Page 23 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

River shushes him.

I shove my ear against the door to hear them better.

‘I already did,’ Riv says, his voice now lowered.

Dang it, Riv.

‘She doesn’t know yet, but we’re going out tonight. All of us,’ River continues.

No, we’re not.

‘How exactly are you going to convince her of that?’ Dax asks.

‘I called help. Mercy’s back in town, and Hols would never say no to her.’

He really thinks he’s got this all thought out, doesn’t he? Like he’s somehow got the upper hand.

Dax laughs. ‘That’ll go over like a lead balloon.’

At leastsomeoneknows me.Howare these walls this thin? I wonder what they pay for this place. It can’t be much.

‘I have a plan,’ River says. ‘I’ll get her to Mom and Dad’s after, and Mom will have her set up in her old room before I can even ask.Voila!I’m sleeping in my bed again, and our apartment no longer smells like BO. You’re welcome.’

‘Thank you?’ Dax asks in an unmistakably skeptical tone. ‘I don’t know, Riv,’ he says. ‘I don’t think she’s going that easily.’

‘Or maybe you don’t want her to go?’ River asks. ‘This entire scenario is like your teenage wet dreams come true.’

‘What?’ I ask myself out loud, forgetting that they can likely hear me if I can hear them.

The two of them go silent. Suddenly, the fridge ice maker starts grinding away.

‘Your childhood…’ River fades out, the sound of them moving around the kitchen making noise interrupting his words. ‘Sleeping in the next room, a thin wall being all that separates you.’

For a second, all goes silent again, and I almost think they’ve left the apartment.

‘If you don’t shut it, I’ll wrap this towel around your neck and—’ Dax growls, his voice loud enough to make out every word.

I swing open the bathroom door, hoping to prevent River’s murder.

Both of their heads snap my way.

‘Everything cool out here? I thought I heard something going on…’ I walk down the hall, towel still wrapped around my chest and barely long enough to cover my upper thighs. I stop in front of River’s door.

‘Yeah,’ Dax says nonchalantly. ‘We’re cool.’

River nods. ‘We cool.’ He says the words in a tone of voice I haven’t heard in a while but know well. The we’re-up-to-no-good tone. Maybe staying here wasn’t the best idea. I forgot what these two are like together.

‘What are you doing?’ River asks Dax, whose eyes flitter from me to River quickly.

‘What?’ Dax asks. ‘Nothing.’

Dax looks back at me, an eyebrow raised, an uncomfortable smile on his face. ‘Ow,’ he says suddenly, looking at River.

I glance at River, who lifts a shoulder as if he has no idea what his problem is.

‘You two are weirdos.’

‘I gotta go,’ Dax says suddenly, grabbing his keys from the counter and practically running through the front door, slamming it behind him.

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