Page 68 of The Player
Swinging the door open, I saw Shelley standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot. Then her scowl disappeared, and her eyes widened when they settled on the knife I was brandishing at her.
“That’s a nice way to greet your sister after bailing on her for weeks,” she chastised.
I lowered my arm and stepped back from the doorway to let her in.
“Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
She raised her brow at me as she strolled past, heading into the living room.
“Is Will into some kinky shit then? Does he like you to greet him at the door with a carving knife?” She dropped onto the sofa, then when she saw me walk in after her and sit down without giving her my usual sarky response, her face softened. “Colton told me you were back, but he said you didn’t want to see anyone. Thanks for that, by the way. That made me feel really special.”
“What else did Will say?” I asked, ignoring her dig at the fact that I was hiding, but hesitant to find out what she knew.
“He said he’ll tell the boys where you’ve been in a few days. He wouldn’t say any more than that.” She snapped her mouth shut, her nostrils flaring as she paused, then added, “Where the fuckhaveyou been?”
I sat forward, opened and closed my mouth like a fool, and Shelley sighed. “I was all for you and Will having a bit of time alone, but you could’ve at least answered a few of my texts.”
“The Wi-Fi was terrible. I’m sorry,” I lied, hoping she wouldn’t see right through me.
“I texted you every day. You didn’t even read them.”
I hated that she was upset, and she didn’t even know the worst of it.
She took her mobile out to show me the evidence, scrolling through each message that showed it’d been delivered but remained unread. As awful as it sounded, that gave me some comfort. He hadn’t read those messages after the ones he sent out that first day.
“We lost our phones,” I told her, and she raised her eyebrows again.
“Both of you?”
“Yes. They were in the same bag, and we lost it at a local bar. We’d had too much to drink.” It was scary how easily these lies were rolling off my tongue.
Will had phoned our service providers and had both lines cancelled after we got home last night, but I didn’t want to tell her that. A story about our phones getting lost after a drunken night was much more believable and came with fewer questions I’d have to think up more lies for.
“You could’ve used a payphone. I’ve been going out of my mind here. Two sisters going AWOL and here’s me left behind to try and keep Mum from stressing out about you both.”
“You haven’t heard from Kate?” I asked, shifting the focus off me and onto my older sister.
Shelley shook her head.
“No. She sent an email about three weeks ago saying she’d be off grid for a while. Something about a wilderness camp, but I’ve had nothing from her since. She told me not to worry, but how can I not?” She let out a deep sigh. “I missed you, Bee. I missed both of you.”
I put the knife on the sofa beside me and reached for her, pulling her into a hug.
“I’m sorry. I promise I won’t ever do that to you again.”
She hugged me back, reluctant to let go, and then she chuckled.
“All those weeks holed away with Will, the player. I bet you’ve got some stories to tell me.” She pulled back and gave me an evil little wink.
“I think we’ll need a drink before we have that conversation,” I joked, guilt still hanging over me, but I fought it down as I headed into the kitchen.
I sat with my sister for a few hours, managing to keep up the façade that I’d been on some kinky holiday with Will. But the reality of what’d happened, that our dad was gone forever, stayed in my mind throughout, meaning I couldn’t quite look her in the eye. When she eventually got up to leave, I asked her for a favour.
“Could you pick up some things for me? And don’t judge me when you read my shopping list,” I begged, going to Kate’s bureau and opening the drawer to take out a pen and pad. I jotted down a few things, ripped the page off the pad, folded it, and handed it to Shelley.
She quirked her brow at me and went to open it, but I put my hand up.
“Please don’t read it till you leave. I know I’m not usually shy, but I am today, okay? And you might have to go to a few shops to find everything on there.”
