Page 108 of Last Night Was Fun

Axe Murderer had texted her. A fresh wave of tears slammed into her at the sight of his name. Her better sense told her not to read it, not to inflict any more pain on her shattered heart, but curiosity got the best of her. Because what could he possibly have to say?

We need to talk.

Emmy realized with a swift kick of certainty she had nothing to say to Gabe. Not anymore. The absolute indignity of telling him she was in love with him burned with a flame too hot to touch. There was no way she could face him, not even through her screen. The mortification was a hundred times that of finding out his true identity that day in the park. She had to sever the tie before it strangled her.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she deleted their thread and blocked his number. She gasped like she’d been punched at such a significant move, but it had to be done. She dropped her phone into her bag and got in her car.

Later, Emmy was on the couch under a pile of blankets with cramps again and watching aDrag Racemarathon like she really was having asick day when her phone lit up with a notification that someone was buzzing at her door. She squinted at the screen through eyes still puffy from crying and saw a familiar wave of dark hair. Gabe leaned into the camera, chewing his lip and looking fraught.

She sat up on alert, surprised he’d come all the way to her apartment. No way was she going to let him in; she needed to maintain the barrier she’d constructed by blocking his number. He’d emailed her a few hours ago but she’d deleted it without reading. Now he was calling at her gate, and the idea of granting him entry felt traitorous to her own heart.

But he had come all this way. And he looked like hell.

Her single heartstring that remained intact vibrated like it had been plucked. In a moment of weakness, she tapped her phone screen to answer his call. She remained silent on the receiving end.

Gabe all but dove on the camera. “Emmy? Hello? Are you there?”

Again, she remained silent.

He leaned in close like he might see her through the box. “Okay, I hope you can hear me. Sorry to show up, but you’re not answering my calls or texts, so I assume you blocked my number. We need to talk. About this morning—”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

He jerked at the sudden sound of her voice. “Emmy, please—”

“Your actions have spoken loudly enough. All I have to say to you now is congrats, I guess. Good job on besting me in the cruelest way possible. I mean really, it was genius. It might have all started out as a mistake with the phone numbers, but once you knew it was me, you saw an opportunity, and you took it. You really are as ruthless as everyone says. Winning is all that matters to you, I can see that now. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.” Her words faded out bitterly. The embarrassed rage surged inside her again, and she regretted answering his call at all.

A long pause passed, filled only with the sound of her heart beating hard. Gabe blinked at the camera with a furrowed brow.

“Is that really what you think?” he eventually said.

She shrugged and then remembered he couldn’t see her. “The shoe fits, Olson.”

He looked down at the ground and put his hands on his hips. A sharp pain lanced Emmy’s heart, but the addition to the ache already there hardly registered. He eventually nodded with a sigh. “Okay, Jameson,” he said in a defeated tone and then turned away.

A gush of tears wetted Emmy’s eyes. She fought to tamp them down but quickly realized it was a losing battle.

Chapter22

On Tuesday, Emmy put on the biggest Big Girl pants she could muster and all but dragged herself to work. At least Gabe moving to his new office meant he wouldn’t be sitting beside her anymore, and she wouldn’t have to smell him all day.

That goddamned cologne. She had thought of tracking down the brand and requesting the company discontinue it. The odds of success didn’t seem likely, so she instead decided she needed to render herself immune to its powers, starting immediately.

Thankfully, she didn’t smell any trace of it when she got off the elevator, which probably only meant Gabe hadn’t arrived yet because, surely, it would waft off him as he made his way down the hall to his new office. She was early again, hoping she could scoot in unnoticed and already be hard at work by the time others showed up so they’d be less likely to talk to her. By the looks of light spilling out of Alice’s open door, she wasn’t the first to arrive.

She was two steps past the door when Alice’s voice echoed into the hall. “Jameson, a word?”

Emmy stopped in her tracks, tote still looped over her shoulder, and turned around.

Alice appeared at her doorway with an unreadable face. She wore a slate-gray skirt suit and shiny heels. “How are you feeling?”

Like I’ve had my heart ripped out, Emmy thought but didn’t say. She forced a tight smile and remembered she’d taken a sick day yesterday and needed to act like it. “Better, thanks.”

“Great. The director would like to see you.”

Emmy flinched at her direct delivery, though she should have been used to it. Alice nodded her head and stepped out into the hall. Her heels began clicking, and Emmy knew to follow.

“About anything in particular?” she asked with a worried note in her voice. Hopefully she was not about to get reprimanded for allowing her personal life to affect her work.