Page 66 of Pity Pact
“Paige, I’m so sorry! I didn’t get your message until late. We had a bit of a sledding accident and we had to take Sammy to the ER. Don’t worry. She just has a concussion, but she won’t be in school on Monday. She’s really upset about it, too. She wanted meto tell you that she’ll make up her test during lunch the day she gets back, which will probably be Tuesday.”
I don’t bother listening to the rest of the message. Instead, I speed dial my friend. As soon as I hear her voice, I ask, “How’s Sammy?”
“She’s resting but not sleeping. Even though the doctor said she only had to wait three hours, Jamie is so freaked out, he’s making her stay up longer.”
I reach behind my head and fluff my pillow. “Tell her not to worry about the test. She’s such a great student, I’m sure she’ll ace it.”
“How was tonight?” Missy wants to know.
“Weird, fun, weird …”
She giggles. “Start with the weird.”
“I wore my Winnie the Pooh onesie the whole night.”
“Are you serious?” She groans. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t bring you something else.”
I flick off the light and tell her, “As strange as it sounds, it was a good thing. It was a great ice breaker.” I spend the next several minutes sharing that Fielden isn’t the baddie I thought he was.
“Ha! I told you to give him a second chance.”
“Missy,” I say calmly, “in all the years you’ve known me, how many times have I enjoyed hearing you tell me that you were right, and I was wrong?”
She takes my subtle-as-a-sledge-hammer hint. “Sorry. But still, ha!”
“We’re going to have a solo date on Tuesday.”
“Fun. How’s it going for Tim? Is he finally getting into the swing of things?”
“I’m not sure. He spent a lot of time with Cami. But Cami already knows he’s only looking for revenge, so she might just be helping him out.”
“Why would she ruin her chance at finding a true match just to help Tim?” she asks.
“She might think she can turn him.”
And that right there is something I’m going to need to talk her out of. Changing a man is about as likely as replacing a flat tire while treading water.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
TIM
Last night’s mixer wasn’t only fun, it was eye-opening. I worried less about showing Eva what she was missing and spent more time just enjoying myself—which is a feeling that’s a long time coming.
The games were a particular hoot. I roll over in bed and stretch while reminiscing. As Paige has already pointed out, we weren’t in the same group of friends growing up. As such, we didn’t run into each other at birthday parties. That’s probably why I never knew how spectacularly horrible she was at party games. Thank goodness we didn’t play pin the tail on the donkey, or someone might have wound up with a serious injury.
Images of Paige breaking a chair and trying to retrieve an orange with her neck cause a funny fluttering feeling to roll through my chest. While I like Cami, I can’t stop thinking about Paige. And Paige has been hurt enough. Even though I think I might be ready to move on, how will I know until I do so?
In addition to playing games, I got to know Chip better and we even made plans to have brunch today. I’m looking forward to hearing his insights about the show.
A brief knock on my door is followed by my mother striding into the room. “Darling, good morning,” she says before machine-gun firing questions at me. “How are you? How did you sleep? How was last night? Did you meet any nice girls?”
Coming into my room before I’m even up is new behavior for my mom, so it catches me off guard. “Hi, Mom.”
“It’s almost eleven o’clock and I’m tired of waiting to find out how last night went.”
“Eleven o’clock!” The last time I slept this late was when I was in college. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve made plans this morning.”
“With one of the ladies from the show?” She’s chomping at the bit for information.