Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Maybe.”
So Sia still didn’t remember our plans last night. And they were buzzing my place while I was trapped in a dark closet with Dawn. I started to move forward again, reaching for the door, but she blocked me.
“No. They could come back.”
“Dawn.” I grabbed her arm. Two could play at this. “Either move, or I will move you.”
“Just wait. Okay? They’re going to come back and look for you.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” she snapped at me.
“And why do you think that?”
“Because you don’t go anywhere, like me. If you’re not in your place, they’ll know you’re down here.”
“Oh, good grief.” I needed to get a life. Now. “Move away from the door. I want to talk to them.”
“Just wai—” A ping sounded in the closet, followed by a myriad of bells ringing.
I knew that sound. “You have Sia’s phone!”
“No, I don’t.”
But she did. The sounds kept coming, which Sia had set on purpose. She never wanted to miss something. Dawn pulled it out from wherever she’d had it hidden. It lit up the closet, and I saw enough to grab it and push past her at the same time.
“No!” She came after me.
I hit the accept button for the text message and read the message from Jake: Where are you, phone? If someone finds this, please call my number.
I’d had enough. I hit the call button and lifted it to my ear.
“No!” Dawn tried to grab the phone from me.
I held her off, leveling her with a warning. “You are unbelievable. At first I thought you thought you were too good for me. Then I felt bad for you. You were shy. That’s what Jake said, and now I find out you stole my best friend’s phone? Were you down here while they were swimming?”
If looks could kill, I’d have been ashes.
Then Jake answered his phone. “Hello? You have Sia’s phone?”
“Hi, Jake. Yeah. It’s Addison.”
“Addison?” I could hear him pull away from the phone. “Addison has your phone,” he told Sia.
I could hear her in the background. “Oh, thank goodness. Hi, Addy!”
He came back. “Are you home? We just tried buzzing your place.”
“I’m in the lobby.”
“Oh good.” He pulled away again. “She found your phone downstairs.”
“She did?” Sia questioned, her voice distant. “That’s so weird. I wonder where I left it. Where was she? We were just down there.”
I returned Dawn’s glare. As she heard the conversation, horror bloomed in her eyes, and she began shaking her head. “Don’t tell him. Please. Don’t tell either of them.”
“Okay,” Jake said. “You want to come up here or should we come down there?”
I didn’t answer right away, mulling over my best course of action.
Dawn mouthed, “Please. Please!”
I groaned. “I’ll come up there.” Then I forced a lightness in my voice. “Are you guys dressed? Do I need to cover my eyes when I come in?”
He laughed. “We’re dressed. We were already out and about today, too.”
“Addison, we need to have drinks tonight!”
“Yeah. Drinks sound great. Be up in a bit.” I hung up and placed my hands on my hips. “What the hell were you thinking? Did you break her code?”
“No.” Some of the fight seemed to have left Dawn. She moved back a step and her head hung slightly. “I could just read the texts the way you did now. You know her code?”
“I’m her best friend. Of course I do.”
“That’s nice.” Her shoulders drooped. “That’s really private. She must trust you.”
“Yeah, and you know what? I’m going to tell her you stole the phone.”
Her head shot up. “You can’t. Please. Please don’t.”
“Why not?” I felt like I was bartering with a child. “Give me a good reason why I should break her trust in me?”
“Because…” Dawn’s hands came up in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know. I’ve loved Jake for a year, and it’s hard. You have no idea how hard it is. He finally looked at me. You have no clue what it’s like to always be around, but never have someone look at you, really look at you. He did. A month ago. There was a moment, and then you moved in, and you brought her along. Now it’s back to how it was before. He doesn’t even see me. He walks right past me.”
Okay. My heartstrings tugged a little, but only a little. I held up the phone. “So you stole Sia’s phone?”
“Yeah. Because…I don’t know. I was hoping for information.”
“What kind of information?”
“Like…” She shrugged, looking away. “What does he like? Does he flirt on the phone? How did she get him? She’s not prettier than me. I might be weird, sometimes, but I can look good. I know I can. Derek thinks so.”
“So date Derek.”
“No way. He’s weird.”
“So are you.” I cringed as soon as the words were out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, but the two of you are similar. Jake and Sia, they’re similar.”