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Smash

Page 125

by Penelope Ward, Vi Keeland

I wasn’t sure how long we’d been in the bathroom, maybe a half hour or so, but when my phone started ringing with Rafe’s call for a third time, I gently slipped Calder’s head off my lap and went out to the living room.

“Hello?”

“Hey, babe. I was starting to get worried. You haven’t been answering the phone. What were you doing tonight?”

“I, uh, Calder got himself into a bit of trouble and was down at the police station. I had to go pick him up.”

“I heard.”

My brows pulled together. “What do you mean you heard?”

“My buddy Jack owns the bar where Calder broke the window. One of the customers who saw what went down told him Calder was a friend of mine, so Jack called me, and I talked him into not pressing charges. Then I called the police station to see if another buddy of mine was working tonight. He wasn’t, but they told me his ex was coming to pick him up.”

“So you…knew where I was?”

“I figured you were the ex he’d call.”

“Yet you asked me what I did tonight. Why would you ask if you already knew?”

Rafe didn’t answer.

“Were you…testing me? To see if I would tell you the truth?”

“No.”

“Then why would you ask?”

Again, he didn’t seem to have an answer.

“You don’t trust me,” I said.

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“I don’t know. I guess… Can you blame me? We cheated, Talia. We lied to Calder. Your boyfriend and my best friend.”

“So that, what, makes me a compulsive liar?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well, then what are you saying?”

“I’m not saying anything.”

“I think you are. Sometimes things are loud and clear without words being spoken.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“As long as we’re both liars and cheaters,” I bit out, “where were you tonight? You were supposed to call me when you landed, hours ago. Were you busy collecting new underwear for your junk drawer?”

Rafe went silent for a long time. “I made a mistake,” he finally said. “I shouldn’t have tested you. You’re right. That’s what I was doing.”

I took a deep breath. “We both have trust issues, Rafe. If we assume the worst of each other, this is never going to work.”

“I know. I’ll work on it. I promise.”

Remembering how jealous I’d been when I found those underwear this afternoon, I sighed. “I will, too. We’re both going to have to work hard.”