Page 69 of Ink Me Three Times

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He won’t just come for our heads.

He’ll never look at us the same way again.

I reach for my phone again. My message with Ivy is still open.

Seven o’clock.

We have to fix this before the whole town knows more than we do.

Before we lose her.

Before we lose each other.

Before we lose the one damn thing we didn’t mean to ruin.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ivy

I’m prettysure I’ve been hit by a truck.

Or maybe a very large, emotional freight train.

Either way, my head feels like it’s being slowly squeezed by a vice, and my stomach has decided to turn itself inside out.

Waffles.

For Penny.

This is why I’m standing here in the kitchen, staring down at these waffles like they’ve personally offended me.

I don’t think I’ve ever hated waffles before.

This is new.

But I swallow the nausea and pretend I’m okay, because she is still in the other room, humming her little tune as she arranges her perfect little plate of breakfast. She doesn’t need to see me crumble.

Not now, at least.

I take a breath, look at the waffles again, and, somehow, force myself to take a bite. It’s as if I can’t even feel it in my mouth, just a faint, tasteless reminder of how messed up everything has gotten. And that’s exactly the problem.

Everything is messed up.

I grab my phone, mostly to distract myself. I’m not sure why I’m even checking it. But then I see it. A message from Timothy. The man who’s been haunting my every waking thought for the last couple of weeks.

Well, one of them anyway!

Timothy: Any chance we could meet? I think we have a lot to talk about.

I know we have a lot to talk about, but that doesn’t make me any less anxious.

With a bit of luck, the anticipation will be worse than the actual chat…

Ivy:Yeah. After I finish work. Around seven?

Timothy: Okay. Just tell me where.

Ivy:The Lookout Trail?

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