Emilia
This was the first time Emi had brought a friend back to this house since her brother had purchased it last year. Escrow closed just weeks after she’d moved to Los Angeles the first time, so not even her high-school friends, who she’d pretty much lost touch with already, had seen it. And she didn’t trust any of her new friends to let them in on this part of her life. Well, none but Sydney.
It was what she loved about the dynamic of their friendship. It was free of any complicated what-ifs. She didn’t have to worry—like with Darren—that things might sour someday and she might have to deal with a hateful ex who might spread stuff about her family’s private lives. But it was what she loved about Sydney all around. Even if things would somehow sour between them, she knew in her heart he didn’t have a hateful bone in his body. Already she could say with all certainty he was the best friend she’d ever had.
Emi pushed the less certain, yet gnawing, thought away, the one that made her invite him to stay overnight with her in the first place. She was trying to make up for the knee-jerk reaction she’d had in the car just after leaving the festival. She wasn’t even sure why she’d reacted that way to his “I don’t do that” comment. Except for the times he’d slipped his big hand into hers, which had her insides going nuts, the rest of day had felt off for some reason, despite the great time they’d had at the festival.
Bringing Sydney back to her brother’s place seemed like a good way to end things on a more positive note, one that would dispel any possible notion he may have that she’d been upset with him in any way, for any reason. God forbid he should think that, after a few instances of handholding, things were already changing in their friendship.
Her plan had almost worked. It’d been late when they got back to her brother’s house. By the time she was done giving him the grand tour of the place, it was way too late to stay up and keep chatting, so she’d showed him to one of the guests rooms, and they called it a night.
Emi decided to take a shower in her room and hadn’t bothered to close the bedroom door since she’d planned on changing in the bathroom. It wasn’t until halfway through her shower that she realized no towels were in that bathroom.
“Damn it,” she muttered after standing in the shower, trying to drip dry for a few seconds before stepping out.
She grabbed the only things she had to cover up with, her pj’s: a short set and her undies. But she didn’t want to soak her pajama shorts and camisole, so she put on her panties only and stepped out into her bedroom quickly.
“Whoa!”
Sydney’s voice made her freeze and clutch her hands in front of her. He was at her door and for a moment stood there staring at her as stunned as she felt. Then he seemed to snap out of it and turned his back to her immediately.
“I’m so sorry,” he said as she scrambled to grab the bedspread and cover herself with it. “I went out to get something from my car and got lost trying to get back to my room. This place is huge.”
“It’s okay,” she said, trying not to sound as befuddled as she felt. “Your room is two doors down to the right on the right-hand side.
“Thanks,” he said, taking a step then stopping but not turning to face her. “Again, Em, I’m sorry.”
“No worries, really.”
After the weird day they’d had, Emi didn’t want things to feel even weirder when they awoke. So she threw the cover-up she usually wore over her bathing suit over her pajama shorts and camisole and walked over to his room. His door was half open, and a light was on in his room, but she still knocked. “Come in.”
Emi almost froze again when she entered. He was sitting on his bedspread, wearing basketball shorts and nothing else. His bare chest and abs were just as she’d imagined—as perfect as everything else about him. But she was here to make things less weird not worse, so she tried not to react or stare too hard.
“Listen. I just wanted to make sure you’re not feeling weird or bad about walking in on me. I know it was an easy mistake. It took me a while to get used to this place.”
“Well, I did feel pretty stupid”—he smirked—“but I’m glad you know it wasn’t intentional.”
“Oh, I know it wasn’t,” she assured him, still unwilling to just say good night and leave.
A part of her was so tempted to walk all the way in, sit with him, and chat as she knew they could easily do for hours. But another part of her, the one making her so confused lately, didn’t trust herself to not want to do something inappropriate. Like touch him. Not just his hand either as she’d done today at the festival. The thought of running her hands over those abs and chest had her lady parts tingling—again.
“Okay,” she said when she realized she’d zoned out staring at his abs and he wore a strange smirk now. “Glad we got that straight. See you in the morning downstairs for breakfast.”
The smirk morphed into a sweet smile. “Good night, Em.”
Emi said good night and walked out, rushing toward her room. “Yeah, that fixed things right up,” she muttered under her breath.
~~~
The next morning she’d been up early so she could get breakfast started before her brothers got home. Thankfully, no lingering weirdness remained between her and Sydney. He’d ambled into the kitchen, and to her relief, everything felt just as it always did.
