Page 43 of Ivy's Venom
Me: You up?
I wait for a few minutes and when she doesn’t reply, I make my way to her house. I can’t see the house from the road and her gate is shut tight with fucking privilege. I rest my head on the wheel and breathe through my irritation.
My phone pings beside me and I scramble to pick it up.
Ivy: Who is this?
Right, she doesn’t have my number, I should’ve thought of that. She’s probably thinking it’s one of her rotations hoping for a titty pic. I groan at my thoughts and again try to breathe out the irritation. What am I even doing here?
Before I can even turn the car around, my phone pings again.
Ivy: Leave me alone.
Huh?
Me: It’s Neil.
Why the fuck did I do that? The phone pings again.
Ivy: Neil Jones?
Me: No another Neil.
I laugh when I see she sent me the middle finger emoji.
Ivy: What do you want?
Me: Who are you telling to leave you alone?
Ivy: You?
I snort and scrub my hand down my face.
Me: Do you want me to leave you alone?
Am I fucking flirting with the girl who murdered my sister?
Ivy: Not at all.
Me: Good. I wasn’t planning on it.
Yes, I fucking am.
Ivy: How’s work at the hotel?
Me: I took this weekend off.
Ivy: Sweet.
Me: Come outside.
I don’t know why my heart races after I send that and my palms are suddenly sweaty. What if she doesn’t come out? My phone doesn’t ping again and it’s been ten minutes since I sent that fucking stalkerish text.
I turn the key in the ignition and stop when I see the gate open.
Ivy: Come up.
I pull into her driveway and drive up to the house, which is also dark and I feel a pang of guilt. Maybe I woke her.
