Page 49 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

I swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“Oh my God, you hesitated.”

“I didn’t hesitate.”

“Yes you did. You waited several seconds before saying yes.”

Had I? I took a sip from my bottle. And then another as her eyes scrutinized me.

“You two are good, right?” Liza asked.

“Absolutely. And I miss him terribly. All I want to do is visit him.”

“You really should. He asks about you all the time. I think it’s been hurting his feelings that you haven’t come.”

“Could I call him next time you’re there? You can give him your phone?”

Liza shook her head. “No, they won’t let him use a cell phone near all the machines, but he’s dying to talk to you.”

“What about the other day when you called me by his bed?”

“I told you I recently got into breaking the rules. But I got in so much trouble. The cops caught me red-handed. I’m lucky they didn’t confiscate my phone like they did with his.”

This was my chance to find out more information. And I wasn’t even the one to bring it up. Perfect. “How did that conversation with the police go? You told them you were his fiancé, but did they tell you anything about what would happen to him? Is he going to be arrested once he gets better?”

“I was waiting for tonight to tell you so that we could properly celebrate.” She leaned forward and tapped her bottle against mine. “He’s in the clear.”

“What? How?”

“It was all my idea really. We told them about how he was undercover for so long and didn’t want to blow it because he was really close to getting the information he needed.”

“Information?”

“Mhm. Getting you to confess to everything. The murder. All that. They totally bought it. I think they’re even considering letting him go back undercover. I’m pretty sure we convinced them that his cover wasn’t’ blown. They said they’d let us know soon.”

He turned the tables on me? My throat constricted. I guess it’s what I would have wanted him to do in order to get out of this mess. So why did it sting? “So he’s not going to be arrested?”

“Nope. The guards that were outside his room were even dismissed. You could totally come visit now.”

“Tell V that.”

“I’ll tell V that if you describe oral to me.”

I choked on the Lo Mein I had just put in my mouth. “Excuse me?”

“Like what do you do? Hold that thought. I’m going to go grab a banana and you can give me a play-by-play.”

I put my hand on her shoulder to prevent her from standing up. “Liza, I’m not going to show you how to give a blowjob.”

“Please? If it gets physical with V I have to know what to do. I don’t want him to think that I’m a loser.”

“You’re not a loser. And it doesn’t matter what some stupid boy thinks anyway. Believe in yourself.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I don’t need a man to validate my self-worth. Oh let’s watch this part, I’m really excited about how much Ben vibes Kelly right now.” She gestured to the screen.

Vibes? I didn’t know Liza very well at all. I certainly never thought she’d use the term vibes. My eyes gravitated to the screen.

Chapter 22

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