Her brothers had been pleasantly surprised to see her and the grand breakfast she had for them when they did arrive but were even more surprised to see Sydney with her. Emi had been quick to explain when she saw the expressions on their faces after she informed them Sydney had spent the night.
“I thought it was silly for him to pay for a hotel when we had more than enough room here for him. Might as well get some use out of all those guest rooms.”
Unpredictably, her brothers had both nodded in agreement, and before another word was uttered about Sydney spending the night, they were back to the subject of the awesome lineup for the Padres this season.
So Sydney’s spending the night with her and her having to inform her brothers about it, despite last night’s hiccup, had gone smoother than she’d expected. Even after breakfast when he’d excused himself to go shower and change and she was left alone with her brothers, they didn’t admit to any true feelings they might’ve held back. To her surprise, Isaiah even seemed pleased about his being there. His only comment after Sydney left the room was, “Yeah, it would’ve been dumb for you to be here all alone last night and for him to pay for a room with all the extra rooms we have here.”
Then Nathan added, “Let him know he’s welcome to stay anytime he comes down here.”
Emi had stared at them for a moment as they all cleared the kitchen. It almost felt like she was in the Twilight Zone. Her brothers were never this agreeable when it came to the guys in her life. But she supposed it made sense in this case. Everyone knew she and Sydney were just good friends—nothing more.
They all left in separate cars to the restaurant’s anniversary shindig. Isaiah had a date he was picking up, and Nathan had somewhere to go afterward. It was just as well. Emi and Sydney would be heading back to Los Angeles directly after they left Moreno’s anyway.
As always on a Sunday, but even more so for today’s special occasion, Moreno’s was packed. Mariachis strolled around as busy servers and hostesses rushed around them. Emi and Sydney walked up to one of the banquet rooms reserved for family and close friends. It was set up the same as downstairs: buffet style with their own personal musical trio walking around playing music and singing.
Almost immediately, they were met by Sarah and Valerie. After saying their hellos to a few more people, Sarah showed them to the tables where Moe and his family, Emi’s uncles, and most of the Morenos were all sitting. They hadn’t been sitting long before Cristina came over to say hello to them.
Emi found herself watching the conversation between Sydney and Cristina a little closer than she would normally. The thing she’d mentioned finding in Mando’s boxes turned out to be a fog bell for his sailboat.
“It’s all brass,” Cristina explained. “He’d ordered it online, said he was going to give it to you for your birthday last year. He mentioned having something engraved on it, the name of your boat maybe. I don’t know. Then he got sick and everything sort of just got put on hold. I don’t even remember it coming in the mail. He must’ve gotten it, put it aside, and, after his diagnosis, forgotten it.”
“Totally understandable,” Sydney said, examining his gift with a smile. “This is really nice.”
Sydney had since taken Emi out a handful of times on his sailboat. She didn’t know a whole lot about boats, but she did know his boat didn’t have a name. He’d told her he was waiting for the perfect name to come to him and it just hadn’t yet.
Emi studied them closely as they spoke, but nothing she’d suspected was confirmed. Once Cristina had gone back to her table, Emi felt silly and nosey about watching them so closely. Since he was so touched by her situation, the idea had festered from that first day at the repast that he might have another interest in her. That coupled with the phone call he’d gotten from her when he’d hardly mentioned Cristina at all this entire year had made Emi curious.
Cristina had only been gone a few moments when Valerie and Sarah came over. After their initial hellos, he was quickly whisked away because Valerie said she had someone she wanted him to meet. Valerie and Sarah stayed with Sydney and the girl she presumed was Lucy, a tall girl just a few inches shorter than Sydney. She was blond and skinny with almost no curves at all, just a few things Emi knew, for a fact, were not Sydney’s type. Emi ate and chatted with the family all the while sneaking glances at Sydney and Lucy, who’d sat down to eat together at the table she’d been at when they first walked him over to her.
Emi thought Sydney would chat with the girl for a little bit then make his way back to where she sat with her family. Instead, Valerie joined them at their table for a while where they all chatted even longer. All three got up and exited the banquet room. From the looks of it, because Valerie was pointing at things on the wall and ceiling the whole time even as they walked out, it seemed she was giving them a tour. The restaurant really was quite impressive.
