Page 46 of Trapped and Tackled

Marlowe rolls her eyes, and I remove my hand.

“Your dad is still at work and your mom went to Pilates. I saw her on my way inside,” Marlowe explains. “But you should tell them, Leni. This isn’t something to take lightly.” She passes me back my phone. “I don’t trust him and neither should you. My parents made that mistake and if Samantha wasn’t the woman she is, my grandfather could have very easily ended up hurting Adi.”

I suck in a sharp breath, recognizing the truth in her voice. It could have been Adeline—a point I wasn’t willing to consider until Marlowe said it.

“I’m sorry, Marlowe.”

She sighs and drags the back of her hand over her eyes. “So am I.”

“Want some pie from Annabelle’s?” I offer, remembering Talon’s parting gift.

I shouldn’t have kissed you.

Hurtful words but at least he gave me the pie to eat my feelings.

Marlowe quirks an eyebrow. “What kind?”

“Buttermilk.”

She grins. “Why the hell are we still sitting here, crying, when we can be inhaling pie and divulging every detail about your kiss with Talon?”

“Shh!”

Marlowe laughs and slips off my bed. “I want to hear everything.”

“It’s not that exciting. He said he shouldn’t have kissed me afterwards.” I flick a hand dismissively even though I hardly feel indifferent about it.

“Well, of course, he did. He could fuck his entire career and he knows it. But clearly, knowing he shouldn’t kiss you and being able to keep his lips off yours are two different things.” Marlowe fans herself and shoots me a smile.

I gape at her. In a handful of sentences, she’s managed to reframe the entire scenario that led me to go to bed early. “Do you really think so?”

“Totally.” By the sincerity in her tone and the flicker in her eyes, I know she’s being truthful. She really believes that Talon wanted to kiss me.

Another sliver of hope flickers to life in my heart and while I know I should shut it down, I don’t.

It feels too good. Right.

Hm. Is that how Talon felt too?

“I want all the details with my pie,” Marlowe reminds me.

“Right.” I slide off my bed and jam my feet into fluffy slippers. “Are you excited for your birthday weekend?”

“I am now that you and Talon are coming.”

I glance at her over my shoulder as we descend the stairs toward the kitchen. “Toby?” I ask the obvious.

She shrugs. “Things have been weird lately. Just…different. I don’t know, Len. I have this feeling that everything is about to change. And even though I can’t pinpoint what or how, it’s unshakeable.”

I flip on the kettle for our tea and stack two plates on top of the pie box. “Would that be the worst thing?”

She looks at me, her expression curious. Not upset or scared. Just unsure. “I don’t know.”

“Well, you know you can talk to me about anything,” I remind her as I slice two pieces of pie.

“And you too,” she says seriously. “I can’t do this again.” She gestures between us before sitting down at the kitchen table and reaching for her plate. “I need you too much, Len. You’re my best friend.”

I pass her a fork. “Marlowe, you’re like my other sister. I’m sorry.”

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