Want Me (Mess with Me 4)

“She didn’t have to. It turns out you’re as predictable as I am.”

What happened is as clear as glass. Liz thought she could show up here and stir the pot the way she always does, planting seeds of doubt right in the middle of my new life.

I chuckle at how easily she almost got away with it. Truthfully, I might not have caught on if I didn’t have Anya to call out her bullshit.

That’s my girl.

She doesn’t lie. She could have just dated billionaire boy and kept me on the side but she was upfront about what she wanted the whole time. Anya has a history of truth and Liz has a history of lies.

“You use people and then when they finally wise up you try to switch targets. This time you miscalculated. You should have picked someone who doesn’t know your games.”

Liz won’t meet my eyes. “I was just trying to apologize to you.”

“Apology accepted. But you’re still a piece of shit. Now get out or I’m calling the cops.”

With one last arctic glare, Liz slams her wineglass on the counter. She snatches her coat off the couch and saunters out, slamming the front door behind her. I watch from the window as she climbs into a car I didn’t even notice at the curb.

It’s oddly freeing, for the first time in years, not to care what she thinks. I am a creature of habit but Anya made me realize that’s not a bad thing. After hearing her describe me in her adorably sleepy voice, I’ll never see myself through Liz’s eyes ever again.

Suddenly I need to see her. When I pull out my phone, I see a text message from Mya. Strange for her to text me on a Saturday night. Then I remember that she was going to report back on the GlowUp event.

She’s included the GlowUp official launch numbers and various pictures she snapped of the event. I stop at the last one. It’s Seth Barrington.

It’s Seth Barrington with Anya on his arm gazing at him adoringly.

My mind races, too stunned to even respond to Mya’s last question. Anya is wearing a slinky black dress and hanging on Seth’s arm when I assumed that she was at home in bed exhausted or with her parents. No, she’s at a black-tie event looking like my every fucking dream and giving another man that hopeful little smile I used to think was just for me.

My feet move back and forth across the carpet. I can’t take my eyes off this picture. She’s so beautiful and I know her soul is even more so. Suddenly seeing her is the most important thing in the world. I need to tell her how I feel. I need to tell her what I’ve discovered.

I jog back to my room and push to the back of my closet. My tuxedo hasn’t been pressed but it’ll have to do. I have to tell her how I feel before I lose her for good.

Because Anya isn’t the only one in that picture with a hopeful smile. Seth Barrington is looking at her with an expression I recognize intimately. It’s the same incredulous smile that used to grace my face every morning when I woke up to see Anya’s face on the pillow next to mine.

It’s the face of a man in love.

22

ANYA

The official GlowUp launch gala is being held at a small community theater called The Starlight. Seth told me it has many art programs he funds for underprivileged youth. Having the gala here will help bring attention to the theater and hopefully encourage some of the attendees to sign up as patrons.

The building is in a less desirable part of the city but I have to admit it’s a dramatic scene for a gala. The theater chairs are a deep burgundy velvet and the curtains draping the stage are an inky midnight blue. The ceiling is painted with a mural done by the students.

“Everyone seems like they’re having a good time,” I whisper to Seth. “Philippe looks like he’s having fun.”

I was mortified when Seth introduced us earlier. After our closet chat, I never did get around to telling him who the handsome man was who’d once saved me from choking. I have a feeling he’ll never let me live that one down.

“Thing are going very well. We exceeded all the estimates. In fact, I was told that the app already has several successful matches reported and even one engagement.”

“Seriously? It hasn’t even been available that long.”

He chuckles. “I guess when you know, you know.”

Not to be judgmental but that is just crazy. Then I sigh. I’m probably not the right person to decide what the right length of time is before getting engaged. I thought an engagement was coming just because Law and I had been practically living together and look where that got me.

People wander between the rows of theater seats chatting excitedly. Earlier, the development team and all the investors announced the initial launch numbers to resounding applause.

GlowUp is officially a hit.