Page 214 - My FlipBook

L IS A J. L A W R E N C E

She found Ash lying on his back on his bed and staring up
at the ceiling. For one second they were in the storage closet
again, a bare bulb dangling over their heads. Patty raging
outside the door.
“Are you mad at me?” she asked, bracing for a fight.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually mad.”
Ash turned to look at her, looming over him. “I’m not
mad at you. I’m mad at him.” He turned back to the stark

ceiling. “Thinks he can come and go as he pleases. It’s like
he’s playing with us. Your only fault is being too nice.”
“You don’t even know what he was going to say.”
“Would it matter?”
Well. Probably not. “Next time let me talk to him and
make that decision myself, okay?”
He rolled away, his back to her. “Okay.” ADVANCE READING COPY

Greta sensed his weight, his dark matter, pulling all light
from the room. Sucking her toward a black hole. A few hours
ago she had seen him in ugly shorts with Elgin, a sign of
camaraderie that only made sense at Elgin’s house. They were
cooking together again. And Nate with them. Ash actually
feeling something for Alice. And even though he was pissed
about Kai, they’d made a joke out of it. He was okay. She had
wrestled so much with her own okayness that she hadn’t real-
ized Ash was getting better, in tiny baby steps. Now this. Anger

flared against Roger. Was he playing with them, like Ash said?
They went to bed right then, without saying goodnight
to anyone. In their clothes. Greta turned off the light but left
the phone by her head. Hating Roger but wanting something

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