Page 99 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘You two are being way too fucking loud out here. What’s so funny about toast?’ River says, shuffling into the kitchen. He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. ‘Guy with a hangover here,’ he reminds us, before downing half the bottle.

‘Sorry we made you get puking drunk last night,’ I say, rolling my eyes when he glares over at me. I glance at Dax, whose eyes widen as he turns away from River, with half a guilty grin.

Many things happened last night; us being quiet wasn’t one of them. After living here for more than a month now, I know how thin these walls are. If Riverdoesn’tknow what happened, we’ll be lucky. Heck, if creepy Roger wasn’t taking notes, I’d be shocked.

‘What in the hell were you two watching last night? It was loud as fuck.’

‘Um…’ Dax chuckles to himself. ‘Some show she likes.New Kid?New Girl?’

He almost remembers the name of my favorite show. That’s pretty cute.

‘Oh, yeah,’ I say when I notice his look of panic. ‘That Schmidt cracks me up.’

‘Maybe next time, consider the guy in the next room with a raging fucking headache.’

‘You’re our top priority, sugar,’ I say sarcastically sweet.

River glares my way.

‘Here,’ Dax says, buttering a piece of toast that resembles charcoal. ‘It’ll help with nausea.’

River grabs it from him, exits the kitchen and disappears to his room.

Oh my god, I mouth.

‘I’ll talk to him,’ Dax says, carrying over two cups of coffee and setting one in front of me. ‘He’ll deal.’

‘What if he’s mad?’

‘He won’t be.’ He leans into me, his hand on my lower back. ‘I promise. I’ll take care of it. For now, let’s get ready for the wedding we’re working today and not worry about anything else. Sound like a plan?’

‘Sure,’ I say as he kisses me on the cheek.

He finishes his coffee, walking towards the bathroom, pulling his shirt off midway through the room, and glancing back at me.

I grin like a looney toon. I’m watching, honey, God, am I watching. I blow out a breath, carrying our cups to the sink. I feel like I’m in over my head in the best possible way.

Dax’s phone pings on the counter where it’s plugged in and unintentionally, I glance over at it before the notification disappears.

Syd: Wanna try again tonight?

My heart dives from its spot on cloud nine, landing in my gut like an anvil. Sydney. I forgot about her. There’s no way he’d say yes to this. Is there?

Wait. I just looked at his text! This is how Mercy got caught up in my phone!Whydid I do that? I shouldn’t even know he got that text.

‘What are you doing?’

I let out a tiny squeal, practically jumping at the sound of River’s voice.

‘You’re looking at his phone?’

I spin towards him, his gaze moving from Dax’s phone to me.

‘No,’ I lie.

‘Why you so deer in the headlights then?’ He suddenly points my way. ‘You’re hiding something. I’d never forget that look. Lying has never been your thing. What do you know?’

‘Nothing, Riv.’ I storm out of the kitchen, past him, and towards his room.

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