Page 59 of Ruled By Rivalry
“Speaking of your day,” I prefaced as we stopped at a red light. “You were in the office the whole time—”
“Keeping tabs on me already?”
I rolled my eyes, gestured to the dress. “How’d you manage to get this in my room?”
“It’s a secret.”
I cringed, hated even asking. “Allegra?”
“Maeve!” he gasped. “You think I made my ex-girlfriend get you a dress?” He sounded genuinely offended. “Who do you think I am? The devil?”
“You’d be shocked by the kind of guys roaming the streets.” I’d heard enough horror stories to know that making your ex get another girl a dress would’ve been tame stuff.
He sounded sincere when he said, “I’d hope you don’t think I’m that kind of guy?”
Unfortunately, I didn’t. With every fiber of my being, and no matter how hard I tried to resist it, I believed he was a good guy. A good person, even. Which sucked, because surely Camila hadn’t warned me about him for nothing.
Behind Good Guy Elliot could hide a scheming little snake, and I wouldn’t know until it was too late.
Despite that, I answered from the heart. “No, I don’t think you are.”
The light turned green, and we were moving again. Elliot’s eyes were back on the road, and mine were still on him. The only thing that managed to draw them away was my phone, vibrating in my purse. I was endlessly grateful for the distraction.
PAULA, now
> You okay??
> It’s 8:05 and you’re never late
> Or forget to call
I never forgot anything, but I had. The way I’d forgotten my grandparents way too many times since moving to New York, too.
The thought of jumping out of Elliot’s moving car to call both of them in what would probably go down in history as the messiest teleconference of our time was . . . enticing. For now, I settled on my fingers flying across the keyboard on my phone.
ME, now
> Oh my God.
> I’m so sorry honey!!! I’ve been so busy
> We’ll have to catch up ASAP, I’m fully booked tonight tho
PAULA, now
> You’ve replaced me with cool fashion friends who don’t want to wear sweatpants on a first date, haven’t you?
> Or! Wait! *Is* it a first date???
Before I could promptly deny that theory, she doubled down.
PAULA, now
> Maeve Peterson . . . Did you meet someone and not immediately emergency-text me? Are you gatekeeping her??
> Or did you just finally realize sex-in-supply-closet and ass-on-printer accusations are worth Elliot Ashwood?
She was joking. I think. My fingers flew across my screen regardless, and my face felt hot simply because she’d brought those thoughts of him back to the forefront of my mind.
