Writing a Wrong (13 page)

Chapter 14

Normally I shared a hotel room with Michelle during the tour stops, but she switched rooms with Olivia after our dinner earlier that evening. We continued talking about our man woes late into the night, polishing off all my chocolates and two slices of cake we ordered from room service. Olivia didn't seem at all shocked when I told her the details of my mom's ambush about Greg. Maybe they were right and my head was the only one stuck in the sand.

Neither Olivia nor I came up with an easy solution that didn't involve me confronting Greg. The volume on the TV was low, playing one mindless infomercial after another. I was convinced I needed the Bacon Bowl. Eventually, we fell into a sugar coma, somewhere between the amazing expanding hose and the latest fitness workout that was sure to help me shed fifty pounds in ninety days.

I woke up the next morning in an all too familiar position—Olivia's hand lying across my face. For someone who hated displays of affection, she had no problem invading my personal space anytime we shared the same bed. I was tempted to bite her, but I tossed her hand to the side instead, waking her up.

"Are you trying to hold my hand?" she asked without opening her eyes.

I snorted, reaching for the hair tie I'd left on the nightstand table. "You're the one who was trying to get fresh with me," I said, stretching. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and yanked open the heavy curtains. Olivia groaned, pulling a pillow up over her face to block the sun that was streaming through the window. Last night our binge eating seemed harmless, but glancing around at the remnants scattered about the floor, we had clearly overdone it. "You need to get up, bum," I told her. "Mom wants us all to meet for brunch in an hour."

"I'm not going," she replied in a muffled voice beneath the pillow.

"Don't be a baby. You can't hide from Tony after one drink together. Besides, if I have to face Greg, there's no way you're getting out of going. I need you for moral support."

"Did you decide what you're going to do about that?" Olivia lifted the pillow from her face and propped herself up on one elbow.

"No," I sighed, picking up my phone to text Alec. I'd been so wrapped up in my family and the drama that came with them, I'd forgotten to call him.

Sorry I missed our call. Went to dinner with my family and time got away from me.

His reply came almost instantly. That's okay, beautiful. Candace took pity on me and invited me over for dinner when I dropped Lily off. How was the signing?

I stared at his message for a moment before answering. He had eaten dinner with Candace four times in the last ten days. A mature adult would give him the benefit of the doubt, but four times in less than two weeks seemed a little excessive. I could hear the jealousy dragon whispering in my ear, taunting me. I had met Candace a couple times and liked her, but I couldn't help wondering if she'd been waiting in the wings to swoop in and claim Alec. It was aggravating.

You still there? Alec texted when I didn't answer.

Yeah. The signing was good. My answer was passive compared to what I really wanted to say.

That's good, babe. I'm sorry I had to miss it. Eventually things will get back to normal.

Me too, I texted, pushing the dragon back to the pits where it belonged. I'm supposed to meet everyone for brunch so I better go. I'll call you later.

Okay, love. Tell your family I said hi. I love you.

Ok. Love you too, I typed. I tossed the phone on the edge of the bed in frustration. How ironic that Mom and Olivia were worried about me when my boyfriend was back at home spending every evening with someone he'd slept with. Someone he shared a child with.

"Everything okay?" Olivia asked as my phone slid off the bed and landed on the floor.

"Fine," I grumbled, stomping into the bathroom and slamming the door behind me.

I hoped the shower would cool me off, but my sour mood still lingered after getting dressed. Olivia remained quiet while she got ready. I rarely had bad moods, but when it happened I didn't want to talk about it.

Everyone was already waiting in the reception area of the restaurant when Olivia and I arrived. Greg smiled broadly, making a move toward me, but I squeezed myself between Mom and Dad as the hostess showed us to our table. I managed to snag the chair between them and thankfully Greg was stuck at the far end of the table. In my current state of mind I wasn't ready to tackle that problem. Olivia wasn't as lucky. Tony gave her no option but to sit next to him when he all but bumped Riley out of the seat next to her. The look on Olivia's face might have been funny if I wouldn't have been stewing over Alec.

