Page 27 of Diverge

Shaking his head, he almost looks disappointed, and after a beat passes, he finally responds. “The offer is still there if you change your mind.” He forces a smile.

I couldn’t work for Riley even if I really wanted to. Legally, he wouldn’t be able to hire me, and I wouldn’t put him in that position anyway. Riley pulls out his mobile and seems to read something on the screen.

“Holy shit.” He chuckles and shows me the text he just received.

GRACE

“Cabin?” I raise an eyebrow.

Riley chuckles as he slides his phone back into his pocket. “More like the triple M.” He laughs. “The Mackenzie Mountain Mansion.”

I wonder if Billie is going. Am I stupid? Of course she is. It’s her best friend’s party. Well, that means Finn will be there, too.

Wonderful.

“You’re coming, right?” Riley looks to me expectantly, but I don’t know what to say because I should run this by Billie first, shouldn’t I? She asked me not to tell her brother we’ve been hanging out and nowfucking.

“I’m not sure yet,” is all I say.

“What about the words ‘mountain’ and ‘mansion’ did you not understand?” he says sarcastically.

Grabbing my water, I begin to walk towards the lockers as Riley follows.

“Well, are you coming to the barbeque?”

Grace sure loves parties. I think it distracts her from her life. Although I have no idea what’s going on in it, that much is obvious. She just wants distractions.

“I’m not sure,” I say as I head to my gym bag in the locker room.

Sitting on the bench beside my bag, Riley’s brows furrow. “Are you sure nothing else is going on, man?” He runs a hand through his hair. “You seemoff.”

“Nah, just tired from work,” I say, and think about how I’m going to tell him I’m seeing his sister.

“Right.” Clearly not believing a word I am saying, he picks up his bag and heads to the exit. “Let me know about the BBQ. Later.”

“Later,” I call out after him.

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