Page 44 of The Roommate Lie

She nods, but then she glances back at Tyler. “I’m not saying it’s happening. I’m just saying it might be nice.”

It might be nice?

I can think of a million things that would be nicer. And all of them involve Alice and me alone, no Sharp twins in sight.

I can’t say that to her. I can’t say anything. She gives me one last shy smile—a supportive smile—and I don’t know what to do with that. How to describe the way that smile plunges tiny daggers into my heart and twists them in perfect unison.

But I know I don’t like it.

My morning only gets worse. As soon as I open the door to take Cookie on his walk, I wish I hadn’t. Three women are waiting on my front stoop, and those Old Birds mean business.

They’re wearing full tracksuits, ready for a morning walk of their own, but Dottie’s the odd bird out. She’s paired her ensemble with a giant sunhat while the others are wearing visors. Yet the looks on their faces match perfectly, all three of them up to no good.

I smell trouble.

Fake-dating trouble.

Shaking my head, I hold tight to Cookie’s leash. “No—no way.”

I was very clear at bingo. I’ve got a teaching job to think about, a future at Ponderosa Elementary. “I’m trying to be as boring as possible, remember?. Respectable. Completely un-gossip-worthy.”

“Oh, yeah?” Dottie gives me one of her too-sweet glances. Bubblegum and cyanide all rolled into one. “How’s that working out for you? Being un-gossip-worthy?”

Beside her, Henrietta holds up something I hadn’t noticed. A scandal sheet she definitely shouldn’t have.

“How did you get that?”

Henrietta shrugs. “I beat your friends to the punch. I like to grab my copy right after it hits the fence.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“Do I strike you as the kind of person who sleeps soundly? Do I appear calm and well-rested to you?”

She does not.

Henrietta “Bingo Brawl” St. James is many things, but well-rested probably isn’t one of them. There’s a good chance that woman hasn’t had a solid night’s sleep in decades, since before she had seven kids. And she’s never been calm.

I sigh, waiting for the rest of my shakedown, eager to get this over with. But Dottie and Henrietta don’t say anything else. They glance at their fearless leader and wait.

Edna watches me through her dark sunglasses. At least I think she does, and it’s a truly unnerving experience. To know she’s probably staring right at me, but not be able to see her eyes.

Then she goes in for the slow kill, ready to drag this out for fun.

“Let’s go for a little stroll, kid. We need to talk.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

ALICE

Today’s writing is not going well. But there’s one way left to fix things. A final trick stashed up my sleeve.

As long as disaster hasn’t struck…

I head for my giant suitcase in the guest room. It’s finally time to unpack Big Red, and my pulse speeds up. Salvation might be waiting inside—or more heartbreak. It’s hard to tell which.

I’ve been avoiding this moment since I got here. After Jason dropped my suitcase on the sidewalk at the wilderness resort, I haven’t even let myself think about it. But I’ve been staring at the cursor on my laptop screen for thirty-five minutes; I’ve written and deleted over two thousand words since breakfast, and I’m too upset for lunch. I have to dosomething.

Part of me knows my problem is bigger than this. That the issue I’m dealing with is something my suitcase can’t solve. I’m trying to write a book I don’t want to write, the final romance in a series my readers have been dying to finish. A story with the perfect grumpy hero I based on Jason for fun—and that was a mistake.

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