Page 181 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11
Sophie closed her locker. She looked behind her to make sure Axel was out of earshot and then turned back to me. Her calm façade cracked, replaced by a huge smile. “What the actual F is happening right now? Axel was holding your hand! Did Phase Incest actually work?!”
I cringed. “Please stop calling it that. Let’s just call it Operation Too Hot to Handle.”
“You know perfectly well that Operation THTH has severalphases. Hence the flirting with Jacob thing – a la Phase Incest.”
“It’s not called that. And this has nothing to do with any phases. It just…happened. And what do you meanactually worked? Did you expect it not to? You seemed so confident.”
“I was confident with the plan,” Sophie said. “I just thought it would take more time. But you excelled beyond my wildest expectations.”
I laughed.
“I saw him waiting for you on the front steps. Did he finally ask you out?”
“No…”
“Gah, boys.” She leaned against her locker and crossed her arms. “So many games with that one. Phase Incest continues.”
I shook my head. “But he held my hand. In front of the whole school. That means something.”
“Maybe. What was happening right before he grabbed your hand?”
“I was talking to Jacob…”
Sophie laughed and shook her head. “See? We have him just where we want him. The plan continues. What are you going to wear to the party on Friday night? It has to be sinfully short. And you can borrow a pair of my heels.”
“Technically, I’m grounded.”
“Wait, really? I thought you were joking when you texted me that last night.”
I kind of hoped I had been joking. It had been a really long time since I’d been grounded. But my dad wasn’t bluffing this time. “It’s only for a week instead of a month. But…yeah.”
Sophie waved her hand through the air. “It’s fine. RJ was already concocting an escape plan for you just in case. Can I come over tonight to help you pick a dress?”
I laughed. “Soph, you can’t come over.”
“What?”
“I just told you…I’m grounded.”
“Wait, that includes from seeing me? No way.”
I nodded. “Pretty sure.”
“I don’t think so. I’ll talk to Uncle James…” she started gagging. “Sorry. Reflex from yesterday when I accidentally talked about all the things I wanted to do to our hot new teacher.” She gagged again. “I wonder if I’ll ever be able to talk to him again without wanting to puke.”
“You did say some really gross stuff.”
She gagged again. “Stop it.”
“I’m only kidding with you. You didn’t know it was him.”
“Exactly. All those things I said were for someonenotrelated to me.” She dry heaved.
I laughed. “Or maybe there’s a new Phase Incest?”
She grabbed her stomach like she was legit going to throw up. “I’m not gonna be able to face your dad ever again.”
“You’re fine,” I said and rubbed her back. “Breathe. You gotta get over this. Because you have to see him last period.”
