Page 91 of Exposed Ink

“Then, I think you already have your answer,” Mom says, squeezing my hand.

“I’m sorry for dragging you to see houses.”

“Nonsense.” She waves me off. “I already told Patty you wouldn’t be buying anything, but you needed to see for yourself that what you want is to live with Shane and Taylor.”

“Is that why she took off after giving us the codes to all the houses?” I laugh. “I thought she was flaking.”

Mom shrugs, taking a sip of her coffee. “So, when are you going to move in?”

“I was thinking I’d tell Shane in the morning, and then we could figure it out together. He surprised me with this romantic night and a key to his house when he asked me to move in, so maybe I’ll do something similar since Taylor is out of town with her mom and we have the place to ourselves.”

Speaking of which … I shoot Shane a text, letting him know I’m done looking at houses and to call me later if he’s bored. Sometimes during his shift, when it’s slow, he’ll FaceTime me, and we’ll talk while I’m in bed. It’s quiet and nice, and it feels like he’s with me even though he’s not.

The text once again turns green.

“What’s wrong?” Mom asks.

“Shane’s phone is dead. It’s, like, a hundred years old, and it won’t keep a charge. Thankfully, he said he’ll have it looked at tomorrow. But I’m hoping it’s done for and he’ll get a new one.”

After we finish our coffee, I head to the lingerie shop to pick up something sexy and then stop at the store to grab the items I need for my surprise.

When I get to Shane’s house, the dog walker is just coming out, and I make a note to let Shane know there’s no reason to pay someone to walk Becky when I’m here all the time anyway. He did it for the days and nights Taylor wasn’t around and he was on shift, but between the three of us, someone is always around.

I send him another text, but when it turns green, I wonder if maybe he’s having an issue with his messages, so I try to call him, only it goes to voice mail. I consider calling him at the station, but what if he’s busy?

I put away the lingerie I bought since I won’t need it until tomorrow morning. And then I go about placing sticky notes all over the room—Kinsley’s toothbrush goes here, Kinsley’s shampoo here, Kinsley’s clothes here, Kinsley’s pajamas here, Shane and Kinsley sleep here—so when he reads them, he’ll know that I’m planning to move in.

Once I’m done, I grab my book and settle in on the couch to read. Becky joins me, so I pet her while she cuddles into my side, snoring softly.

Eventually, I get bored of reading, so I make myself a sandwich for dinner, and then I work on some tattoo designs for clients until my eyes can barely stay open. I go to bed, falling asleep almost instantly, excited at the thought that if all goes well, I’ll officially be sleeping here, in Shane’s arms, every night.

* * *

“Kinsley,I need you to wake up.”

Shane’s gravelly voice has me waking with a sudden jolt. I must sit up too quickly because the room spins.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, shaking the dizziness away.

Even if I didn’t hear it in Shane’s tone, I see the black circles under his eyes and the stress lines in his furrowed brows. Something is wrong … very wrong.

“I need you to stay calm,” he says, his words causing me to be anything but. “Taylor and her mom were in a car accident. I tried to call you, but my damn phone went to shit, and I didn’t know your number by heart. I called the shop, but of course, nobody was in yesterday …”

He continues to speak, but the only detail I can absorb is that Taylor was in a car accident.

Like Brandon.

Like me.

Like my unborn baby.

And just like that, everything around me goes black.

THIRTY

Shane

Twenty-Four Hours Earlier

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