Page 91 of Not A Whisper

“Shasha,” Lance sighs loudly. “Briella needs to go to work.”

The girl pouts. “But she sees me as a big girl.”

“And I’ll see you as a big girl next time,” I assure her. “Be good for your dad, ok? I have to go now. It’s Shasha, right?” At her nod, I reach out my hand. She eyes it before taking it slowly. “I’m Briella. If you ever need a reminder that you're a tough big girl, just come find me. I live in the apartment below your dad’s.”

Shasha nods. “Ok!”

I wink at her then shoot Lance a smile. “Have a good day.”

‘Thank you’ he mouths, relief washing over his face. I wave him off before heading back to my car.

Somehow by lunch,my anger is even less than it was this morning.

Maybe because I’m too busy to think about everything. With the library back open and with midterms right around the corner, Jonathan and I are scrambling to keep up witheverything. We hardly get a moment to rest, but around four, a lull gives us a second to catch our breath.

“You’re in a weird mood today,” Jonathan notes, eyeing me suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

Iamin a weird mood. I’m still very much pissed but I’m also sickeningly giddy for what I have in store this evening.

“I had a strange weekend and I think it’s just rolling over,” I admit carefully as I type away on the computer.

“That’s right, you did take off on Friday. I forgot.” He rolls over to me. “You better have a good reason for leaving me with Debra. As nice as she is, I swear she has more air than sense in that head of hers.” I can feel his eyes narrowing on my face. “Judging by your tan you did something outside.”

I know what he means. Those ATV rides had us out in the sun for several hours. Still, I roll my eyes playfully.

“I’m naturally tan, Jonathan.”

“Fine,extratan.”

“Well… I went to Vegas.”

Jonathan’s gasp is so loud a student shushes us from a table nearby. “No! Oh my god, how was it? Who’d you go with? Pianna?”

“It was a ton of fun. I’ll show you some pictures in a bit.”

I bite my bottom lip, considering how to answer his second question. Should I tell him about being married? I know he’ll be pissed if he finds out another way. But… I glance down at my ringless hand. No ring, no fun story, just…Hey I was tricked into marrying a guy who doesn’t love me. I grimace.

Yeah, no. I’ll have to figure out how to drop that bomb later.

“I just went with a group of people.” That’s not necessarily a lie, right? “We didn’t stop moving the entire time. Or drinking. I swear I can smell the alcohol through my pores.”

“Did anyone get married?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me. “It would be nice to have some married friends you know.”

My chuckle sounds nervous even to my own ears. “Nope, I didn’t get married in Vegas.”

I was married before I even got there…

Jonathan flashes me an eager grin. “No wonder you’re all fidgety over there, I’d still be reeling from a wild weekend too.” He rolls closer to me, his eyebrows waggling. “Was Grant one of those ‘people’?”

“Why must you be so loud?” I whip my head around, looking for signs that anyone overheard his question.”

Jonathan sighs dramatically. “Calm down. There’s more than one Grant in the world.”

I glare at him. He knows how much trouble I could get into if Ms. Barbara ever found out I was seeing a student.

“Yes, I did go with Grant… And Trip… And, um, Jason.” Since he knows I’m seeing all three of them, I guess there’s no point hiding it anymore.

Jonathan’s face lights up. “All three of them? You need to tell me all of your adventures.”

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