Danny

Charlee had gone numb the moment she read Drew’s name. There was no way, no way, this could be true. She crushed the letter in her hand. How dare he try to put this off on Drew, the one person besides Gwen and her grandmother she’d always trusted with her life? Drew was the best friend anybody could ask for, and she’d been just as devastated about this as Charlee had been. She even cried with her for days. For Danny to throw this on her—Drew insisted he go through with it? Horse shit!

As livid as she felt, she was glad now that she’d read it. Now she could accept what a worthless piece of shit Danny really was. He was still trying to feed her the crap about thinking she was special and meaning everything he’d said so sincerely back then. Did he really expect her to believe that when in the very same letter he accused Drew of being in on the whole thing—the worst thing that Charlee had ever had to live through?

Even as she walked back to her seat with the letter now crushed in her pocket, she felt a bit numb. She knew this was impossible. Drew would never do something like that to her. Charlee couldn’t even think of an instance in which they’d have no choice but to go through with it.

She racked her memory now, thinking back to how it all had happened to begin with, and her stomach dropped a bit, remembering how Drew was the one who had encouraged her to accept the invitation that she’d already turned down. As much as she liked Danny, she was so excruciatingly shy she couldn’t even imagine going to a regular party with him. But Drew was the one who insisted she go. Charlee had finally agreed but said she would only go if he asked again. There was no way she was bringing it up again, and secretly she hoped he wouldn’t—that maybe he’d already asked somebody else. Then the very next day, he brought it up again.

With her heart starting to thump, she shook her head as she reached her row of seats. It was just a coincidence. There was no way in hell Drew would do something like that to her. No way, and she was done even entertaining the very idea.

They landed at LAX just before 9:00 p.m., but since their bodies were on Eastern Time, they were all still exhausted. Natalie picked up Walter while Abel and Drew picked up Hector and Charlee. As much as she hated saying goodbye to Hector, she could hardly wait to get to her bed. She was so exhausted.

She told Drew all about her weekend and even gave her some of the specifics of how she’d finally got to live out some of the hot fantasies she’d had of Hector. Drew giggled incessantly when Charlee told her about the way she’d woken Hector up on their flight there.

“Does not surprise me in the least that he’s so damn hot in bed,” Drew said as she pulled into a gas station. “I’m not gonna lie to you, Charlee, and this was before you two got together. So like we’ve always fantasized about the same guys in the past, and I wasn’t breaking any girlfriend code or anything, but I’m just gonna admit it,” she said as she parked and pulled the hand brake up. “I had a few pretty steamy fantasies of my own that involved Hector.” She shrugged, opening her door. “You’re one lucky girl. Your man is hot.”

Charlee sat there as her friend walked around the car and swiped her credit card at the pump. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered her in the least, but given the crumpled letter in her pocket and the roller coaster of emotions she’d felt ever since she read it, her mind was still a bit dazed. Thoughts of Drew fantasizing about Hector continued to linger annoyingly for a few more minutes until Drew’s phone ringing loudly startled her out of them.

“Is that my phone?” Drew asked from where she stood, pumping gas in her car.

“Yes,” Charlee yelled out.

“Answer it if it’s my dad. He’s actually home tonight, and I told him to text me if he wanted me to pick something up for him on the way home. But he always calls instead.”

Charlee glanced back at the screen on Drew’s phone. Sure enough, Daddy flashed across it as it rang again. She picked up and answered. “Hi, Mr. Morris, this is Charlee. Drew is pumping gas right now.”

“Hi, Charlee,” he responded cheerfully. “I trust Drew was on time? She was worried she might not be.”

“She was right there waiting when I came down the escalators.” She smiled; already any negative thoughts of Drew were fading fast.

He told her what he wanted from KFC, and Charlee assured him she’d relay the message. When she hung up, she noticed the picture on Drew’s screen and smiled. It was one Drew took just after they arrived at the airport this past summer. They both smiled big as Drew held up the phone in front of them and took it. Drew said the photo would represent their “new beginning.”

Drew had taken a lot of pictures that day and in the ones that followed. That felt like a lifetime ago now, and Charlee searched her phone for more photos. Hitting something that popped up Drew’s text message log, she froze when she saw Hector’s name near the top. Was it possible that Drew knew another Hector? Not likely. Charlee would’ve heard about him already. But Drew would’ve mentioned it to Charlee if they’d ever texted. She hit his name and was certain now this had to be another Hector. There were way too many messages between them for Drew not to have mentioned this.

Feeling a little underhanded and guilty that she would suspect anything of not just Drew but Hector as well because he hadn’t mentioned anything either, she glanced back to see where Drew was. She appeared to be wrapping it up, so Charlee scrolled up quickly and read a few of the exchanges.