Page 67 of Forbidden Hearts

Isabella nods and laughs.

“Where’s Professor Hottie?” Gianna asks.

“Professor Hottie had to leave,” I say. “So more beer for us!”

Professor Hottie. If only Gianna knew Alonzo has become, at least for the moment, my handsome protector and orgasm machine. I squeeze my thighs together as I remember our shower earlier this afternoon.

A sudden sinking feeling pools low in my stomach. We’re halfway through the semester. When it’s over, Alonzo will probably move on to his next fling and leave me behind.

I’m going to miss him.

I chug my cup of beer to forget about the inevitable end. After a few drinks and snacks, I’m back to enjoying the night with the girls.

At some point in the night, the girls and I are chilling at the edge of the festival’s property. We hang by the short barred fence that separates the property and the slope that dips into the lazy river that splits San Marquez in half.

My phone buzzes as I look out into the river. The moon’s reflection is scattered across the slow ripples of the moving water. When it buzzes again, I take it out and look at the screen.

It’s Mom.

An icy chill runs down my arm as I answer the phone. It’s late on a Saturday night. Mom never calls this late…

Chapter 32

Alex

“Hello? Mom, is something wrong?” I answer. I walk a few feet away from the girls to hear better. Loud music blasts from the speakers over the food stands, and Gianna loudly sings along to it.

“Alex, honey,” Mom says. “I just wanted to thank you for the food.”

“What food?” I ask. I’m dropping off her food tomorrow. Same as I always do every Sunday.

“Your friend came to drop it off. I wasn’t expecting it so late, especially because it’s a long drive to San Marquez. But thank you both.”

“Mom?” I ask, wondering what she’s talking about. “What do you mean? What friend?”

“Your friend, silly,” she says. “Oh, he wants to speak with you. He’s still here. Let me hand him the phone.”

“Hi, sweetheart,” a man’s voice says.

My heart stops in my chest, and a cold chill flushes over the rest of my body.

A knot tightens around my throat. “What are you doing there?” I force the words out.

“You have the sweetest mother,” Jacob says. “How come you never introduced us?”

I look over my shoulder at the girls. Gianna is leaning against the fence, singing out into the river and the wilderness beyond it. Abby and Isabella are looking at something on their phones.

“What are you doing, Jacob?” I whisper into the phone. “How did you—”

“Have you found my money yet?”

“No,” I say. “Not yet.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ve been thinking a lot this past week and something doesn’t feel quite right. You know what I think? I think youdon’twant to find the money.”

I hear Mom’s voice in the background. It’s low, but I manage to hear her say, “What’s going on? What money?”

“Hush!” Jacob yells at her.

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