Page 76 of Flawless

“Are you guys going to stay on the island now that you’ve been spotted back in town?”

“I am. There’s no point in running. People already know that I’m from Charleston, so it’s not unusual for them to have spotted me here. I’m staying on the island, Jade, and I’m not running. Not anymore.”

“Well, good for you. Is there anything that I can do in the meantime?”

“I don’t think so. I need to just heal. You keep being you and fielding the questions that come your way. I’m not taking any calls, and I’ve already informed Onyx what’s going on. After we finish talking, I’ll be powering the phone off for a while.”

“Good for you.”

“Yeah, I need this time out. If there’s an emergency and you need to get in touch with me, you know where the cottage is.”

“I do.”

“She can call me,” I hear Zenon’s deep voice from the doorway.

I look up, and he’s looking at me with so much love and affection. I smile back at him, lick my lips, and duck my head.

“Hey, Z says that you can call him if you need to.”

“I won’t disturb you two unless it’s an emergency,” Jade says.

“Good. I’ll text you his number.”

“Okay. You take care of yourself, Dani, and relax, breathe, and heal, girl.”

“I will.”

“Love you, sis,” she says.

“I love you more,” I reply before ending the call.

Zenon walks to where I’m sitting on the bed and reaches for my phone. He sits beside me, and I hand it to him and watch as he scrolls to my history and pulls Jade up from there. He texts her his phone number, and she texts back a winking face right away. Then he powers it off.

Setting my phone on the nightstand, he kicks his shoes off and pulls his legs up on the bed, stretching them out before him.

Zenon leans back against my headboard, and I sit close beside him, loving how good it feels to be close to him as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

“You made your phone calls?”

“I did.”

“Do you feel better about it?”

“I do.”

“Then let’s just enjoy the rest of our summer together.”

20 – ZENON

It’s been raining the last several days here on the island. Zee Zee wasn’t too happy about that at first, but she eventually cheered up when both Dani and I agreed that she could have one of her friends spend the night with her at a time.

She’s met a group of five girls, and they’re usually crowded in our living room space, laughing about something, texting, or whispering. That’s only when they’re not stuffing their faces full of food.

Dani has been able to try out her new culinary skills on the girls, and they love everything that she’s prepared so far.

When the girls aren’t here, it’s just Dani, Zee Zee, and me talking or playing games. We’ve successfully kept Dani off the internet and TV unless we’re watching a movie together.

“Are you ready?” Zee Zee shouts, bouncing into the kitchen.

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