We both watch in silence as May takes off across the room with the kite package in her hand.
"What's going on with Ad?" I don't mince words. I know Ellie well enough to keep the bullshit to a minimum. "Is it her roommate?"
"Sydney?" Ellie says her name slowly. "What's happening with her?"
I wasn't looking for a question or two in reply to my question. I want an answer. "Her boyfriend did something last night that sent her into a tailspin. Adley had to go home to be the shoulder to cry on."
"Go home?" She waves an impatient hand at me. "You were with Ad last night? How was she?"
Three questions now instead of an answer. Fuck this is frustrating. "Why is Adley not coming to dinner, Bean?"
A brief smile passes over her lips at the nickname. Adley coined it years before I met either of them. Ellie is apparently her jelly bean, whatever the fuck that means. I took up the name myself because it used to irritate the shit out of Ellie. She's grown t
o love hearing me say it, even if she won't admit it.
"Your guess is as good as mine. She texted me an hour ago to tell me she wasn't coming. I sent her a message back asking why and she went silent."
I scrub a hand over my face. This is completely out of character for her. She's like a sister to Ellie. They tell each other everything. I should know. Nolan has let too many things slip about Adley that he was told in confidence by his wife. I'm the one who has benefited from that so I haven't told him to mind his own business yet.
"It's probably nothing." Ellie shrugs. "Maybe she has a date."
Trey Fucking Hale must have called her. Who the hell can blame him after the way she looked last night?
"Is there a baseball game tonight?" I gesture toward the television above the fireplace.
She shakes her head. "You know my rule about no television during dinner, Crew."
Sure. It detracts from our time together. It kills brain cells, and whatever else Ellie read online about how detrimental it is. I've heard it a thousand times.
"You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?" she asks playfully.
I highly doubt that. I'm thinking about how good it would feel to have my hand wrapped around Hale's neck while I'm squeezing that signature cocky grin off his face.
My eyebrows draw together with the question we both know is sitting on the tip of my tongue.
"She gave Trey Hale her number last night." She smiles like that's the best thing that's happened since Nolan dropped to one knee and proposed. "I think they make the perfect couple, don't you?"
I think I should have gone with my first instinct and crushed his phone in my palm.
"She was so excited about it she sent me a text late last night. I hope she's with him right now." Ellie takes a step to the side. "She needs a guy like that. I need some food so let's eat."
I take the hint and walk toward the dining room even though I want to turn on my heel and go in search of Adley.
I can't. She gets to choose who she spends her time with. If that's Hale, so be it. I'm the one who has to learn to live with it.
Fuck if I know how to do that.
Chapter 5
Adley
If I had known that our dinner destination was Nova, I might have declined. It's recognized for not only the food but the fact that it's the place to come in Manhattan if you're in search of a surprise celebrity sighting.
That's the main reason there's a cluster of photographers across the street. They keep their cameras trained on the front of the restaurant and the endless line of chauffeured driven cars that drop off people who have made it their business to be famous.
I suspect that's why Trey brought me here. He hesitated when we exited the car. His hand was on my hip, his brown eyes focused on my face and not the front of my light blue dress. He put on a good show for anyone who was watching. I didn't take part since I wasn't handed a script on how to play the pro baseball star's date.
I'm winging it, including keeping my face covered by the large menu as Trey signs autographs and talks to his mostly female fans about the hamstring injury that has benched him for the past three weeks.