Page 24 of Betting on You

He finished entering his number before dropping my phone onto the table.

I stared at my phone as if it were a loaded gun, because,What the hell?Suddenly I had Mr. Nothing’s phone number—definitely wasn’t on my new-job bingo card for today—and also he wanted to make a bet on my friend’s fidelity.

I was getting whiplash from all the WTFs.

“You guys ready?” Nekesa gave me a weird look, and I knew she’d seen Charlie messing with my phone.

I snatched it up, feeling like I’d been caught misbehaving.

“Yep—let’s go,” I said, standing up so fast that I knocked over my chair. It landed with a crash when it hit the tile, and I wanted to disappear when all heads turned toward me.

Shit.

As I bent to pick it up, it occurred to me that this job might not turn out to be themindless funthat Nekesa thought it would be.

CHAPTER TENBailey

“Mom?”

I walked into the apartment and closed the door behind me. My mom hadn’t planned on going anywhere that night, so the silence meant that she was probably asleep already.

Which was kind of a bummer, because I’d been looking forward to the brownie batter party, but also a relief because if she was asleep, that meant there was definitely no Scott underfoot and I would have the place all to myself. Mr. Squishy came over and rubbed against my calf before dropping flat onto his back and rolling from side to side.

“Hey, Squish.” I stepped out of my shoes, then rubbed his fluffy belly with my foot before he got spooked by a nonexistent something and ran down the hall.

“Freak.” I went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a can of RC and a can of Diet Rite. I was wide awake aftermy weird day of training and kind-of-fun evening with Nekesa and Aaron at the bookstore, so I was excited to just stretch out on the couch and mindlessly binge-watchThe Bonk. I grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and a bag of Doritos.

I was just pushing the door to exit the kitchen when I heard, “Bay, is that you?”

I gritted my teeth, stopped, and dropped my snacks onto the counter as if they’d been burning my hands. The cans tumbled into the sink. “Yes.”

“Come here, will ya?”

I breathed in through my nose before going into the living room. I wanted to scream as I saw Scott all stretched out on the sofa with only the muted television lighting the room. He was lying on his side, watching football in his stupid white crew socks.

Why can’t he keep his damned shoes on?

“Where’s my mom?”

“She went to bed.”

So why the hell are you still here?He was giving me a sleepy half smile, like he’d been dozing before I showed up, and his obvious level of comfort in our house made me clench my fists so tightly that I knew I’d have crescent-shaped marks on my palms when I escaped to my room.

“Your mom said you’d be home by eleven.”

I blinked and my cheeks got warm. “Yeah?”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s past eleven, Bay.”

Bailey. It’s fucking Bailey.I tucked my hair behind my ears and said, “We, um, got a little carried away at the bookstore.”

“Don’t worry—I’m not going to tell your mom.” He gave me a smile that I think was supposed to be warm and adulty. “But you should probably get less distracted next time so she doesn’t worry, don’t you think?”

My face burned, and all I could manage was, “Yeah. Um. I’m going to bed.”

But inside, I was raging. This man was speaking to me about my mother?Scottwas talking about her like she was his primary concern, like it washisjob to make sure she was happy?

I clenched my jaw and had taken one step when he asked, “Did you have fun?”

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