Page 88 of Easy Steal

I shook my head at her, looking down as she smirked up at me.

“I thought you weren’t going to fall for it?”

I shrugged.

“You were giving me a panic attack.”

She rolled her eyes, looking down at her hands floating delicately on top of the rolling water, and then back up at me, searching my face.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.

I smiled and nodded, “we can rebuild.”

“Still, it must hurt.”

I nodded slowly.

“I’m so sorry, Sam,” she sighed, putting her arm on my bicep and giving a light squeeze. “Really, I am.”

We looked at each other for a few beats in silence, the sound of the hushing waves was the only noise in the background.

“Livie, I-”

“Don’t,” she shook her head, screwing up her face and looking up to the sky.

“Liv-”

She turned and dove under the waves once again, kicking her legs as she headed back towards the shore.

“Livie!” I called as she stumbled out of the waves and fumbled her way up the small hill of deep sand and back towards where the car was parked.

But she didn’t stop at the car, like I expected her to, she just kept running.

I forced my way out of the water, and tried to follow her, but by the time I made my way up the sand hill she had disappeared.

“Olivia!” I yelled into the empty parking lot, spinning around and looking for a purple head of hair.

I even thought that I heard a faint“don’t call me that”in the distance, but I could have been imagining it too.

I waited for a few minutes, the cool breeze freezing against the wet clothes that clung to my skin, before I shook my head, laid a towel down on the seat of my car, and drove back to what was left of my shop.

23

Chapter 23

Livie

Ihuddled in the corner of the phone booth, shielding myself from the wind as I waited. Only a few minutes after I made the call, Rome pulled up on the side of the street and wound a window down to shake her head at me.

I made the dash from the booth to her car, and slipped inside quickly, slamming the door behind me and immediately turning the heater on full blast, rubbing my hands together in front of the vents.

“Why are you wet?” Rome scrunched her nose at me.

“I went swimming.”

“In this weather?”

I nodded and she shook her head, pulling back onto the road and driving back towards the city.

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