Good Girl Gone (The Reed Brothers 7)

I still have curlers in my hair and I’m wearing my dress and makeup, but no shoes. I wiggle my toes.

“Mija,” Marta says, “you probably should have given him some warning instead of springing this on him at the last minute.”

“But I wanted it to be special.” I’m whining, and Marta gives me a sober, pity-filled look.

“Did it work?” she asks.

Not a bit. I’m alone and now I have no date for the awards show. I told my fake boyfriend last week that from now on Josh would be attending all my events with me. He was disappointed, but he understood. But now Josh isn’t here.

“I just wish I knew where he is.”

“I’m sure he’s fine.” She goes into the room where the rest of the girls are getting ready and she starts to fuss over their makeup and their hair. She loves this stuff, and she doesn’t get to do it very often now that we’ve all moved out.

“Can you text him, Sam?” I ask. “Maybe he’ll reply to you.”

Sam reluctantly pulls out his phone and sends off a text. A reply ding goes off almost immediately. “He’s fine.” He jams his phone back into his pocket.

“So he did reply to you?”

He nods. “He’s fine,” he says again. His face is clouded, though, like a stormy night.

“Why isn’t he replying to me?”

His phone goes off again and again, and he types quick replies, avoiding my eyes. Finally, he looks up. “Can you get Peck for me?” he asks.

“Why?”

“I need to talk to her.”

He’s lying. It has something to do with the barrage of texts. But I go and get Peck. He pulls her into a spare bedroom and they stand there talking. I can hear them whispering fiercely. Then Peck comes out.

“Josh is not coming,” she tells me.

“Why not?”

“He went back home for the weekend. He went to visit an old friend. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

She may as well have kicked me in the gut. “He went to see Lilly?” I sink down into a chair.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“He didn’t know you were going to ask him to go with you to the awards thing.” She tilts her head and regards me solemnly. “What were you thinking, Star?”

“I was thinking it would be a wonderful surprise,” I answer. “He thinks I didn’t want him to go, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Sam says from behind us. His voice is rough as sandpaper. “If I were him, I would think you were dissing me. Seeing as how you didn’t invite him and all.”

I jump to my feet. “I wanted it to be a surprise!”

“His feelings are hurt.”

I drop back into the chair. “Oh, God,” I groan. “I messed up.” I look at Sam. “Can you tell him to call me? Please?”

Sam shakes his head. “He’s busy tonight.”

I lay a hand on my chest. “Too busy for me?”

“Too busy for anyone. He said he’d talk to all of us tomorrow.”

I hold up my phone and shake it. “He didn’t tell me he’d talk to me tomorrow!” I run over to Emilio. “Melio,” I cry, “can I borrow your car?”

He looks up from his cards. “For what?”

“Apparently, I need to go and retrieve my boyfriend.”

“From where?” he barks.

“From his hometown! Or wherever he went!” I look at Sam. “Where is he, exactly?”

“He’s with her,” Sam says.

Emilio jumps to his feet. “He’s with who?”

“His ex-girlfriend,” I reluctantly admit.

Emilio huffs. “You can’t borrow my car, but I’ll drive you there.”

“Why can’t I just borrow the car?”

“Because I have business with that boy.” He’s already cramming his keys and his wallet into his jeans. “Can you go take the fucking curlers out of your hair and get dressed?” he says to me.

I rush into the bedroom and change into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and take down my hair. I’m wearing a shit-ton of makeup and I probably look like a high-dollar hooker, but I don’t care. “What are you doing?” Peck asks.

“I’m going to get my man,” I tell her.

She grins and helps me throw a few things into a bag. “You’re going to miss the awards show.”

“I’m sorry, but this is more important.” I can’t even stop long enough to explain. I need to go find Josh. I need to apologize.

“Good,” Peck says. “Go get him.” She grins. “What are you going to do when you find him?”

“I have no idea.” I laugh maniacally, because panic bubbles up inside me.

“You ready to go?” Emilio asks from the doorway.

Marta points a finger at him. “You behave yourself,” she warns. “If you don’t, I’ll be waiting when you come home and you will regret it.”

He grabs her and pulls her against him. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, woman,” he says. He kisses her soundly. She giggles.

We get in the car and start out of the drive. “Do you know where we’re going?” he asks.

“I know exactly where she lives.”

“Good,” he grunts. “So you like him enough to give up an awards dinner with your sisters where you could get tons of accolades, adoration, and recognition?”