Page 240 of Call the Shots
“Then why didn’t you give me up?”
“You don’t have a real job—you can’t imagine the strain it would’ve put on me at work. What my partners would’ve said. You can’t just give a childbackafter you sign the paperwork. People talk.”
What was I expecting?
I watched the house through the windows. I couldn’t see June, but Shawna loudly said she’d set up the guest bedroom for her, which meant June would be down the hall from me.
My stomach clenched. I didn’t know how I was going to sleep tonight.
Our late-night conversations in our bed—my bed—became a part of my routine. June would murmur to me about her day and I’d bury my face in her neck, running my hands along her body to unwind, an unbelievable peace seeping into me.
Fuck, this was going to be a long night.
“June’s parents invited me to Christmas,” I said slowly. “I don’t know if they did it because they like me or because of the shit that went down and they want to keep an eye on me—I don’t know.”
“It’s probably the second possibility. Her mother is very shrewd.”
I ignored him. “I realized them inviting me to Christmas was nicer than anything my immediate family’s done in years. I even wondered why they bothered, and it didn’t matter because it felt good to be asked.”
“They could be doing it to upset me.”
“Why would they care about upsetting you?”
“June’s little stunt. She threatened to sue for harassment if Xavier didn’t drop the charges against you, as if I’d ever let you two file against each other.”
I paused. “What?”
“I don’t know, it was very unlike June.”
“She threatened to…?”
“It was a terrible decision on her part, she should’ve realized keeping you out of trouble is in my best interest too.”
My eyes flickered to the windows again, heart thudding in my chest. If none of this meant anything to her, why would she do that?
CHAPTER 89
JUNE
TAKE THE CHECK
It waslike the guest room had been waiting for me. An animal ready to swallow me whole. I stared at the ceiling, waiting for the hours to pass, my head swimming from Shawna’s sea grass diffusers.
You’ll have to call your parents.
There went the progress between us.
On Thursday, I invited them to brunch and talked about moving in with Bear. My mom had squeezed my hand. The agreement was, as long as I kept up my therapy appointments and stayed healthy, they’d approve. It wasn’t like they could’ve stopped me, but I didn’t want this big chasm between us anymore.
Like the chasm that would appear with the leaked messages.
I put my head in my hands, on edge. Twitching toleavethis place.
The clock on the nightstand flashed the time—two o’clock in the morning. Everyone in the house would be asleep for the big party tomorrow.
“Folders,” I whispered under my breath, picking up my bag. “Xavier’s phone, his laptop. Take those to Cleo.”
What if he has copies on the cloud and another easily accessible device?
