Page 23 of Fake Game

“Thank you,” he squeaks out.

I give him a parting grunt as I get into the driver’s seat and toss my duffle onto the passenger seat. My eyes flick down to the clock, and I frown seeing that it’s only a little after midnight.

My fingers tap on the wheel rhythmically. Savannah is right about one thing, something is off.

I only make it a few streets before the music blasting through my speakers is cut off by an incoming call.

I swear, if one of the guys is—

“Incoming call from unknown number,” the robotic voice announces.

Without giving it much thought, I accept the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, um, sorry to bother you,” Deer’s voice comes through in that high pitch she typically uses when streaming. “No one elsewas answering and I had your number from Syd and well, yeah. It’s Deer, by the way.” Her babbling trails off.

Shock and confusion bubble before annoyance flares in at the offhanded jab that I’m far down her list of preferred people.

“It’s fine,” I tell her. “I wasn’t busy.”

“Oh. Okay, cool. Cool, cool, cool.”

I wait for her to elaborate, but silence drags on.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, no. Um, I just finished a stream and–” she pauses, cutting herself off “–you know what, I’m sorry. Ignore this call. It’s fine. I’m overreacting. Sorry, Shield. Have a good night. Bye!”

“Wait,” I call out, but I’m too late. She hangs up and the music returns to my speaker. “Fuck,” I curse under my breath as I flick on my blinker and switch lanes before making a U-turn. My foot presses harder on the accelerator as I hit the redial button.

It rings once before she sends me to voicemail.

This woman is going to kill my sanity.

“You have a new text message; would you like me to read it?” my car asks.

“Yes.”

“Ok.” There’s a short pause. “I’m totally fine. Seriously. Smiley face emoji. Sorry. Praying hands emoji.” Another pause. “Would you like to reply?”

“No,” I grind out as I work my jaw back and forth.

There would be no getting through to her. She is too damn stubborn for her own good. Always hiding behind that perfectly pink exterior.

It takes me twenty minutes, but I finally swing into a guest parking spot beside her apartment complex. The engine barely shuts off before I’m out of the car and stalking to the entrance.There isn’t even a doorman at this time of night to stop anyone from coming in.

Fucking bullshit.

I don’t even bother waiting for the elevator. I take the stairs two at a time up to the third floor. When I get to her apartment, I rap on the door.

“Deer, open up.”

There’s no response.

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