Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
I spread my arms and lean back in the water, allowing my body to rise so I’m floating in the warm, rippling waves. I close my eyes and just breathe.
This is relaxing.
Living at the Atwaters’ mansion is also much more stressful than when we lived alone at our pool-less house, but this almost makes up for it.
Sprinkle on how happy Hayden makes Mom, and the bar fills up.
Worth it.
Even if it doesn’t feel that way sometimes.
I float around for a while, enjoying the water and recharging a bit. I know I’m losing sleep for every minute I’m out here and I may regret it tomorrow, but I don’t know when I’ll get to swim in this pool again.
Or, well, float.
Floating is quieter and I’m paranoid about waking anyone, so I haven’t actually gone for a swim, but once I come to the sad conclusion that I need to get out of the pool and get my butt to bed, I allow myself to swim a few laps back and forth.
Paradise.
With great regret, I leave the water. My body feels heavier as I emerge from both the unpleasantness of gravity and my dread about leaving paradise and not knowing when I’ll be able to return.
I grab the beach towel off the chair and wrap it around myself. I check the house for lights one more time, then head inside the beach house to put my clothes back on.
Since it’s late and I need to get some sleep, I don’t unpack the rest of the box. I close it up and make a mental note to tell Mom where it is at breakfast tomorrow.
But just as I’m pulling my hair out of my tank top and preparing to head back inside, I notice something sheer and black lying on the floor in front of the couch. Frowning, I bend to pick it up.
At first, I think maybe it was something I knocked out of the box, but when I hold it up, I know immediately it’s nothing of mine or Mom’s.
I know because I recognize it as part of the shirt Brittany Benson was wearing when she hopped into Landon’s Jaguar this afternoon.
All the peace I just found in the pool drains away in an instant.
My imagination can’t help but conjure the interaction that would have led to her top coming off and winding up on the floor of this pool house.
Gross.
I’m tempted to throw the damn thing in the pool, but I’m sure the top was expensive—maybe even dry-clean only—so I swallow down my annoyance and turn off the lights, then head back to my room with Brittany Benson’s fucking shirt balled up in my fist.
Chapter Four
Parker
“And that is why I need you to return Brittany Benson’s shirt.”
Hannah shakes her head as the car slows down at the last stop sign before we reach Baymont High. The car on the other side stops at the same time, so Hannah waves for them to go ahead. “I don’t really know her. I’m not even sure I know what she looks like. I think you should do it yourself.”
“No, what I should do is give it to Landon. Since he likes her so much, he can return her stupid shirt.” Without giving her long enough to respond, I go on. “How do you just… not realize you’re missing half of your shirt? Honestly.”
“I’m sure she did notice,” Hannah says.
“And she didn’t go back for it?”
She smiles faintly. “Of course not. ‘Oh, hey, I think I left my shirt at your house the other day’ is the perfect way to invite herself back if she wasn’t sure he would invite her without the nudge. Sometimes I forget that for all your academic brilliance, you’ve lived in a boy-free bubble your whole life and you don’t know how dating works.”
I scowl. “Why would you want to see a guy you have to trick into inviting you back over?”
Hannah laughs and shakes her head. “You wouldn’t, but some girls do. Any girl who likes Landon has to, because they all know by now he’s never going to put in the effort to see them.”
I shake my head. “Mind boggling. Maybe I should slip a copy of He’s Just Not That into You in the shirt before I give it back.”
“Too late to stop at the bookstore now,” Hannah jokes as we pull into the school parking lot.
Hannah finds an open spot near the back, and as we walk past the row of reserved spaces, I spot Landon hanging with Malek and Arden by their cars. Of course they don’t have to search the lot for a parking spot.
My heart rate kicks up when Landon’s brooding gaze locks on me. I realize with growing horror I’m holding Brittany’s shirt and he can see me. Without thought, I shove it at Hannah.