Page 111 of The Roommate Lie

“It’s your day off,” he tells her, “and I owe him. This will be like the time he helped me track you down in Virginia—but with way less running.”

She nods before stealing my coffee and pulling me to my feet, shoving me toward the door. I don’t want to go. Halfway across the living room, I dig in my heels.

“It’s no use. She’s too good for me. She’s never going to pick me.”

Dean rests his hands on my shoulders and channels all the older-brother energy he can muster. They must have some kind of universal playbook because it works like a charm.

“But what if she does like you?” he says. “What if she picked you a long time ago?”

What if…

Finding out the opposite is going to break my heart, but I’m already heartbroken. What’s a little extra pain? It’s not like I have anything left to lose.

“If she says no, Raven will meet us downtown for pie. Our treat.”

“You can be as pathetic as you want,” Raven adds. “We won’t even make fun of you.”

I can be as pathetic as I want,andRaven won’t make fun of me?Sold. Not knowing is going to hurt worse anyway. If Alice is going to walk out the door, I might as well let her close it behind her. Finish this once and for all.

We head outside, but someone’s already on the front porch waiting for me. I’ve been found, and Lydia Sharp doesn’t look happy to see me—not even if she’s the one who came looking.

“Charlie Roscoe, I’m going tomurderyou.”

ALICE

“Next stop, home sweet home.”

That should be a comforting thought, but it isn’t. Emma’s voice is bright as we pile in the back of my dad’s rental car. But all her words make me feel is dread.

Where’s Charlie?

He never came back after he disappeared again last night. Lydia didn’t even know where he was when she hugged me goodbye this morning. She just pressed a Ziplock bag into my hands, told me the gift was Charlie’s idea, and then she apologized he wasn’t there. What else could she do?

I cradle the Fishbowl of Destiny bag in my lap—the sweetest gift I’ve ever received—and try to keep myself together. My sisters are no help. They couldn’t read the room if their lives depended on it.

“I’m actually going to miss this place,” Emma sighs, and Nicki nods, looking calm and content for the first time in months as she digs out her phone. Shoving it at me, she gestures to something on the screen.

“Have you seen this?” she asks.

I haven’t, but it looks like a forum for people with her eye condition. Nicki has clicked on one of the posts, and she zooms out of the magnification mode on her phone so I can read it out loud. “My roommate’s sister is in town, and she has Stargardt’s. What can I do to make her more comfortable? What helps you the most on a daily basis?”

Below the question, people have responded with dozens of suggestions. Everything from dimmer switches to warmer-toned lightbulbs to making sure you wait for them before crossing the road. All the stuff he’s been doing for Nicki since she got here.

“We can’t prove it’s him,” Emma says, “but it feels like too much of a coincidence, doesn’t it? Guess I was wrong about him.”

She’s admitting she was wrong?Impossible.But Emma is serious, her expression genuine.

I glance at the post again, and I don’t have to wonder who it’s from. Charlie did the sweetest possible thing for my sister, and the proof is right there. One glance at the username on that question, and I can’t help but smile.

BigBlytheEnergy

Nicki leans closer, nudging my shoulder. “Marry him,” she whispers. “You two clearly like each other, and my husband would’ve never done anything half this nice—marry him.”

It’s the “you two clearly like each other” part that destroys me. She says that, and my smile fades. Charlie disappeared hours ago. If that isn’t proof he actually doesn’t like me, I don’t know what is.

“You two should at least stay in touch,” Emma agrees. “If you do, it’s only a matter of time before you end up together.”

I wish.

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