything all right?” Paige asked, having seen his initial reaction.
He typed out a quick response and then set his phone down. “Yeah. It’s just my mom, wanting to know if we’re talking about your book.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He picked up his fork and took another bite of his chicken. “She’s been wanting us to get together and talk about it and the fact that it keeps not happening has really pissed her off.”
Paige’s expression turned a little nostalgic. “I’ve really missed your mom.”
“She’s missed you, too.”
“So …” Paige picked up her glass and took a sip of wine. “I guess we should talk about my book, then? You know, to make your mom happy?”
David gave her a slightly embarrassed look. “I actually haven’t read it yet. I read the prologue, but I stopped after that.”
“Did you think it was that bad?” she half-teased, trying to camouflage the fact that his answer was important to her.
“Jesus, no. That’s not why I stopped. You originally wanted us to get together and talk about it and if Ashley hadn’t gotten in the way, we would have. So, I stopped, thinking we could still do that.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m absolutely going to read your book all the way through, but I want your version first, the way you’d have told me. We can’t get back any of the other things Ashley took from us, but we can get a re-do on this. You can tell me your story and I can hear it. We both deserve that.”
He looked so sincere, it made her catch her breath.
“Okay,” she agreed quietly.
“Let me know when you’re available. I know your schedule can be hectic—mine is too—but I can be available most days after six. So, let’s do this, all right? And the sooner the better. We’ve already lost two years.”
Chapter 44
On the drive home, Paige replayed the conversation she’d had with David and all the revelations he’d dropped on her. When she got home, she quickly fed Sputnik and then FaceTimed Jules.
“How did it go?” Jules immediately wanted to know.
“I’m going to start off by sharing some good news. He and Ashley are no longer together.”
“What?”
“He left her.”
“Holy shit. Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, I’d say that actually qualifies as great news.”
Paige nodded and smiled. “I’m not going to lie—I wanted to shit rainbows after he told me. It shouldn’t make me happy that he left her, but it does, which makes me a terrible person.”
“No, it doesn’t. It makes you an honest person and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
