Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Hamilton’s brows lift. Dame shrugs again, then stands to put his stuff away.
“You going to the pool party?” Hamilton asks Dame.
“I … Maybe.” Dame scratches the back of his neck. “I have to check on Joss.”
The way he says it makes my skin prickle, and I realize I don’t like being left in the dark about what’s happening with her. Her mother and Olivia also seemed worried about how she’d be doing today, so it must be something big. Whatever it is, she didn’t post about it on social media.
“What’s going on today?” I ask. “Why’s everyone worried about her?”
Dame stops what he’s doing and looks at me for a long moment. “It’s the anniversary of her dad’s death.”
“Oh.” I blink. Not what I expected. “Were they close?”
“Very,” he says. “He was her favorite person. Total daddy’s girl.” He smiles softly, then clears his throat. “So, yeah, I need to check on her.”
Even as I nod, I feel myself frown.
Once he’s gone, Hamilton turns to me and makes a face. “What the fuck was that?”
“What?”
“What’s up with all the questions?”
I shrug. “They treat her like she’s fucking breakable, and I want to know why.”
“Why do you care?”
I stand up and keep sorting my stuff. “Don’t read into it.”
“Oh, I’m reading into it,” Hamilton says behind me, laughing again. “This just gets better and better.”
“Fuck you, Hammie. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” I shoot him a look.
“Don’t…” He laughs again, as he brings up his hand to start counting off, “You’re going as her to the fundraiser. You want to know personal details about her. And you’re moving into her apartment building…”
“Because they’re working on my apartment, and my dad happens to have a penthouse in her building,” I respond.
He snorts. “Don’t give me that shit. Your dad has a penthouse in every fucking building in the city. You own other places you can stay at.”
“They’re being rented out,” I say.
He rolls his eyes, and I don’t know why I feel the need to explain myself, but I try.
“Maybe I want to keep a closer eye on her family. Sue me for trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Mal.”
“Finn,” he says, opening his eyes the way he does when he calls me out on my shit. “You’ve had an investigator trailing those people for over a year now, and nothing has come of it. I get why you’re looking into Titus, I really do. I don’t agree with it, but your theory makes sense,” he says, pausing to take a deep breath as he runs his fingers through his blond hair. “But fuck, man. What’s your excuse for following Josslyn? You know she had nothing to do with it.”
“She was dating Tate. I haven’t ruled him out.”
He stares at me for a moment and laughs, shaking his head as he turns to start walking again. He mutters something under his breath about Tate being too much of a pussy to do anything like this and how I’m out of my mind. Maybe I am. I don’t know. I decided to move to that apartment building last night, and I’m not lying about people working on my place.
Sure, it’s only a cleaning company and a few plumbers changing the toilets—neither of which requires me to move—but I don’t like people in my space. And yeah, I could’ve moved into one of the places not currently being rented, but her apartment building is the closest building to the Owls’ arena. It’s not so far-fetched that I’d want to move there. A couple of guys on our team live there. Damian lives there. The more I think about it, the more justified I feel.
22
JOSSLYN
Icouldn’t sleep for a number of reasons—the main one being Finn. Last night, I was riding high, but then it all sank in and I realized that what happened in my room was probably a mistake. Each time I see him, my brain turns to mush and my body relies on senses that can’t be trusted. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if Mallory had not cast such a huge shadow over both of us. But the situation is so messy and Mal's secrets never stop, so even if I wanted to help him in this, there's no telling what she was doing leading up to that night.
For months after it happened, I was struck with guilt, wondering if I could have prevented what happened that night. By then, I’d had many talks with her and practically begged her to get help for her self-destructive behavior. I blamed myself for not contacting Finn or trying to get in touch with her parents. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I’d done that, my friendship with Mallory would have been over. Back then, it seemed like a high price to pay.