Page 11 of Don't Leave Me

“Oh my gosh!” I squeal. “He just friend requested me!”

“Really? Go accept it so I can see a picture of him!”

I maneuver through my phone until I get to the correct app. As soon as the request shows, I’m clicking accept and scroll through his photos.

“Holy crap,” I breathe as I get to a bunch of photos from this summer.

“What? I want to see!”

“Hold on, let me get my laptop.”

It takes a minute for the device to power up, then I open my social media on there and pull up the photo I was just drooling over. After it’s ready, I switch my camera around so Charlie can see what I'm looking at.

“Dang. He really does kinda look like Wyatt.”

Wyatt pops back into the screen and his face closes in as he squints at the image of Pecker.

“I have a better butt and thighs.”

“I wasn’t looking at his butt and thighs.” Charlie rolls her eyes. “He looks like he could be related to you.”

“He is quite handsome.” Wyatt smirks.

“Oh! Look at him with his niece. He’s so adorable with her,” I gush as I move on to a different photo.

“He looks like such a sweetheart. I wish I was there so I could meet him too. What does Leslie say?”

“I'm kind of keeping my distance from her right now,” I confess. “She’s really upset and worried about Jimmy. I don’t want to bring boy drama into her life and Colt would tease me relentlessly if he found out I was interested in Pecker. It’s better to act indifferent about him.”

“You’re going to break that boy’s heart,” Wyatt singsongs.

“Yeah, but is there any point of even trying to start a relationship? I live eight hours away. It doesn’t matter if I like him.”

“Your father would kill me if he heard these words come out of my mouth,” Wyatt sighs and grips the back of his neck like he’s unsure if he should say them at all.

“What? You can’t get nervous now! Spill it!”

“Just because you live eight hours away, doesn’t mean you need to keep living eight hours away. You could move. You do all of your classes online anyway. I'm not saying you should pick up and move, but you’ll be in Maple Springs for a few weeks. Give yourself time to get to know the guy. If you like him, maybe extend your stay and see what happens. I'm sure Leslie would love to have some family around a little longer.”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea.” Charlie nods. “Dad would hate it, but you never know what could happen.”

“Now, it’s time for this lady to get to bed. The baby is tiring her out, even if she won’t admit it.” Wyatt kisses Charlie’s cheek. “Let me know when you have more boy drama for me. I kind of miss this when you’re not home.”

“Did you just admit you like hearing about my drama?” I fake gasp and cover my mouth with my hand.

“Yeah, I kind of do. I have zero drama in my life and while I love that, I like getting my drama fill from your life.” He chuckles.

“Night, Sophia.” Charlie waves.

“Night, guys.”

After a few more minutes of stalking Pecker on social media, I shut down my computer and get changed for bed. I'm just finishing up brushing my teeth when my phone pings with a text.

Once I climb into bed, I pick up my phone and check the message.

Unknown: January 3rd.

I stare at the message with a frown. Why is someone sending me a random date? I'm just about to answer them and ask who it is, when I remember I gave Pecker my number.

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