Chapter 21: I Hear A "But"

Josh had played the morning over in his head a million times, and each time he cringed when he got to the point where he didn't stand up for Payton. He wished he had said something to the guys right then. Better yet, he wished the guys had kept their mouths shut. Sometimes the guys just didn't think, and sure, he was guilty of that too, but he hoped it had never caused the kind of problems it had this morning. The guys knew they'd messed up and tried to apologize to him, but he let them know that he wasn't the one that they needed to be apologizing to.

After she left, he'd gone back to his place and called to see if he could talk to her. He hated that she felt she couldn't measure up to Ella. He hoped he'd never given her any reason to feel that way, and he'd work hard to prove to her that she never did again. Hailey had just about let him have it on the phone that morning.

"She's in the shower Josh," she told him.

Letting out a sigh, he said, "Yeah, just like she's washing her hair t