Nathan and Isaiah, who didn’t talk on the phone with her as often as Livi, quizzed Emi as they always did on school, her apartment, and her car. She informed them everything was fine and she was moving right along with her school work. She told them more about the internship she’d be starting that week when she got back to Los Angeles. Since she was still undecided about her major, she’d chosen to try and get into the Staples Center as a generic intern, and she could still get credit for practical professional experience. At the same time, she was once again floundering about yet another major possibility—communications.
She’d requested the possibility of shadowing the broadcasters at different sports and entertainment-related events. The Staples Center had a host of different venues going on all year long. There were also a lot of perks being an intern there.
“That’s so cool,” Rosie said.
“It sounds so interesting and fun,” Liv added, smiling.
“Doesn’t it?” Emi asked, feeling a little more excited each time she spoke about it.
Sydney, Valerie, and Lucy re-entered the banquet room all smiles. Emi watched as Valerie went her separate way and Sydney walked Lucy back to her table. He then proceeded to sit down with her even as Valerie left them alone again. For someone not into blondes and who’d mentioned more than once how he fancied girls with curves, he seemed awfully smitten with Lucy.
“Is that his girlfriend?” Livi asked, pulling Emi’s attention back to her own table.
“What?” Emi asked, taking a sip of her water cursing her already heating face.
The question made Rosie and Sal’s wife Grace, who thankfully were the only ones within hearing distance and paying attention, turn in Sydney and Lucy’s direction. That only made Emi’s face heat further. She had no choice but to glance casually in Sydney’s direction again and shrug. “No, but I think Valerie is trying to set him up with her friend. Someone she works with, I guess.”
“Calm down, Max,” Moe said with a laugh, making them all turn. “Look at this guy. He’s a minute away from getting his period.”
Everyone laughed as Max retorted and thankfully their obnoxiously funny debate took the attention away from Sydney and Lucy.
“And how do you feel about that?” Livi asked.
Emi turned to Liv now, surprised to see the arched brow and a little stunned by the question. Especially since her sister had lowered her voice as if to keep the question just between the two of them.
“What do you mean?”
Livi’s eyes narrowed, but she glanced around. Moe and Max’s loud debate still had everyone’s attention. “Seems you two have gotten pretty close. You brought him over last night, and you seemed so comfortable with him. Even Lorenzo commented on it. Then he spends the night with you—”
“In a guest room,” Emi interjected a bit too sharply, feeling alarmed by where this seemed to be going. “He’s just my friend, Liv, my very good friend.”
“And that’s what I thought despite everything else I’ve picked up on from you lately, but then I see you stare daggers at him and his little friend over there and—”
“I was not staring daggers!”
Was she? What the hell was wrong with her? She’d never had issues hearing about him and Cheryl or anyone else he’d ever dated for that matter.
Livi’s expression softened as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Okay, maybe I just misread your expression. Relax.”
“If anything,” Emi added because she felt like she had to and because it was the only way she could explain it even to herself, “maybe I just got a little too used to having him to myself all day yesterday. He didn’t sound too wild about being set up for this. Thought it would be awkward. So I’m just surprised he’s been over there this whole time. But that’s it.”
That was it. She’d never been good about sharing. Up until today the entire trip he had been all hers. It just felt a little weird now to be . . . ignored—forgotten about. If someone had tried to set her up with anyone today, she was pretty sure she would’ve made her way back to her friend and trip companion sooner than this. It just seemed a little rude.
As if her middle-school attitude about her best friend not paying attention to her hadn’t been obvious enough, things only got worse. Valerie and Sarah sat down with her and Livi. “I think they’re hitting it off,” Valerie said, looking in Sydney’s direction with a big smile.
Now Emi had to sit there and pretend she felt as excited about this as Valerie seemed to be. Valerie told them all about how thrilled Lucy had been about this all week.
“She was so bummed yesterday when she wasn’t able to get out of some family obligation to make the festival.” Valerie glanced back at Sarah with a big smile. “She said it would’ve been a perfect and romantic first date”—Valerie made air quotes with her fingers—“to remember forever if they do hit it off.”
Emi smiled when Valerie glanced at her. The thought was as much a relief as it was annoying. If that had been the case, Emi would’ve had no choice but to bum a ride home with her sister or someone else, and she would’ve missed out on strolling the festival the rest of the day with Sydney yesterday. She would not have even considered being a third wheel on Sydney and Lucy’s romantic first date. If she’d been caught practically pouting today about being ignored by him for a little while, she for sure would’ve been obnoxiously obvious about having to miss the rest of the festival while Lucy got to enjoy it with Sydney.
