Page 70 of Plot Twist
Sophie felt sick to her stomach. She’d just been thinking that Dash was the only person she could ever really trust, but here was the other life he’d never let her into. And the other woman she’d never heard about. She’d been okay with the fact that Dash had a secret account, but she was definitelynotokay with him keeping some other relationship from her.
Still, she had a gut feeling that everything she’d just seen wasn’t quite right. There was a missing piece that only Dash could put into place, and she just hoped that whatever explanation he had would prove that he hadn’t been lying to her this whole time.
30
DASH
Maybe it was the late-July heat or the fact that Dash hadn’t heard from Sophie since his sister walked in on them, but something inside him must’ve snapped.
How else to explain why he’d printed out a dozen shirtless pics of Richard Gere fromAmerican Gigolo? Perhaps more concerning was that he was squatting in the grass and gluing the photos to a metal collar around the base of the tree.
“What are you doing?”
He heard Sophie’s voice, then looked up to see her, but lost his footing completely and landed in the grass with a hell of a thump.
“Ahh,” he managed to say as a photo of Richard Gere’s abs landed on his face.
Sophie pulled the photo off and stared at it, then him. “I guess I have a few questions. For starters, why are you covering the tree with this handsome man? And why not cover my windows with him instead?”
Dash rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up to sitting. “You’re the one who got me associating the damn squirrel with Richard Gere. I put a metal collar around the base of the tree, which apparently stops them from being able to climb, but I thought if anyone can intimidate Dick the squirrel, it’s a shirtless Richard Gere. It’s like a scarecrow, but a scare-Dick, if that makes sense.”
“Sure, sure.” Sophie held out her hand, and Dash took it, pulling himself up to stand. He brushed dirt and grass off his jeans. But Sophie wasn’t smiling at him, the way she normally did. Her mouth formed a thin line as she swallowed.
She licked her lips and blew out a long breath. “Did you... Are you @tokcrafty2me?”
Dash frowned and shifted his weight from one leg to the other, the way he always did when he wasn’t sure what to do. He had not expected her to say that, and the fact that she knew his secret-account name gave him pause. “How did you...” He started to look around the lawn, as if an answer might be there.
“A woman named @craftycindy messaged me.” She held up her phone for him, and he saw the avatar of Cindy, along with a stream of messages. But Sophie pulled the phone back before he had time to read them. “Is that you? Are you @tokcrafty2me?”
He weighed his options, which weren’t many: tell Sophie the truth, or lie. “Yes, that’s me.”
Sophie cleared her throat and held the phone to her chest. Her gaze fell to the pavers at their feet, cracked from the overhead sun. Her lashes were thick and heavy against her cheek. Dash wanted so desperately to pull her to him, but he sensed she wouldn’t be open to that.
“What did she tell you?” Now he was starting to get worried.
“She told me that you’re in a relationship with her and paid her hush money not to talk about it.”
Dash guffawed and took a step closer to her, but she held up a warning hand. “She’s lying.”
“Butyoulied to me. Youwere playing me. You have this whole other life I didn’t even know about. I know you and I aren’t a thing, really. We’re just fooling around, or whatever.” She swallowed and tucked the photo of Richard Gere closer to her chest. How very unfair thathegot to be pressed up against her, and not Dash. “But this makes me feel like garbage, like you don’t even care about me.”
“What? Soph, no, please. I care about you. Idocare about you, very deeply.” He was about to reach for her, but a sudden jolt caused him to trip backward. Sophie took a step back, too, nearly falling.
“Was that...” She glanced around but, as she did, another ripple from the ground caused Dash to lose his balance. Then the ground began to sway. Sophie balanced from one foot, then to the next, as she crouched low and tried to stay upright.
“Earthquake!” Her voice was almost a piercing shriek.
He reached for her, and they both toppled to the grass. The earth beneath them shook, and the soil rippled like a wave. He brought her in as tightly as he could, then curled himself around her until he was a protective shield. Dash held Sophie for what felt like several minutes until the earth stopped moving.
Car alarms blared from the nearby street, and there was the distant sound of dogs barking. A siren screamed, and Sophie shook in his arms. He wrapped her up tighter against him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt one that big,” she said. “And don’t you dare make a dirty joke out of that right now.”
He let out a chuckle. “I usually sleep through them.”
“I spent the walk home watching your videos. Dash...”
He clenched his jaw, unable to control the fact that the way she said his name still affected him.