Once the waitress took our drink orders, she gave us the lowdown on the brunch buffet before inviting us to help ourselves. Greg took the opportunity to saddle up to my side as I was spooning breakfast potatoes onto my plate.

"Morning," he said, picking up the spoon after I placed it back down.

"Hey." I shuffled sideways to add space between us. I tried not to be obvious, but I could tell by his puzzled expression that I wasn't fooling him.

"Do I smell bad?" He laughed, lifting the hem of his shirt for a quick whiff. I didn't mean to look, but my eyes seemed to move instinctively to peek at his well-toned abs. He smirked, catching me in the act as I shuffled sideways again. The back of my neck was becoming warmer by the second. My face was sure to follow. I ducked my head, absentmindedly spooning grits on my plate even though I absolutely detested them. I dropped the spoon, feeling ridiculous. Yesterday Greg could have shown me his abs and I would have thought nothing of it, but something had changed.

"Did you see they were having a Walking Dead marathon last night?" he asked, following me around the buffet station. During a long stretch of driving through Georgia we discovered our shared appreciation of zombie movies. Greg's tastes leaned more toward the humorous movies, while I preferred the gorier classics.

It was becoming more difficult not to answer him without raising his suspicions that something was wrong. The problem was Greg was easy to talk to. He just had a way about him. I wasn't ready to confront him, but I also didn't want the awkwardness to continue in front of everyone at the table. "Oh yeah? Damn. Olivia and I sat around watching infomercials." 

"Informercials? What a waste. You missed the classic episode where the walkers overrun Hershel's farm."

"Rub it in even more why don't you," I said, sticking out my tongue at him as I dropped a couple pancakes on my plate. His eyes narrowed and focused on my mouth, making my stomach drop like a ton of bricks. There was no mistaking the look in his eyes. It made me wonder how long I had been missing the signals. Maybe I was subconsciously flattered and just didn't want to stop a little harmless flattery. If that was the case, I had been foolishly naïve. I left him at the buffet station without saying another word, still uncertain of how to handle my dilemma.

I sat quiet as a mouse at the table, barely touching my food. My dad surprised me by gently squeezing my hand. "You okay, sweetheart?" My mind had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Alec and Greg that the conversation going around the table sounded like a muffled hum.

"What's that, Daddy?" I asked, jumping slightly in my chair.

"I said, are you okay? You haven't touched a thing on your plate there."

Mom leaned across my body to whisper something in his ear. "Oh, I hope you feel better," Dad whispered, giving me a tender hug.

I looked at Mom who winked and squeezed my hand under the table before changing the subject to her plans to turn Zachary's old bedroom into a library. She had accumulated a sizable collection of books, mostly from me since I collected them from the many book events I had attended during the past year.

As brunch began to wind down, I found myself already missing the sanctuary of the buffer my family provided. Soon my tour mates and I would be back on the bus that just a day ago seemed so large, but now felt like a cramped elevator.

Greg left the restaurant before the rest of the group to check us out of the hotel and to get our belongings loaded onto the Love Bus. I needed to stop calling it that. Love Bus suddenly sounded misleading and definitely wrong.

My family and I walked slowly to the lobby, not quite ready to say our goodbyes. Mom hung back with me, waiting for everyone to move ahead of us.

"You okay, sweetie?"

I returned a wry smile. "Besides wishing that my mom wasn't the smartest person in world, I'm fine. I feel like an idiot for missing something that was pretty obvious to everyone else."

"Well, sometimes it's easy to miss what's right in front of you. I'm confident you'll do the right thing. Contrary to what you believe, you're not an idiot. Your brother Zachary though—" We watched as Zachary was in the process of trying to jump over one of the small couches in the hotel lobby before Ashley quickly grabbed his arm and chastised him. 