“You know him best, Sarah,” Valerie said, pretending and failing miserably to not be so noticeable about watching Sydney and Lucy. “What do you think? You think they’re hitting off? I think he likes her. His eyes practically twinkled when I introduced him.”
Turning to Sarah, Emi did her best to not look as interested in Sarah’s response as she really felt. Why the hell was she being like this? The man had a girlfriend back home. Who cared if he met someone else who he might hit it off with?
“Oh, I don’t know,” Sarah said, glancing at Sydney, her eyes bouncing off Emi then back at Valerie. “He’s sweet to everyone. It’s hard to tell from just watching him. He’s such a gentleman no matter the circumstances. But he has always been partial to brunettes.”
Valerie turned to Sarah, her brows furrowed. “Didn’t he have a blond girlfriend way back?”
“Well, yeah,” Sarah said, meeting Emi’s eyes.
Emi glanced away when she realized she was reacting again without thinking.
“But he didn’t end up with her,” Sarah countered. “And he did end up marrying a brunette.”
“Whom he divorced obviously,” Valerie said with a smirk. “I don’t think that really matters. Alex swears he was always partial to brunettes and never even dated blondes”—she fluffed her blond tresses—“and look who he ended up marrying.”
Emi took a deep breath, deciding to not clam up as she had yesterday when these two told Sydney about Lucy.
“He looks like he’s enjoying the company,” Emi said with a sweet smile, took a sip of her soda, and turned casually to see Sydney laughing with Lucy.
“He does, right?” Valerie asked, smiling smugly. “If anyone would know him best, it’d be you two, right? She’s going to be so excited.”
Emi began to jerk her head back but caught herself when her eyes met Livi’s first. Her sister was studying Emi again, so she smiled. Before she could say anything, Sarah did.
“We can’t tell if he does from just watching him, silly,” Sarah said, laughing softly. “Don’t get the poor girl’s hopes up just yet. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s as particular about the women he dates as everything else in his meticulous life. I think he’s gotten finickier with age. Not to rain on your parade or anything, I’m just dampening your expectations so you’re not too disappointed or anything. If he does like her, it’ll be awhile before he’s analyzed it to death. I told you he has been seeing someone.” Sarah turned to Emi this time. “He’s still seeing Cheryl, right?’
Emi nodded, refraining from smiling as she suddenly wanted to, and then turned to Valerie. “Yes, he still is actually,” she said simply, innocently, as she bit her tongue to refrain from what else she wanted to add—that just yesterday he’d pointed out that, yes, he was still seeing Cheryl, and, no, he wouldn’t date two women at once. But it already felt like Liv was watching her too closely.
Her sister knew her better than anyone did; albeit they weren’t as close lately as they once had been. Ever since Liv moved out with Lorenzo then married him and was now experiencing motherhood, she’d been too busy to notice too much about Emi as she normally would. At least that was what Emi had thought until Liv’s “despite everything I’ve picked up on you lately” comment.
Emi was certain she’d be getting a call from her big sister this week, inquiring if everything was okay. She didn’t need to add more to Liv’s suspicions than what she knew was there now.
“You see,” Sarah said, smiling at Emi but glancing quickly away to address Valerie. “The man can give Sal a run for his money when it comes to being anal about things. This is not something he’ll be deciding overnight. As long as I’ve known the guy, he likes to take his time, get to know the girl.” Emi thought she saw Sarah side glance at her, but she directed her next comment at Valerie. “He waits for the relationship to develop before he’s sure, so don’t hold your breath.”
Valerie’s lip pulled to the side. “Well, so far it looks promising. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.” She turned to Emi, smiling, then back to Sarah. “You two, keep me posted. I have to check on the kids.”
Sarah stuck around for a little bit, making small talk, before she, too, had to go find her kids. Thank goodness for kids. To Emi’s relief, Liv too got busy when the baby woke, and the conversation shifted as everyone fawned over baby Enzo.
By the time Sydney walked over with Lucy to introduce her and ask Emi if she was ready to go, they’d been there for hours. He’d spent the entire time with Lucy, and Emi did her best to not look or act as annoyed by that as she felt.
