Had Jay taken her money? She thought about the apartment that wasn’t his. Did he not have his own place? Was he worse off than Whitney thought? Maybe that’s what the girl meant by him being an asshole. Maybe he was mooching off them or something.

Oh, God. She pressed her hand to her forehead. Why was I so trusting? So gullible?

Taking off her robe, she stepped into her pajama pants, pulled them up to her waist. With her mind on edge, they didn’t quite give her the comfort she’d been hoping for. After changing into one of her soft Ts, she made her way to the bed, crouched down onto it. Clicking on Jay’s name, she pressed the phone to her ear. Bouncing her knees up and down to a beat only she could hear, she waited for him to answer. When it went to voice mail, frustration burned through her, a wildfire obliterating everything in sight.

Was that Jay’s plan all along? To steal from her?

Thinking hard, Whitney bit her lip. No, that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t that much money. Besides, if all he was after was money, why date Whitney? She wasn’t rich by any means.

And she supposed Amelia could’ve found the money. It wasn’t like she’d hidden it that well.

But why had Jay lied about where he lived?

God, she couldn’t understand any of this.

From day one, she’d thought Jay seemed too good to be true. Now it seemed, she was right.

20

FOUR DAYS
BEFORE DROP-OFF

“CAN I SPEND the night at Lauren’s Friday?”

“Sure,” Whitney responded, already fantasizing about what she’d do with a free night.

“Sweet. I’ll tell Lauren.” Amelia smiled, her thumbs flying over the screen on her phone. After a few seconds, she looked up. “Is it cool if I just go home with Lauren after school?”

Whitney wanted to say yes. To fight against her helicopter-mom tendencies for once. To keep that smile on Amelia’s face. She rarely saw it anymore. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Whitney knew she’d been gone a lot lately. Work had been demanding as Natalie’s business continued to grow. And, also, she’d been spending a lot of time with Jay. But that was all the more reason for Whitney to be more attentive to Amelia when she was around. Not to mention the fact that she was curious about Lauren’s mom.

“I’d actually rather drop you off.”

Amelia groaned. “Mom, I’m not five.”

“You’re also not twenty-five,” Whitney said.

“Is this seriously how you’re gonna be even when I get my license?”

Whitney shrugged. “Maybe.”

Amelia rolled her eyes. “God, I can’t wait until I’m eighteen and can be on my own!” Spinning around, she stormed down the hallway, a hurricane of teenage hormones and emotion.