Page 20 of Say Yes

12

PHILIP

Four days.That was how long it took Casey before she’d started blowing up my phone with text messages. To be honest, it was about two days later than I expected her to start. It was my fault for not manning up sooner.

8:58 a.m. Casey: You’ve been “sick” long enough, Philip. I expect to see you tomorrow.

10:21 a.m. Casey: Stop being such a baby and text me back.

12:47 p.m.Casey: I’m not going to stop texting you, so you might as well respond.

3:01 p.m. Casey: Dang it, Philip, stop ignoring me.

5:16 p.m. Casey: You’re a jerk

7:33 p.m.Casey: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean jerk. I meant asshole.

I snorted at the last one. She must really be pissed, because I’m pretty sure this was the first time Casey had ever cussed. I hadn’t intentionally been ignoring her though. Well, technically. After the debacle on Tuesday night, I might have been avoiding her, but I hadn’t been ignoring her. I’d worked late at the club last night so I slept in. Then, I had Pippa’s gymnastics meet in the afternoon, followed by chauffeuring Molly to a sleep over, because Clarissa and Larry had another date night. By then, it was time for me to head back into work. It was now three a.m., and I didn’t think it was a great idea to return her messages.

I’d just closed the front door when my message alert sounded. Tempted to ignore it, I quickly glanced at the screen. Even though I shouldn’t have been, I was shocked as hell that it was another text from Casey.

3:03 a.m. Casey: It’s your fault I’m still awake. I’m pretty sure you should be off work by now, so text me. Now, damn it.

Knowing it was time to stop avoiding her, I texted back.

3:05 a.m. Me: Go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.

I waited, wondering if she was going to be agreeable or stubborn.

3:07 a.m. Casey: Fine. Don’t be late.

Agreeable then.

3:08 a.m. Casey: You know I’m super pissed at you, right? We’re going to be sitting down for an extremely long talk when you get here. This is your warning.

Or not.

3:10 a.m. Me: Long talk. Got it. Go. To. Bed.

After ten minutes passed, I knew she’d finally listened. I took a quick, hot shower and crawled into bed. I was both dreading and anticipating our conversation later this afternoon.

* * *

When my alarm started buzzing,I sleepily rolled over and slammed the off button. Reluctantly, I rolled out of bed, knowing I couldn’t put off seeing Casey any longer. I was actually surprised she hadn’t already started texting me. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, stopped at the grocery for a few things I figured she might need, and made my way to her house.

I knocked sharply before letting myself in. As expected, Casey stood in the middle of the living room, arms crossed, tapping her toes. Knowing she’d follow me, I walked into the kitchen to put the groceries away. I heard her footsteps, but she continued to remain silent. A silence I knew wouldn’t last much longer. I faced Casey, leaned against the counter, and mimicked her pose, minus the foot tapping.

She glared at me, but as petty as it seemed, I was going to wait her out. She had been ready to ream me out last night, so I was going to let her get it out of her system.

“I’m waiting for you to apologize,” she said snippily.

My brows rose in surprise. “Apologize? For what?”

“Do I really need to go through the list?”

“Apparently you do.”

She huffed and began ticking off my various alleged offenses on her fingers. “You took off the other night without even talking about what happened. Then, you faked being sick for days just so you could continue not speaking to me. You ignored every single text message I sent you yesterday. Do I need to go on?”

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