Page 114 of Stolen Summer

“She’ll be worth the wait,” Crew said.

The door clicked closed, and I leaned against the wall, releasing a much needed breath. I didn’t immediately leave the bathroom, but stayed, willing my damn heart to level. Putting the top down on the toilet, I sat, dropping my head into my hands. He’d ignored me this long. What changed? Why did he show up tonight of all nights? Had something happened?

I considered texting Cole and stood, walking into the bedroom to grab my phone from the charger. Frankie sat on the bed, her feet dangling off the end, arms propped behind her. “You had a visitor.”

Unplugging my phone, I frowned as I met her eyes. “I heard. Thanks for covering for me.”

“Do you think you’ll ever be able to forgive them?” she asked.

I blinked, taking a moment to consider before responding because my automatic answer was no, but I wasn’t sure if that was true. “I don’t know. Did Cole say something to you?”

“No.” It was a very unconvincing no. I knew my best friend and spotted the lie.

“Frankie,” I growled, sitting on the edge of my bed with my phone clutched between my fingers.

She swung around on her bed so she faced me on the side versus the end. “It wasn’t Cole,” she revealed.

If Frankie hadn’t been talking to Cole since we’d arrived on campus, then why did I get the feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me? “Then who?”

Silence.

I stared at her, and the answer came to me. Shit. She wouldn’t have. But the thing was, Frankie would. “You’ve talked to Crew.” I couldn’t keep the accusation or the hurt from my voice. My best friend talking to the enemy felt like a betrayal. “You went behind my back. You kept it from me."

“It wasn’t like that,” she insisted, the denial coming fast off her lips. “You know I’ve never been able to keep a damn thing from you. We ran into each other. One thing led to another.”

“As long as your tongue didn’t end up in his mouth,” I snapped, annoyed with my best friend but more irritated with Crew.

“And if it did, would you be jealous?”

My eyes flashed.

Her lips curled as if the idea pleased her. “I can see you would. Don’t worry. I’d never step on your territory. We’ve always stuck to the girl code, and we’ll continue to do so. You’re way more important than any dick could ever be.”

My shoulders relaxed. “He’s not mine.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Arie.” She handed me a piece of paper, and recognition bulldozed into me as I glanced down.

It was a drawing. One of Crew’s. More specifically, the one of me he’d drawn when we’d been shut inside his house during the hurricane. Something in my chest opened.

Saturday rolled around, and the storm hadn’t let up. Rain pelted against the window, and I pressed my cheek to the cool glass, doing my damnedest and failing to not let memories of Crew creep in. Would every storm make me think of him?

Frankie emerged from the bathroom, a billow of steam following her as she stepped into our bedroom in a shorts set and a towel wrapped around her wet hair. “There’s a party tonight.” She moved to the closet we shared.

Shifting away from the window, I sat in the middle of my bed, folding my legs into a pretzel. An open textbook sat on my right, my laptop on my left. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

She thumbed through the clothes, including mine. We’d been sharing every aspect of our lives, except boys, since elementary school. “You can’t stay shut up in this room for the entire school year.”

I plucked the book off my bed and onto my lap, taking a deep inhale in hopes of gaining the focus that had deserted me the last few days. “I came to study not party.”

She examined a black sheer top. “Since when can’t Arie Quinn do both?”

I shot her a look.

Frankie held the top up, waiting for my opinion. “I’ve never seen you this turned up over a guy.”

I shook my head at her silent wardrobe question. “Don’t you mean guys?”

Frankie shook her head, slipping the top back onto the rack. “No, I think you know what you want. The question is, why aren’t you taking it? Since when don’t you go after what you want? I’m the one who is careless in love. Not you.”

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