I shot up off the couch and darted over to my phone. Kiera got to it first, and she was frowning as she stared at the screen. Not a programmed number then. Shit. It was definitely from Gavin. Fuck…why now?

She looked like she was about to open the message, and before I was even conscious of doing it, I ripped the phone from her hands, glanced at the screen, shut off the display, then shoved the phone into my pocket. Shit. Was that suspicious? Well, of course it was, dumbass.

Kiera had a stunned expression on her face, like she couldn’t believe I’d just done that, and guilt instantly flooded me. Goddamn it. What do I tell her? Not the truth, that was definitely out. So how do I gloss over doing that? How did I make her forget, so that she didn’t ask, so that I didn’t have to lie? I tried distraction, praying it would work.

Pointing over at Anna, I said, “Want to play a game? Anna thinks she can beat me at Monopoly.” I laughed and shook my head, like I thought that was funny. Like any of this is funny.

Kiera frowned at me, but then she said, “Sure.”

I almost exhaled with relief. She’s not going to ask, thank God.

But then of course, as I was leading her away, she did ask. “Who was that text from?”

My heart sank, my stomach dropped, the guilt rose…and so did the bile in the back of my throat. No one I can tell you about. And I’m so sorry for that. Knowing I was ruining our idyllic day, I gave her a breezy smile, and then I lied through my teeth. “It was just from Griffin.” Selling the lie, I leaned in and added, “Trust me, with the stuff he’s been sending me lately, you don’t want to see it.”

Jesus. Did I seriously just ask her to trust me while I was lying to her? Fuck, what the hell was wrong with me? Clearly, I was still a horrible, horrible person. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t tell her about Gavin. Not today…not ever.

And just like that, my picture-perfect day felt anything but perfect.

Chapter 22

NEWS