Page 14 of Fool Me Once

“You didn’t scare me,” I sass, attempting to put on some cool-girl persona. It’s clearly a bunch of horseshit, but I don’t have to fool myself; I just have to fool Smith. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Oh, okay,” he utters, the corner of his mouth turning up in that crooked grin everyone has always fawned over. “Well then, for what it’s worth, Megan Moroney had better watch out. You’ll be coming for her title.”

“Piss off,” I grumble before tipping my head back slightly to pull my hair up. “Don’t you have keys to get?” I wiggle my hand toward the door. “Be gone.”

I look away, though I feel his stare still on me, and after a moment, I see him walking toward the kitchen out of the corner of my eye. Opening one of the cupboards, he grabs something before closing it.

“Ride with me to the hospital,” he says optimistically. “I can show you around Portland a bit. We could grab dinner.”

“Are you serious? You think I’d actually go to dinner with you, Smith?”I raise my eyebrows. “You are dumber than I thought you were. Oh, and we grew upthree hours from here!My mom brought me to Portland for school shopping every year. I don’t need to be shown around.”

I know I’m being a bitch, but I can’t help it. This man has some serious audacity to really think I’d go to dinner with him, and whatever this nice-guy act he’s putting on, he should stop.

“Trust me, Firefly, there’s a lot you haven’t seen,” he says distantly. “But, whatever. If you’re so set on hating me, go for it.”

Tilting my head to the side, I squint my eyes slightly before walking toward him. Stopping a few feet in front of where he stands, I smirk.

“Oh, Smithy, that’s where you’re wrong,” I say boldly. “You see … to hate you would require me giving a shit. And the truth is, I don’t.”

I no longer have the energy to be kind. And if he thinks I’m this pathetic, afraid little mouse, I need to prove to him that I’m not. I’m strong, and I don’t need his pity.

“I didn’t know you were doing acting in California,” he says coolly, taking one step closer to me and looking down. “But I have to say, you’re one hell of an actress, Gem.”

“It’s no act.” I keep any bitterness out of my tone. “I simply stopped giving a shit about you long, long ago.”

When he continues to stare down at me, with no anger in his eyes, only concern, the air becomes thicker. The room is so silent that I could hear a pin drop. I have no idea what he’s going to say next.

“You’re different,” he whispers, picking his hand up for a second, like he’s going to touch my side, before dropping it down. “And not in a good way.”

“Yeah, well, life will do that to you,” I say, trying to keep myself hardened and not crack. If there was anyone who could make me fall apart, it would be him.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with me?” He swallows. “I don’t have a motive; I’m not going to force you to talk about … anything. I just want to spend time with you. It’s been a long time, and you’re drunk. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, Smith,” I whisper. “Ever.”

He looks pained, but I don’t care. I’m sure it’s nothing compared tothe pain I felt when he left for college without saying goodbye—oh, and after I told him I loved him a few days prior.

“It’s all going to be okay,” he says, taking a few steps back. “I promise.”

Caught between being mad and wanting to cry, I stand silent as he turns away from me and heads toward the door.

As he pulls it open, he pauses. “Lock the door when I leave, okay?”

I’m not sure why he tells me to lock the door. Maybe he knows that I’m nervous, or perhaps he thinks I’m still in harm’s way. Whatever it is, I try not to put much thought into it. But when he exits, I rush to the door.

Locking it behind him.

And I realize that maybe I didn’t get drunk to escape. Maybe I got drunk because Richie has made it so that I’m not comfortable being all alone.

“Bro, I’ve worked all day. And it wasn’t a great shift. I had to watch two people die, and one of the doctors was a complete ass to most of the nursing staff. There was a lot of poop and bodily fluids happening. Don’t test me,” my sister says from her driver’s seat as I keep the door open with my hand. “I appreciate you bringing my spare keys and all, but I’m tired and hungry, and I want to go home.”

I barely had to say anything for her to become defensive. I asked her one question—How long is Gemma staying?That was it.

“She’s fucking afraid to be alone, dipshit,” I snap. “She had the door locked—which is good and all—but you never fucking lock your door. And when she was dancing and singing, drunk off her ass, and opened her eyes and saw me standing there, it was like her soul left her body. She was terrified.” I stop, my throat growing scratchy. “And it was me, Saylor.” I smack my hand to my chest. “Me, and she was scared.”

“You went into my apartment without her knowing?” Her eyes widen,and she grinds her back teeth together. “What the hell were you thinking, dumbass?”

“Gee, I don’t know—that my sister was stuck at the hospital. I had pounded and knocked on the door with no answer. Oh, and the music was fucking blaring. How was I supposed to know someone hadn’t broken in and was hurting her?” I bark out the last words. “Since, you know, she clearly has someone fucking after her or some shit. Otherwise, why would she act the way she does?”

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