Page 53 of Mischievous Lies

“He did for Hope about her detective,” I point out. And she shuts that down with nothing but a stare. Okay, point taken. He’s bad with secrets.

“That explains why you haven’t been drinking and partying much lately. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“I wasn’t ready. I felt kind of selfish unloading this all on you after your recent events and… I don’t know. I know nothing happened that night, but it was scary when the what-ifs played out in my mind, you know? I can’t stop thinking about how many times I’ve let myself be stupid drunk. I just never thought anything like that could happen to me.”

Billie offers a small smile. “I’m glad Hawke was able to protect you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

I smile back at her because although we’re best friends, we can’t constantly be glued to one another. Only the fuckers involved, who think it’s okay to do this, are at fault.

“What made you decide to come over today?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

She rolls back over, staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “I took the day off to come see you.” That’s huge for Billie because the girl will still be working even when she’s on her deathbed. “I overheard Hawke and Ford having a heart-to-heart this morning. It was actually really sad, but it was a conversation they both needed to have. It made me miss you.You’re practically my sister, and I knew you were dealing with something, so I wanted to give you space until you were ready to talk to me about it. But I realized sometimes we don’t always have tomorrow, you know? As morbid as that sounds. I just needed to know right now that you’re okay.”

Emotion bubbles to the forefront as I hold her hand again, and we lie there comfortably. It’s like all of the lines of data and images I’ve been scanning and taking note of have quickly gone into the vault, giving me this space to breathe. Sometimes, when I hyper-focus on a task, I lose myself for days, and it’s nice to know that there are people who accept that part of me, not just the fun, party version of me, and that they’re also on standby to pull me out.

“Thank you for checking up on me,” I say. “How are you after…”

“The getting poisoned, kidnapped, and watching my boyfriend almost die because of a crazy bitch?”

“Well, that’s one way to put it,” I say with a nervous laugh that brings a smile to her face.

“I wasn’t okay. I even went to therapy for a month for it. The biggest obstacle for me is coming to terms with the fact that this is what Ford does for a living. He’ll always be in danger, but I just have to trust that he’ll come back to me. But it was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. Would not recommend.” She tries to laugh it off, but I can see the hurt and vulnerability there.

I couldn’t imagine anything worse than watching the person I love be hurt right in front of me. Hawke’s smiling face comes to mind, and I try to shove it away. It’s not fair how the moment I step out of my bubble on the computer, he’s who I think of.

“Thank you for telling me,” I say, rubbing my thumb against her knuckles. “Let’s not take so long next time to come to each other about things, okay?”

“That sounds like a good promise.”

My phone starts buzzing, and it lights up at the end of my bed. I grab it and see I have two missed calls from my mother, two from Billie, and twenty-six from Hawke.

Billie whistles as she looks over my shoulder. “The boy has it bad. I can’t believe you’re still in denial.”

I glare at her, and she puts up her hands. “I promise I won’t badger you about it,fornow,if you just answer his call. I think today he really needs a friend.”

My eyebrows dip. “Is everything okay?”

She shrugs as she grabs her things. “If you want to know if he’s okay, ask him yourself. I’m going to go and check up on Hope. Make sure you wash your hair. You stink.”

“Rude!” I squawk, throwing a pillow at her, and she laughs as she leaves the room.

Fuck.

I’m torn about calling Hawke back. I haven’t answered any of his calls for a week, and these missed calls are only from the last two days.

I exhale as I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and when he answers, he’s so frantic I can hardly understand what’s happening. And my gut sinks for not having been there for him sooner.

CHAPTER 32

Ivy

“Ineed your help. Please, Ivy.”

Those were the last words I heard from Hawke before he hung up. I’m still kind of pissed at him and my lack of understanding of what’s happening between us. But I’ve never heard him sound so desperate, either. Something serious must have happened. So here I am, at his mansion. I walk up to the entrance and open the door that’s already unlocked.

“Hawke?!” I yell out, unable to keep the bite from my tone. “You better have a good fucking reason for this!”

I go straight to the kitchen, surprised he’s not in here, and put down my purse. I try the next best thing—his home gym. “Hawke?!” I call again.

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