Page 108 of The Friend Situation

Carlee

He wouldn’t let me stay there. Nothing else was taken. And, yes, Brody is taking care of it.

Lexi

You’re staying with Weston? Yay!

Carlee

He doesn’t want to date me, Lex. That’s MORE THAN obvious. But anyway, I’m stressed and going to bed. Love you! Good night.

My phone immediately rings, and the sound startles me. I drop it, and it bounces on the bed.

I put her on speaker, turning the volume down, wanting the distraction even though I’m exhausted.

“You promise you’re okay?” Lexi whispers.

“Yes. I’m just upset, but it’ll be fine.”

“I’m so sorry!” she says in her full voice.

“Shit,” she whispers. “Sorry. I’m talking to Carlee.”

Easton mumbles something, and then Lexi is quiet for fifteen seconds. I hear a door click.

“I woke him up. He has an early morning meeting,” she says.

I imagine her sitting at the top of the stairs at the Diamond in the Sky. I kick off my shoes and lean back on the bed.

“Tell him I’m sorry,” I say.

“Not your fault.” She laughs. “He’ll be fine.”

The quietness drowns me.

“I get so worried about you living alone,” Lexi admits.

“There’s nothing I can do about that since you left me,” I say, giving her a hard time.

Once she and Easton started fake dating, she moved in with him. I think about their relationship and can’t help but wonder if Weston and I are on the same path.

“I can’t believe someone stole your laptop. Why would they do that? What the hell?”

“I don’t know.” I lower my voice. “There are super-sensitive things on there, Lex. I’m freaking out. What if someone finds out about LuxLeaks? That can’t happen. It would ruin everything. Not to mention the videos and pictures that I used to send my exes that are stored on my hard drive. And my journal. I’m going to be sick all over again.”

I close my eyes tight. If that information got into the wrong hands, they could destroy my entire reputation with one single post.

“I will help you however I can. Was anything else missing?”

“No. That was it. So calculated.” My nerves take over, along with the stress. “I don’t feel safe there now. It’s violating, knowing a stranger was inside my apartment.”

“We’ll figure it out,” she promises. “Maybe you can be Weston’s roommate? Like, permanently, especially if you’re just friends. Between you and me, I think he gets lonely. Extroverts. You have to feed them with human interaction, or they shrivel. You know how it is.”

I laugh. “We both know Weston doesn’t need or want a roommate. He’s just being kind, per usual. But anyway, I have to beat work early tomorrow, and I’m going to try to sleep in this big room. I’m exhausted, but I’m too wound up.”

She sighs. “Do you want me to come over?”

“No, please don’t go through the trouble.”

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