“Haven’t looked in a mirror, have you?” Will says. He pushes off the couch and groans. “Damn, Max. I thought I was in good shape, but now I just feel like a senior citizen.”
“Come on, old man,” Cally says. “I know someone who can give you a massage.”
Will grins, gives his fiancée a once-over, then hesitates. “I’ll meet you outside, okay?”
She nods and leaves us alone.
Will looks around the tiny studio apartment that sits above my health club. I’d been using it for storage since I bought the space a couple of years ago, but now it will be my home. For a while, at least.
“Is your mom upset about you selling the house?”
I shake my head. It was a hard choice to sell the house Grandma left me when she died, but it was the right one. Despite everything, I’m sure of that. “Mom understands.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s really going on with Hanna?”
I take a pull off my beer and attempt a smile, but a smile is a lie and I can’t lie to my best friend. I’ve hardly slept, Hanna isn’t returning my texts, and my life just isn’t my favorite thing right now.
When I lift my head to look at Will, that big-brother concern is all over his face. “She broke up with me.” I have to tell someone, and if anyone can relate to desperate, pathetic, heartbroken attempts to win back the woman you love, it’s William Bailey. To think that once I didn’t understand that about him.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I thought you were going to propose. What happened?”
I swallow around the tangled ball of emotion in my throat. “Meredith.” I don’t have to say any more before Will is wincing.
“What did she do?”
I shake my head. “She forwarded Hanna some texts from back in December. Pretty damning.”
“You fucked around on Hanna?”
I study my beer. Really damn interesting, beer is. Much better than looking at your friend when you’re telling him what a fuck-up you are. “When Hanna and I started dating, I was still hung up on Meredith. You know what a screwed-up past we have. And the first few times I went out with Hanna, I wasn’t really interested. I didn’t see her, you know? She was just that cute girl who’d always had a thing for me. I thought I’d give her a self-esteem boost.”
William’s breath draws in with a sharp hiss.
“I know. It’s bad, but it didn’t seem so terrible at the time. I figured we’d go on a few dates and she’d realize I wasn’t what she built me up to be in her mind. Then we’d go our separate ways.”
“But that’s not what happened,” Will says.
“No.” I shake my head and lift my gaze to the ceiling. “I fell so hard for her. I mean, it’s like she looked at me and saw this amazing man, and suddenly I wanted to be that guy. I wanted to be better. To earn it. Does that make sense?”
“Been there,” Will whispers. “I get it.”
I blow out a long breath. “So I’d gone on a couple of dates with Hanna when Meredith talked me into coming over to see her. At that point, I still thought nothing would come of me and Hanna. I got over there, and as soon as Meredith and I started messing around, all I could think about was Hanna. I kissed Meredith and wondered what it’d be like to kiss Hanna. I got out of there, but…now Hanna knows. She knows I asked her out for all the wrong reasons, and she knows I went to Meredith that night. I hurt her.”
“Shit. So it’s over?”
I nod. “Yeah. But she’s so fucking sweet she swore me to secrecy about the breakup. She wants her mom to help me get that grant for the gym, and she’s afraid I won’t get it if her mom knows we broke up.”
“You’re going to stand for that? Some fake relationship just so you can get some grant money?”
“We both know this isn’t about the money.” I lock my eyes with his. “If you thought you’d lost Cally, wouldn’t you carry on in a charade of a relationship if it meant you got more time with her? If you thought it might mean a chance to win her back?”
Will exhales heavily and nods. “Fuck. Yeah. I would.” He drags a hand through his hair. “If Meredith sent Hanna those texts, you can count on her being a problem. Watch out.”
“I know.”
“You’ll let me know if I can help?”
I grimace. “Seriously? Your fiancée is outside that door, ready to take you home and get you naked, and you’re still standing here trying to get me to take your money?”