Lucy was a bit of a chatterbox. She also laughed a lot, but it seemed more of a nervous laugh than a genuine one. And it wasn’t cute either. It reminded Emi of that girl in the reruns of Friends: Chandler’s annoying ex-girlfriend, June or Janice something or other. The more Emi heard it, the more grating it got.
They went through the slow process of saying good-bye to everyone. When they finally departed, they still weren’t alone. Lucy walked out with them. This was why she’d been sure if Lucy had shown up yesterday Emi would’ve skipped strolling the rest of the festival. She felt like an invisible third wheel as Lucy chattered on excitedly about Comic Con and how fun it would be if they went together.
Sydney and Lucy, that is.
While Lucy had been nice enough, Emi hadn’t missed the way her brow arched ever so slightly and her eyes swept over Emi when Sydney introduced her as his good friend and neighbor then added, “We drove out together. We always do when we drive out here.”
As if they’d done this more than twice. So the entire excitable conversation Lucy had had with Sydney felt exclusively for him. Lucy was not implying the three of them would have fun together at Comic Con. As if being around them and hearing that irritating laugh for longer than the time it took them to walk outside wasn’t excruciating enough.
By the time they reached Sydney’s car, Emi refrained from rolling her eyes every time Lucy laughed and especially when she pointed out how good he smelled—twice. She’d even texted herself the name of his cologne so she wouldn’t forget it. When they got to his car, Lucy was quick to address Emi first, smiling big and expressing how very nice it was to have met her.
It was polite enough, but Emi felt dismissed by the farewell. Sydney had already clicked to unlock the doors to his car. They’d all heard the beep. So when Lucy turned to Sydney with a gazing smile and waited, Emi took the hint. She said good-bye, got in the car, closed the door, and gave herself a quick emergency pep talk under her breath.
“Do not sulk. Do not pout. Don’t you dare snap. This is almost over.”
She felt as furious with herself as she did confused. What the hell was going on with her? She’d sat and listened to Sydney talk of Cheryl plenty of times without feeling the least bit annoyed by it. In fact, often times she stuck up for Cheryl when Sydney seemed to poke fun or find fault in something Cheryl had done, said, or didn’t do.
Sydney and Lucy were outside for a while, as if the hours they’d spent talking at the restaurant hadn’t been enough. Emi squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to even glance their way. The last thing she needed was to turn to see him kissing her good-bye or something that might push her back into that weird mood she’d gotten herself into yesterday.
After what felt like forever, the door finally opened and he got in. Immediately, her senses were overwhelmed with the fragrance of him—the scent she’d grown to love now. She’d actually taken a sweatshirt he’d lent her and held it hostage. She’d give it back to him eventually. She just enjoyed the soothing effect the smell of him had on her when she wore it around her place.
“Sorry that took a while,” he said, his voice sounding a little strange.
She turned to catch him, watching as Lucy pulled out of her parking space, headed to the exit of the parking lot, then finally turned onto the street and out of sight. Emi was this close to asking if, after one meeting, he really couldn’t get enough of her, if that was why they had to sit and stare until she was completely out of sight, even though she was certain there was no way she’d manage say it without sounding bitchy.
To her surprise, before she could, he groaned loudly, and she turned to see his head fall back against his seat. Her mind raced curiously, not sure what to make of it.
“What?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Longest fucking hours of my life,” he said, shaking his head, and instantly, Emi felt the anxiety begin to drain from every tensed muscle in her body.
“Really?” she asked, a bit skeptical but could already feel the ends of her mouth curving upward. “I got the impression you had fun with her. You certainly spent enough time with her today.”
“That’s because she wouldn’t let me leave.” He put the car in gear and began to pull out. “From the very beginning, she was all about ‘I could hardly believe it when Valerie told me I’d be spending the whole day with you.’” His attempt to imitate Lucy’s annoying voice made Emi smirk even as she watched his brow go higher and get stiffer with every word he said. “And do you know in the middle of it all she pulls her phone out and tells me to check my phone. I do and a text comes in with a picture of three of her cats. Valerie didn’t give her my number, I didn’t give her my number, she never even asked for it, but she already had it. Said with all her tech knowledge and friends, she had her ways. Who does that? She pretty much admitted she stalked the shit out of me this week so she’d have plenty to talk about, and fuck if she didn’t talk nonstop.”
Emi laughed now, covering her mouth and offering a forced sympathetic look when he turned and glared at her. In all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him so annoyed. He went on a little more about all the times he’d begun to excuse himself or come up with a way to get away from her and she’d ask something complicated he couldn’t just give a quick answer to. Something she’d likely rehearsed.
