Page 67 of Flipping the Script

“What if they don’t leave?”

“I’ll make them.”

He fisted his hands in my shirt. “Okay.”

“Just keep your head down and don’t stop until you’re outside. I’ll follow you to your car to make sure no one is hanging around or snapping pics of you. Okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” He pressed his face into my neck and breathed deep.

The contact felt nice.

“You good?” I said, my voice a bit gruff.

“Yeah.” He drew in another deep breath, then let go of me on his exhale and stepped back.

“Ready?”

“Wait.” He pulled out his phone. “You don’t have my number.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“No, you don’t.” He unlocked it, the screen bright, even in night mode. “That’s my other cell.”

“You have more than one cell?”

“Yeah. One for work shit and one that’s just for friends and family.” He opened a new contact and typed on the screen.

“Which number do I have?”

“My work one.” He finished typing and handed me the phone. “Put your number in and text yourself.”

“Which number does Adam have?” I took the phone. “Seriously?” I asked when I saw the name he’d programmed in. “Jesus?”

“Don’t feel too bad. Everyone in that phone is under a fake name. And Adam has my real cell.”

“It’s weird that you and my little brother are so close.” I typed in my number and saved it. “Why is everyone in here under a fake name?”

“It’s even weirder that my little sister is basically your little sister. And it’s just a precaution in case someone sees my contact list.”

“You know that won’t actually stop someone if they want to know who you’re texting. They just have to look up the number.” I sent myself a text.

“I know that, smartass. But it helps if some lookie-loo is peeping over my shoulder or sneaks a look when my back is turned. If someone steals it, then it doesn’t matter what security I have. They can access everything.”

I was paranoid about my phone, but that was because I was a cheap bastard and hated the environmental impact and human suffering from mining electronic parts and refused to replace any sort of tech until it was unusable. I couldn’t imagine having to worry about people stealing it or trying to sneak peeks to get access to my private info and possibly make it public.

“How do you keep your nudes safe?” I asked as he slipped his phone back in his pocket.

“I don’t keep any on it. It’s safer not to.”

The mention of things being not safe reminded me that we were in the middle of a situation and this wasn’t the time to chat about random stuff.

“You good?” I asked, looking around the dark room. A few people had come in and out while we’d been talking, but no one had come near us or was paying us any attention. “I think it’s safe.”

“Yeah.” He cracked his knuckles. “Thanks for this.”

“Don’t mention it. This?—”

“Never happened.” He smirked. “I know.”

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