Page 126 of Snared

“I’m holding you to it. We also have the last movie to watch. I’ve been waiting until you got home.”

I could hear the smile in his voice. “I can’t wait.” He paused. “Dammit. That’s Phillip, and you’ve got me all turned on.”

I giggled. “Sorry not sorry.”

I could hear him opening the door. “Hey, I’m talking to Charlie. Give me a minute.”

“Hey Charlie. Bet you can’t wait to ditch this loser. I have the divorce papers ready to go,” Phillip’s voice was clear as day.

Divorce papers?

“What is he talking about?” I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral.

“Just the divorce papers I asked him to draw up ages ago,” Josh said.

My heart sank. I thought we were together. I thought this was real.

“Charlie, you there?” he asked, calm as could be.

“Divorce papers, Josh?” I gritted out.

“Um, yeah?”

“I thought this was real to you. But it’s obviously not,” I said, biting back tears. Between the photos, his father’s comments, and now this, we were not on the same page.

“I am! Wait, Charlie, I just never told him to delete them,” he said. “It’s nothing.”

Was he placating me?

“This isn’t a game to me,” I said, trying to keep my voice level.

“It’s not to me either, Charlie. Come on. Don’t look for problems,” he said.

Now I was annoyed. “I’m not looking for problems. They keep showing up and they’ll probably never stop. This was a bad idea. If this isn’t what you want, say that. You’ve extended your LA trip, the photos, the press. I just can’t.” I couldn’t stop my voice from shaking.

His sigh was audible. “Charlie, stop. This isn’t a big deal and this is very real to me.”

“No, this is a big deal. This is my life, my career. I’m not something to string along.” I paused, catching my breath. “I have to go. Enjoy LA, Josh. Tell Phillip to send those papers as soon as he can.”

I hung up before he could say another word and then sank to the floor.

Was I reading too much into this? Possibly.

But he’d never canceled the divorce papers. After all of our time together, after the weeks since we ended the tour, he’d never told his friend to delete the papers.

That had to mean something, right?

JOSH

Fucking hell.

I tried calling her back, but I went right to voicemail.

Tapping her name, I typed out a text.

Josh: Charlie, talk to me. He drew up those papers in the beginning. I never got around to telling him to delete them. I’d completely forgotten about them.

Josh: Charlie. Come on. Please.

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