Page 52 of Best Kept Secret
Please don’t say anything. Please don’t say anything.
“Yeah, I’ve been so busy with work,” I explain, removing my jean jacket and tossing it over the bench seat before sitting down.
“Hey, Millie.” Hannah smiles at me.
“Hey,” I say with a tentative smile.
“Has it gotten any better?” Fran asks. “At work.”
My molars grind together. “Next question.”
Emily’s shoulders fall. “Oh, no.”
“Is it still that bitch, Caroline?” Fran asks, narrowing her eyes. “Because I will come down there and slap a ho if I have to.”
“She’s just so…” I trail off, shaking my head dismissively. “You know what? I don’t even wanna talk about it right now.”
“Let me get you a beer,” Emily says, rushing to the huge glass door refrigerator and pulling out a Pabst.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my long-lost little sister.”
I look up to see Dallas approaching, grinning at me as he leans down and grabs me in a playful headlock, ruffling my hair. I shove him away, smoothing a hand over my hair and smiling up at him as he presses a kiss to my forehead.
“How’s work?” he asks, grabbing a handful of chips from the big bowl in the center of the table and popping them into his mouth.
I open my mouth to say something right as Emily and Fran chorus, “She doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Dallas backs away, hands held up in the air. Emily passes him, and he presses a swift kiss to her lips before turning and swaggering back to his friends.
When it’s just Fran and me, she nudges me in my ribs, and I look at her to find her eyebrows jumping up and down, a knowing smile on her lips. My brows knit together as dread surges through me. Oh, God. What now?
“You and Logan look pretty cozy showing up together,” she whispers, nudging me again.
“Quit nudging me,” I hiss, nudging her straight back. “Your elbow is really fucking bony.”
She giggles. “Ohh, deflecting.”
“Oh, my God.” I roll my eyes, glancing at Hannah to find her looking up at me from her phone. “Weshowed uptogether because I live at his apartment and Dallas told him to bring me.”
Fran retorts with a teasing sound that makes me wonder if she’s really a teenager trapped in the body of a twenty-something, but I ignore her, accepting the beer Emily hands me when she returns to the table.
As Emily and Fran start talking about something to do with their work, I allow my gaze to trail over the expanse of the apartment, conveniently landing on the group of guys in the living room. Happy and Robbie are sitting on the floor, game controllers in hand, and Logan sits on his own on one end of the sectional, while Dallas lounges on the other side.
Logan’s gaze flits over to me, almost as if he could feel my stare, and he flashes me the hint of a smile before turning back to the television. I look back to the table, finding Hannah’s big, blue eyes on me, and I quickly avert my focus down to my beer, lifting it to my lips and taking a few big gulps.
“Food’s here!” Fran yells, looking at her cell phone.
None of the guys move.
Fran sighs, pushing up from the table. “Okay, so I guess I’ll go down and get it.”
In desperate need of a moment’s reprieve, I stand. “No, it’s okay. You stay. I’ll go down and get it.” I grab my jacket and push up from my chair before she can argue.
“I’ll help!” Hannah stands, smiling sweetly at me.
With a long, leveled look at her, my jaw clenches.
“Yeah, good idea,” Emily says. “There’s probably a few bags.”
