There are more texts from Ben on my phone.
Hey. Did you get home okay?
You could have woken me up.
Seriously, just text me so I know you’re not dead.
I perch on the edge of my bed, take a bite of my bagel, and text him back.
I’m not dead. I got home fine.
My phone rings immediately. Way to play it cool, Ben.
I swipe to answer it. “Hey.”
“It’s rude to leave a guy in bed, you know.”
“Is it?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Do you usually sleep with the murder suspect of your podcast?”
“The suspect in season one was a man.”
“Is that a no?”
“It’s a no.” He sounds amused.
“Do you usually forget the condom?”
“No. Uh, I’m sorry about that, I don’t—”
“It’s fine, that’s my fault too. I have birth control covered, I was just sort of hoping you hadn’t been raw-doggin’ it all over Los Angeles.”
He lets out a short, startled laugh. “I have not been raw-doggin’ it all over Los Angeles. Or anywhere. Usually.”
Just with me, then. I don’t know whether I feel special or insulted.
“I feel like your podcaster ethics have really gone to shit here, Ben.” I mean it as a criticism, but he laughs.
“Whatever. No one ever accused me of making good decisions.”
“Questionable ethics, but you can’t argue with the results!” The words I read about Ben a couple of weeks ago float through my mind, and I have to work not to laugh. No one can say I wasn’t warned.
In truth, no one ever accused me of making good decisions either.
“You want to get breakfast?” he asks. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“I need to write. Talk to me now.”
He pauses, and then clears his throat. “Uh, yeah. Okay. So, I’m putting together a bonus episode for tomorrow with the stuff I recorded with Matt yesterday. I want to send it to you first and let you veto it.”
Veto it? I had sex with the man two times and I’m now apparently in charge of the podcast. I’m either proud of myself or horrified. Hard to say.
“Why do I get to do that?”
“Because it includes an interview that makes me uncomfortable. I’ll cut it if you ask me to.”
“Who’s the interview with?”
“Maya Harper.”
My stomach clenches the way it always does when someone mentions Maya. Savvy’s little sister.
“Send me the interview.”
Listen for the Lie Podcast with Ben Owens MAYA’S INTERVIEW UNEDITED SEGMENT
Hello, friends. I’m back, earlier than expected, because something happened last night. I met Lucy at a local bar—which you all know already, because you’ve seen the pictures on Twitter. Yes, we were having a drink, and no, it’s not nearly as scandalous as you all seem to think it is.
As we were leaving the bar, Matt pulled into the parking lot and got out of his car. Here’s what happened.
[scuffling noises]
“Hello, Matt.”
“You son of a bitch, I should wring your neck.”
[scuffling, grunting]
That sound you hear? That’s Matt punching me in the face.
“I am going to sue you for every penny you’re worth.”
“I’ll give you my lawyer’s number. Can you take your hands off me, please?”
[banging noise]
Matt slams me into the car here.
“Matt!”
That’s Lucy. She’s standing nearby as this happens.
“Beverly is a [inaudible], and that one is a fucking liar!”
“That one” refers to Lucy here, because he points at her.
That’s the general consensus, right? Lucy is lying. Lucy is hiding something.
Well, we’ve already established that Matt is lying too—he wasn’t at home the night Savannah died, even though he told police that he was.
And Kyle Porter suggested on this podcast that something might have been going on between Savannah and Matt. Savannah’s younger sister, Maya Harper, gave me a piece of her mind about that.
Maya:?????????????Savvy never slept with Matt. It’s bullshit that Kyle said that, and it’s bullshit that you put it on your podcast.
Ben:???????????????Okay. Can you tell me more about that?
Maya:?????????????About how you’re an asshole?
Ben:???????????????About why you think it’s bullshit that Savvy slept with Matt.
Maya:?????????????She hated Matt. The first time she told me about Lucy, she said all this nice stuff about her and then goes, “And she’s married to this total dipshit who kept looking at my boobs when I talked.”