“Her ex-husband left her for another woman,” Sydney continued as if that was a given. “He left her for his older boss. A woman almost fifteen years his senior with four kids and a ton of other baggage was more appealing to him than Lucy was and can you blame him? Did you hear her laugh? Merciful God in heaven, I was getting ready to poke my own eardrums out with my fork.”
That was it. Emi burst into laughter. She’d heard Sydney cuss before, but seeing him like this was hilarious. Sydney finally gave way to a smirk.
“That’s so mean,” she said then added, “but I won’t be a hypocrite. I cringed each time I heard the laugh all the way back to the car. I can’t imagine having sat there for hours listening to it.”
He continued telling her more about the rest of the conversation he’d had to endure. He did admit there were parts that weren’t too bad. Emi had been right about Valerie giving them a tour of the place. It was why all three of them had gotten up and were gone for a while.
Sydney had finally gotten past talking about the most exasperating hours he’d spent in years when his phone rang, and up on his dash the name Lucy popped up.
“No way,” he said, staring down at his dash. “Are you kidding me?”
“Answer it,” Emi said, giggling.
“Hell no!” His brows arched even further. “I’m telling you the girl doesn’t shut up.”
Before he could protest further, Emi hit the answer button on the dash and covered her mouth so Lucy wouldn’t hear her laugh. If looks could kill, Sydney’s glare would’ve had her shriveled up like a swatted fly in the passenger seat, which only made her want to laugh more. She slapped both hands over her mouth as Sydney’s brow arched high, though she could see the corner of his lip twitch.
“Hey, Lucy,” he said, shaking his head at Emi.
“Hey, it’s been too long,” she said then laughed, and Emi felt her brows pinch tight as she struggled to hold in the laughter.
Funny how less than a half hour ago that same laugh made the hair on the back of her neck stand. Now she was in danger of laughing out loud because of it.
“What’s going on?” Sydney asked then glanced at Emi as they came to a stop, and his expression softened at the sight of her continued struggle not to laugh.
“I was just driving home and remembered I got a voucher for two nights in Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel. I thought maybe you’d want to go.”
The sight of Sydney’s reaction to that, a mixture of horror and dismay, made Emi laugh.
Sydney turned to Emi, his revolted expression once again softening, but he shook his head adamantly, one finger over his puckered lips. For just a second, Emi lost her train of thought at the sight of his puckered lips. Then Lucy asked who was laughing.
“That’s Emi,” he said with a smirk as her eyes widened. “You’re on speaker, but she’s on her phone too.”
“Oh” was her only response. Then out of nowhere that laugh came again, and Emi pressed her palm against her lips, squeezing her eyes shut. “So, what do you say? We get a choice of shows too: Jersey Boys, something called Le Reve The Dream . . . ooh, Chippendales!”
The laugh was even more obnoxious this time, and Emi hit the end button then fell back in her seat and just let it out.
“I’m sorry,” she said in between laughs as she caught her breath. “I’m sorry. Just say you got cut off or something. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Do you see what I’m talking about here?” he said, pointing at the dash. “We’ve met once. I was honest about seeing Cheryl too. I had to be. No way did I want her to get the impression that I was free, ready, and willing for anything. So she invited me on a weekend getaway not an hour after our first introduction? Who the hell does that?”
His phone rang again, Lucy’s name popping on the dash, and he sent it to voicemail. Emi actually felt bad for Lucy now. If she hadn’t hit answer in the first place, the girl wouldn’t be thinking that Sydney hung up on her now in the middle of her trying to sell the weekend getaway with her. Now he was sending her call to voicemail to boot. If that wasn’t a big hairy hint, Emi didn’t know what was.
To her surprise, his phone rang several more times. He sent it to voicemail each time. His expression had begun to harden until the third call back where he finally had to laugh.
“Un-fucking-believable,” he muttered, shaking his head, but thankfully laughed as he sent it to voicemail again.
There was another beep several minutes later, indicating he had a voicemail, which could only mean one thing. Whatever she’d left for him to listen to was that long. It was tempting to tell him to play it, but Emi already felt mean.
The last thing he said about Lucy was that he’d have to call Lynni when he got home and hope she’d agree to break it gently to Lucy that he wasn’t interested. Maybe she’d just stop calling him and he’d be done with this as painlessly as possible.