Page 58 of The Operators

“Don’t go home with him.”

She rolls her eyes with just a hint of a smile on her face. “I fucking hate you.”

Chapter 20

Thea

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What the fuck did I do?”

I slam my front door shut, locking the deadbolt and dropping to the ground. My mind is racing in a million different directions. As confident as I may have seemed at the party, I’m freaking the fuck out.

I gave John some excuse about my stomach feeling upset, so he dropped me off back home almost as soon as I left the closet with Mack. Fuck, I’m such an awful person. I need to end things with John. It’s not like I don’t like him, but if I am still thinking about another man when I’m with him, then that’s not fair to him. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t want a man who wasn’t fully into me.

I still can’t believe I had my hand wrap around his-

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

My phone startles me, but what scares me more is the name on the screen. Despite my better judgment, I answer anyway.

“Hello?”

“Where the fuck are you?” Mack asks angrily through the phone. I know I probably should have said goodbye, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted him to wonder where I was. I wanted him to reach out. I wanted him to want me.

“I left.”

“Clearly. Where are you right now?”

I push up from the floor and walk into the kitchen to get some water. “I’m fine.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“We can talk later. I’m all gross. Need to take a shower. Goodnight, Mack.”

“Thea, where the fuck are you?”

I end the call without responding, making him sweat a little as I walk over to my room and unzip my dress and hop in the shower. The water sobers me up a little, but trying to put on clothes still seems to be a challenge. I settle on an oversized t-shirt because pants seem like a task that isn’t reasonable at this point.

6 New Text Messages

I roll my eyes, but I’m grinning like an idiot as I plop down on my bed and open my messages.

Mack: Are you fucking kidding me right now?

Mack:You really think I’m just going to let you disappear drunk with some guy you’ve only known a couple weeks.

Mack:Call me back right now.

Mack:Thea!

Mack:Just because you’re home doesn’t mean you don’t need to call me back.

Trevor:You good? Mack is freaking out saying you disappeared.

Oh my God. I text Trevor back first letting him know I’m home before responding to Mack.

Me:Really? You sent Trevor after me. Seriously?

My message is read the moment it’s sent, so he must be sitting there with his phone open, waiting for me.

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