“I don’t know. You can’t just go stick it in a drawer and forget about it,” she said. “Let’s see…you could tweet him and offer to return it in exchange for free concert tics. And a chance to meet Tiffane.”

I laughed. “That is an option.”

“Or you could hack into it and read all his texts. Or actually sell it to a news site, like I said! I bet they’d pay a ton for Ryan Hooks’s cell phone.”

I blinked a few times and then shook my head to clear it. “Ness, the only thing I’m going to do right now is go inside and get some sleep. You want to crash?”

“No, I need to get home,” she said with a sigh, pulling out her own phone to call a car.

After she left, I stood outside for a while, staring at the image on the phone. When I finally walked into the house, most of the lights were off. Keith had gotten into the habit of leaving one on in the living room before he went to sleep, and I was grateful for it tonight; I needed all the help I could get. I stumbled to the couch and plopped down, turning to look at Shelby as I did. She was lying in her usual spot with her eyes closed, but I had the sense she’d just laid down as I opened the door. I pulled myself back up and walked over to her, kneeling, the alcohol encouraging me to make amends, even at this ungodly hour.

“Hey, girl,” I said quietly, running my fingers through her soft fur. She opened her eyes and stared at me but didn’t move an inch. “Let’s bury the hatchet, okay? Truce?”

She stared at me with something that, in my current state, felt like a look of disgust, and I straightened up, walked back to the couch, and sat down. She watched me for a few moments more, but then she let her eyelids drop again.

“Fine,” I said out loud. “Don’t say I never tried.”

I could hear the breath coming out of my body, and I opened my mouth to try to inhale and exhale normally. Why was it so hard to breathe like a normal person? I hadn’t had that much to drink in a long time, and I knew I would feel it in the morning. My own eyes drooped, and I knew I should go to bed and take advantage of what would, at the least, be a solid night of rest.

But who could sleep after that?

I pulled my phone out of my purse and, with clumsy fingers, opened up a Google search. I took a peek at Shelby, who was still lying there with her eyes closed, and then punched in a quick search: Ryan Hooks.