Page 38 of Game of Love
I turned my attention back to the beauty and watched her.
Staying away would be a lot easier if she didn’t appeal to me.
Even now she fueled that spark of curiosity that made me want to know more about her and want her.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea, especially since I wasn’t who she thought I was.
Chapter 9
Jia
“I thinkit would look more legit if I came with you,” Anya bubbled, rubbing her bony hands together.
I set my gaze on her and wondered if she was being serious.
She swung herself around in my desk chair in that habitual manner she always did when she got a bright idea. Then the chair creaked as she straightened looking at me with expectancy.
She’d come by earlier, all apologetic for standing me up and not answering my calls and messages the other night. We’d confined ourselves to my room with all the peace offering candy she’d brought.
Apparently, she was no longer with Mike. I was just waiting to see how long she would be able to stay away from him this time.
“You’ll seriously come with me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
She tapped away at my computer keyboard and nodded. My very clever best friend had come up with the brilliant idea to go on a cruise to the Mediterranean.
Her plan was for me to take my leave and make my way over to Europe. With my birthday coming up she was sure Pa would be willing to cut me some slack. I wasn’t so sure it would be so easy.
What had happened at the recruitment session pushed me to a place I couldn’t quite describe. I wasn’t talking to Pa. I didn’t know what to say to him.
It was like someone had pulled the wool from over my eyes and I saw the monster within.
The whole situation just made me realize I truly couldn’t stay here and I couldn’t take the time I’d wanted to either to plan. I’d had a very sketchy plan to wait for my birthday in four months but now I felt that was too late. I had to leave sooner.
Last night I looked up flights to Europe and worked out a way to take cash out of my account every week without Pa noticing. Starting this week I’d take out a few hundred dollars and start putting it aside. The type of plan I had brewing would need cash payments. For everything. I was hoping I could maybe make a move in six weeks if I could stick it out that long and if all went okay. A month to six weeks of taking a few hundred dollars out each week could get me close to ten grand. I spent more than that shopping in any one month and Pa spent so much more just on his cars and other vehicles.
So that was it. The goal was ten G’s. Get the cash then split.
That was the first part of the plan.
After the warehouse drama I came home shaking and cried myself to sleep.
It was the first time since Ma’s death that I’d needed to speak to anyone.
Anya was there for me when Ma was killed. When Pa eventually allowed people to see me she was there for me.
What happened the other night was different to that time, however. It was an incident I couldn’t talk about. Couldn’t say anything to anyone, couldn’t share my shock with anyone.
Couldn’t talk about it full stop.
“So what do you think?” She smiled and nodded her head. The blunt ends of her bob brushed the underside of her jaw.
“Anya, I think that realistically, this may be a trip I may have to make on my own. And in the worst case scenario I wouldn’t be able to tell you where I was going.”
That was the reality of it.
Worry filled her eyes. It washed over her pretty face and she moved away from the computer to join me on the edge of the bed.
