Page 28 of Mastered By Lust

No response, but it’s only eleven a.m. He usually doesn’t get up until after noon.

The sump is empty so I replace the plug. After lowering the car back to the ground, I move to the engine.

My phone chirps with a text. Patrick, already? My heart gives an extra kick of anxiety. I don’t know why it’s hard for me to tell him no.

The text isn’t from Patrick, though—it’s from Leah.

Danica invited me to your granddad’s birthday party.

Shit, that’s tomorrow. I almost forgot. Leah’s still typing, so I wait for her to finish.

She writes,Should I skip? I don’t want things to be awkward.

She’s probably thinking of the shitshow at the restaurant last night. I shouldn’t have gone over to say hi. But it would’ve been weird not to.

I can’t get over the fact she’s living with Gage now.

I should’ve treated her better when she was at mine. I should’ve just told Danica to forget her whole “don’t date my friend or you’re a dead man” threat. I should have gone for Leah, for real.

Instead, I went about it all wrong. And now it’s over. Chance gone.

You should come, I write back.No awkwardness. We’re friends.

She doesn’t respond for so long, I go ahead and replace my oil filter. By the time the new filter is in place, my phone chimes again.

Question, she writes.Why didn’t you tell me who Gage was? You knew, right?

I don’t want to try texting this. I add new oil to the engine, start the car, check the level. It’s fine. I almost wish it needed a bit more oil so I had more time to think. But it’s best to talk this out.

I call Leah.

For a second, I think she won’t answer, but she does.

“Yeah, I knew who he was.” I clear my throat. “I signed an NDA, so I didn’t even tell Danica. Which is shitty, I know.”

“No.” She sounds thoughtful, understanding. “I would take an NDA seriously.”

“Yeah, well, Danica is family. And I should’ve broken it for her. It’s not like she would tell anyone.”

Leah’s voice is quiet. “She probably would’ve told me.”

She’s right. Danica can keep a secret, but she has always confided in Leah.

“The other thing I don’t get,” Leah says, “is why you started me on AoG in the first place. You had to have known I would figure it out once I got to Season Three.”

“At first, I wanted you to know.” I’m not proud of it, but I wanted to out Gage. I was pissed at him.

“Then at Danica’s, you seemed like youdidn’twant us to watch it.”

“I felt bad.” I close the Mustang’s hood and carry the jacks back to the garage. “He helped me find you after you were kidnapped. We worked together. I figured if Gage cared about you that much, he deserved to tell you about his past on his own time.”

She’s very quiet. I pull the phone from my ear to see if the call is still connected.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

---