Travis rolls his eyes so hard I'm surprised they don't pop out. He's obviously on to our technique. "Yeah and then tell her how you started asking me all kinds of questions. He's prying into my business."I want to let him get his anger out, but I also want to get snarky and remind him it's what I pay John to do. But there's a time and place for snark when you're dealing with teenagers, and right now isn't it."Well John is obviously concerned about you, Travis. I would have asked the same questions.""He don't know me. When has he ever had to make a choice he didn't want?"Ah-ha. Now we're getting somewhere. "That's probably true." I hate to distance John from this conversation, but I need to find common ground to bring Travis in the rest of the way. "You and I both know life is full of shitty choices."It works and Travis sits up in his chair actively engaged in the conversation. "That's what we do. Right, Miss C.? Make the shitty choices. Because as soon as you think you'r
A light misty rain creates a sheen on the windshield. The cab driver turns on the wipers. I scan my phone one more time. The name of the restaurant where Grant is having a business dinner is the last text I received."Stop here," I say when the restaurant La Blanca comes into view on the right side of the road.The cabbie pulls over and checks his meter tapping on the side rather than giving me a price."Can you wait? This won't take long.""Sure, babe, but the meter is running."Of course. Story of my life. The meter is always running.CLARE: I'm here.I send the quick text and stay in the cab until Grant pokes his way out the front door."I'll be right back," I say from the cab and make my way across the sidewalk to him.Taking a play from my own book, I remind myself to stay calm. I need to get the full story from Grant before I jump to any conclusions. The plan was great in the cab, but now with Grant in front of me my emotions war with themselves. I can't believe
"It's already done." My body doesn't want to force the oxygen from my lungs, but I say the words breathlessly. "I can't do this."Grant takes a step toward me as I step back. Our own choreographed dance of death. "Don't leave me. Not like this."No longer covered by the awning, rain collects on his ever perfect hair as it beats against his head. His black suit jacket darkens with the wet stain. The words circle around in the air between us and Grant's face pales.Anger and sadness swirl around in my stomach. At war with what I have to do and what I want to do. "This is who I am Grant. If I don't protect them, who will? Why didn't you see that?"How could he not have anticipated this outcome? The actions he makes in a board room have consequences for me and others in the city after he heads home for the day."I'll fix this. Let me fix it." With both hands held out he takes two more steps toward me.My red, tear-filled eyes meet his — also wet with more than simply rain. I st
"Clare, you have a visitor," Drew yells from downstairs.I sigh and snuggle back under the covers. Over the last two days I've found myself in bed any moment I wasn't at the center trying to calm the fears of everyone there. My idea of hiding under the covers seemed the reasonable choice for dealing with my own insecurities and sadness. Saturday morning is my time to lie in bed and wallow. Everyone should get a good wallow period after a breakup, right? I haven't had a chance to really wallow.Footsteps pound on the stairs, the walls shaking. I hold my breath and wait to find out if it's one RDA girl who showed up or if they came with the whole crew. I didn't make the breakup public knowledge, but I'm sure it's made the rounds by now. They have alarm devices implanted on them that light up whenever anyone's in trouble. Although, if I'm honest, having girlfriends right now isn't so bad. There's a chance they brought ice cream. Please let them have ice cream.And liquor.Drew's h
"Jesse, come right in. Did you have trouble finding the place?" Drew is first to recover from his shock.Jesse uses an index finger to push his glasses further up his nose. "You weren't lying when you said the big blue Victorian would be hard to miss." The words sound snotty.This house is a piece of architectural greatness. He better hope he didn't snub it. Drew pats me on the shoulder, aware I'm seconds away from kicking our potential new roommate out. This place is my baby, and it costs as much as one to live here, too."Well, let us give you a tour of the place." With both hands on my shoulders Drew turns me around. "As you see the large living room," he says as we walk toward the kitchen his arm gesturing to the left."Do you often keep the curtains open like that?"Drew's steps stall, and he whips his head to the left looking at the curtains. "Uh... I don't know." We share a look between us, and I lift a shoulder in response. He's on his own for this one.Jesse makes
I check over the contents of my chest one last time and then close the lid. One plus to lying in bed all day, it's allowed me plenty of time to stockpile crops in Dragons Reborn. You can't play the full game in the mobile version, but I've been able to harvest crops and make enough cloth to keep me stocked for a while. I tried to con Drew into bringing me his laptop so I could play in bed, but he told me to get my ass downstairs. That option wasn't appealing, so I suffered through.After an hour and dropping my phone on my face twice, I almost gave in yesterday and plugged in the laptop Grant gave me. Every time he's around he pisses me off so I forget to give it back. The only thing stopping me was the fact it's still downstairs in our kitchen and I didn't have the energy to deal with the first floor. Plus, I can't get attached to the design and super-fast speed because I'm definitely giving it back to him. I need to find a box and then it's gone.If I didn't care so much for my p
Less than seven days later and I eat my previous words. The Serenity Spa at Arizona's Camelback Mountain is pretty awesome."It's so hot, but like... not hot," Marissa whines and flips over in her lounge chair.She's not exaggerating. Arizona is hot at the end of June. Even under the large canopy that provides us with shade, the temperature is scorching. My skin feels ready to melt away from my bones like in the ending of that Indiana Jones movie, but I'm not sweating.Still it's Arizona and I'm at a spa. Heat blisters are a small price to pay. I wouldn't be here at all if Aspen hadn't hounded me this week. The cost of airline tickets to Arizona wasn't horrible, but more than I could spend. Aspen offered to pay for my ticket, but I'm not one to accept help for a spa weekend. I'm not sure I'd accept help for much of anything.They were unable to talk me into it until Ryland, decided his wife couldn't fly coach and rented out an entire private plane. There was back-and-forth betw
Aspen clears her throat next to me. "I booked you a body treatment.""You did? Which one?" I looked over the website Aspen sent earlier this week and there wasn't a single option I'd consider affordable. Of course, under normal circumstances I couldn't afford to sit next to the spa. "I can't afford anything right now." I hate making myself sound poor, but it's better than having a huge bill later. If I can't pony up the extra on next month's rent, Drew will have a coronary."Nonsense," Aspen says. "It's on Finn and me."I don't know what to say. Another cost may be no big deal to Aspen, but it's an expensive gift. And Aspen will never understand how much it means to me. I open my mouth to give her a sincere thank you when Marissa beats me to it."Have you noticed how you and Finn now talk like one another? If you get married, you think you'll morph into one single person."Aspen doesn't comment, choosing instead to stare at her best friend with "a what the hell" expression th