Page 37 of Tell Me It’s Right

Asher, Makayla, Leo, Fletch.

I turn it off, then put the car in drive.

I don’t know where I’m going. South, maybe. And as far as a full tank of gas will get me.

Chapter Fourteen

GRACIE

By some miracle, I sleep off the rest of the migraine. And by the time I wake, Liam is gone.

Not just from my bed. He all but disappears for the next few days, aside from a text letting me know the shop won’t be open. When I replied asking why, he never messaged back. And when I asked Leo about it, he shrugged it off. Since asking more than once would be weird—or worse, he tells Liam I kept asking about him—I figure most of my work can be done from home anyway, and the sooner I finish, the sooner I can show off the results.

Carson snorts from across the table, and when I peek at her over the top of my laptop, she doesn’t even try to hide her smirk.

“What?” I demand.

She lifts the gigantic neon mug housing her latte and takes a sip. “You’re beating those poor keys like you’retryingto get everyone in here to look at you.”

My fingers freeze midword as I take in the coffee shop around us. People are, indeed, staring. I slip my headphones playing myClassical Focusplaylist down and let them hang around my neck.

Since running into each other, Carson and I have started texting here and there. When I told her I was checking out anew coffee shop in Edgewater because it looked like a cozy place to get some work done, she offered to tag along, though she’s sitting there flipping through gossip magazines while I chug enough caffeine to have me vibrating as I tackle my to-do list. But growing the social accounts could take some time. Getting them all set up and ready to go is only the first step. I figure if I can knock those and the website out before seeing Liam again, we can hit the ground running.

This place has better chairs than any of the Sweetspire shops—thick cushions, and wide enough to sit cross-legged—but the coffee itself isn’t nearly as good. Of everywhere I’ve tried, Milano’s still reigns supreme.

My phone screen lights up on the table, and I let out a groan through my teeth as I scan the text notification.

“Liam?” Carson asks, feigning innocence.

“Leo,” I correct, snatching the phone off the table. He let me borrow his car to drive out here, but he underestimated how long I can hunker down in a coffee shop.

“Do you ever…let off steam?”

I peer at Carson again, and she’s watching me with a scrunched brow and a look in her eyes like I’m an exhibit at a zoo.

“What do you mean? I’m fine. I’m completely steam-free.” I go to take a sip of my coffee, but I’m already at the bottom. Of my second cup.

“You have no neck left.” She gestures to her shoulders, and I realize mine are, indeed, hunched all the way up to my ears. When I relax them down, my muscles ache in protest.

She folds her hands together on the table and leans forward. “You should come to my place tonight. We’re having a few people over. You can meet my roommates. It’ll be fun!”

I wince. “I’m not really great at parties. And it’s a Wednesday.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s not a party. And you’ll be with me! And you could bring someone with, if you want. You said yourself you haven’t been out much since you’ve been back. Live a little!”

Why are people always telling me that?

“Oh, come on.” She reaches across the table and latches on to my arm. “Tell me you’ll come. Please. Please. Pretty please?”

People are definitely starting to look at us again.

“Okay—okay!” I whisper-scream and swat her hand away. “Stop causing a scene or we’ll never be able to come back here.”

She snorts. “I think that ship has already sailed.”

Talking Leo into letting me borrow his car again tonight is no easy feat, but all it takes is Keava reminding him it’ll probably be dark by the time I head back for him to relent. She gives me an amused, knowing smile from behind the kitchen counter as Leo drops the keys into my waiting palm.

“There aren’t going to be drugs at this party, are there?” Leo asks.

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