"I'm still shocked she said yes when he proposed," I said, shaking my head. "I guess she's been around long enough now to know what she's in for."

Greg already had the Beast idling at the curb when we walked out into the bright sunlight. One of the craziest things about the tour was the change in temperature from one state to the next. We'd left frigid temperatures behind in New York. Tennessee was a little warmer. Of course, Florida was a mild seventy degrees when we rolled in, which was what I was used to.

Mom hugged Tina and Monica before they climbed aboard the RV, giving me a chance to say my own goodbyes. Michelle and Riley spent a few extra minutes speaking before she climbed on board. Curiously, I wondered if they would stay in touch. I would keep my fingers crossed.

"Be careful, baby," Dad said, pulling me in for a bear hug.

I inhaled deeply, loving the fact that he'd been wearing the same cologne all my life. "I will, Daddy," I said, snuggling close.

"No walking anywhere by yourself and keep your pepper spray on you at all times."

"I will," I reassured him.

Tony, Riley, and Zachary decided it would be funny to squish Ashley and me as we hugged. "Your brothers," Ashley said, rolling her eyes when we could breathe again.

I agreed as they all chest-bumped. "Don't keep me out of the wedding plans," I added. "And no puffy dresses."

"You mean you don't want a dress that requires six petticoats and endless layers of tulle?"

"Please no."

She laughed, giving me another quick hug now that we weren't being squished by Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest.

Olivia lightly socked my arm. "I'll text you later, slutbag. I'll be expecting details," she said, nodding toward the RV.

"As will I." My eyes cut to Tony. "It's time to jump."

"I don't like to jump," she muttered.

I smiled and gave her an impulsive hug. She stiffened in my arms, but I didn't take it personally. That was my Olivia.

Mom was my final and hardest goodbye. We would be seeing each other soon enough on the West Coast, but I missed her already. "I'll see you soon, sweetie," she said, cupping my face. "I know you'll be responsible and handle what we talked about. You've always had a solid head on your shoulders."

I nodded even though she was still holding my face. "Thank you."

"I love you," she said, giving me a hug.

I threw one last wave over my shoulder as I stepped aboard the RV. Greg closed the door and I sat down on the couch, digging through my bag.

Greg turned to walk to the driver's seat, looking confused. "What are you doing?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night, so I thought I'd take a nap," I lied, palming the Dramamine I had pulled from my bag. I chased the small pill down with a sip of Sprite, hoping that would help any nausea.

"The seat up here reclines."

"That's okay. This is better. I can stretch out more." I yawned dramatically, expecting him to take the hint. Feeling like the world's biggest ass-face, I laid back with my sweater over my face to avoid his eyes that I felt probing me for an answer for my sudden one-hundred-eighty-degree behavior.

"Hey, Greg, eventually you're going to have to actually pull away from the hotel, or are you waiting for the RV to teleport to our next destination?" Tina called out from her recliner. Michelle and Monica snorted with laughter.

"All right. I guess we're all settled then," he responded. I heard the click of his seatbelt before the RV began to move. Thankful to have his attention off me, I opened my eyes and peered out the long set of windows to watch the passing landscape. After a moment the small amount of brunch I had consumed began to churn uncomfortably in my stomach. I closed my eyes again, giving the Dramamine a chance to work before I entered puking death mode.

As I lay on the couch trying to relax, I took the opportunity to be productive and plot out the next few chapters of my current manuscript in my head. Usually I preferred to plan out my books while I was alone, but I had nothing else to work on that wouldn't make me nauseous during the drive.

Monica, Tina, and Michelle chattered on about different bits of gossip in the book world. I wanted to sit up and join in the conversation for the first time during the trip. After what transpired during the Gainesville stop, I couldn't help wondering if they had noticed the same thing about Greg that Mom and Olivia had. Maybe the three of them had even talked about it in private, and I had turned into their inside joke without even realizing it. They may have even suspected that Greg and I were having some sort of affair.