Page 8 of Hacker Heart

I clear my throat. “How’d you get in?”

She’s still frowning. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

“I knocked, and when you didn’t answer, I let myself in with my key.” She waves said key in my face.

“You’re only supposed to use that to feed Muffin and Phyllis when I’m away, or in the highly unlikely case of an emergency.”

“How was I to know you hadn’t had a stroke died? I said I knocked. I even called out. Your car is in the drive, I knew you were home. I panicked.”

I scoff. “Panicked? The unshakeable Hunter Sisters do not panic. Try again.”

Belle throws her hands in the air and widens her eyes. “Fine! I saw you typing through the front window, and you never let me see this secret squirrel project of yours. If you’d just show me what it is, I wouldn’t have to resort to unsanctioned key usage.”

Now that my boner has completely deflated, I place my laptop back on the table, then slowly stand and turn to face my best friend. I am so pissed. I grip my hips to keep my hands from shaking. “You’re kidding me, right? You don’t tellmeeverything, but I don’t go sticking my nose in your business, do I. Its private. I’m allowed to keep some things to myself.”

Hurt flashes in her blue eyes before she steels herself, firming her jaw and mimicking my stance. “Actually, I do tell you everything. I thought we had the kind of friendship where we didn’t keep secrets from each other. Guess I was wrong.”

“Oh please, you don’t talk to me about any of the guys you date. In fact, I haven’t even met any of them.” This is not an argument I want to have and I’m not entirely sure how we got here.

“You don’t want to know about my love life Val. And you never met anyone because they don’t mean anything to me. So why would I introduce you to them?”

I shake my head and run my hands through my hair, lacing my fingers behind my neck. “I don’t know Bee, but you’ve met all of my girlfriends.”

“That’s because you’re a serial monogamist. Your relationships are serious, mine never are.”

“You’re nearly thirty, it might be time to start thinking about changing that,” I say. The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.Shit. Too far, too far. Abort!“Sorry, you don’t have to date seriously if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’rea strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man to complete her,” I repeat the line she’s been feeding me for years.

Officially over the argument, I sigh and meet her eyes, only to be met with…wait, why is she smiling? I shift on my feet. “Can we just forget this afternoon ever happened? Let’s just scrap it and start over.”

She tilts her face. “I don’t know Val, can we?”

My brows furrow. “I hope so.”

A moment of silence passes between us, then she asks, “If I tell you about the guys I’ve been seeing, will you let me read what you’re working on?”

“No.” This is the one and only thing I won’t back down on. Belle can never read that manuscript. Ever. “You can ask me for anything else Bee, but not that.”

Licking my lips, I move closer to her, taking one of her balled fists and holding it between my palms. “I’m not keeping secrets from you. It’s just a story I’ve been playing with for a while and it’s never going to see the light of day. I’m not keeping itfromyou Belle, I’m keepingforme.”

Her fingers unfurl in my hold, and she nods slowly. “Fine.”

I release her hand as I swiftly change the subject. “Give me a minute and I’ll show you what I was talking about with my laptop. It’s not the word processor that’s giving me problems. When I go online, it lags and takes forever to load anything. Especially when I’m gaming.”

“Alright, I’m just going to get myself a drink. You want one?” she asks, backing toward my kitchen.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” I take a seat at the table and open my laptop. Quickly, I save then shut down the word document I’d been working on, then pull up my browser.

A few minutes later, Belle slides into the chair next to me and hands over a gin and tonic before reaching for the computer. I settle back with my drink as she taps away at the keyboard, opening and closing tabs and code boxes that mean absolutely nothing to me.

Thatnearly thirtycomment was the moment I decided that whatever he’s hiding, I’m going to get to the bottom of it. Then he threw inI’m not hiding it from you, I’m keeping it for me, and I knew—I just knew—he was full of shit. Val and I don’t keep things from each other. Period.

I’ll stake out his house like a crazy ex-girlfriend if I have to. He was tryingwaytoo hard to keep me in the dark for whatever this secret of his is to be aboveboard. It’s my job as his best friend to ensure he’s not getting himself in to anything problematic.

With that settled in my mind, I smiled at him as he ranted about privacy and not needing to share everything with me and blah, blah, blah. I already had a plan in place.

ChapterFour

Never in mylife have I had a problem sleeping. Never. But the last two nights, every time I close my eyes, I’m assaulted with visions of the scene Val was writing the other day. I swallow hard and sit up in my bed, scrubbing my hands over my face.

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