She shook her head, then glared at me. “I woke up on my bed, not remembering how I got there. Then I go look for you, and you’re gone. My head was pounding, I felt like being sick, so you know where I went? The damn hospital. They tested me for every date rape drug they could, and you know what they found?”
I knew what they found, yeah, because if I would’ve gone, they would’ve found the same thing in me, too.
“Someone was in our house, Laina,” Kelly said, her voice trembling. For the first time ever, she didn’t seem like the know-it-all she pretended to be. She wasn’t the outgoing, social butterfly that never met a situation she couldn’t handle. No, she was scared. Terrified.
Terrified because of what I brought into her life.
“They drugged me. Where were you? Did they get you, too? Or were you just out and about this whole time, oblivious?”
What could I tell her? She might freak out even more if I say I was kidnapped. If I admitted to her that this was because of me, what grounds did I have to stand on? She had every right to be freaking out right now, every right to be upset with me. I couldn’t hate her for any of this; she’d always been a remnant of the life I left behind before I was kidnapped the first time.
I tried. God, I tried to go back to the way things were, to how things probably should’ve been, but clearly it didn’t work. Playing house with my old best friend was like playing with fire; it was only a matter of time until one of us got burned, and now Kelly couldn’t handle the flames.
Kelly’s green eyes stared hard at me, and it was a while before she muttered, “This whole thing happened because of you, didn’t it? You were kidnapped, you were nearly shot on live TV—it’s not safe to be around you, is it?”
I wanted to yell at her, to stand my ground and hold myself as innocent, but if I did that, I’d make myself a liar. Out of the many, many things I might’ve been, I was no liar. I could not tell her the whole truth, so I had to be careful.
“I think so,” I whispered.
She shook her head. “I tried. I really fucking tried, but I can’t do this anymore, Laina. I can’t worry about this shit all the time. If being around you puts a target on my back, then… then I just can’t do it anymore. I have to choose me.”
I understood. It didn’t make me happy to hear, but I understood where she was coming from, and that was why I didn’t argue with her, didn’t raise my voice at her. “Talk to the landlord. See if he can change the locks, put cameras up or something. I can be out tomorrow.” This house had become my new normal, and now I was forced to say goodbye.
But what else could be done? Kelly couldn’t handle these kinds of things. I had no other choice.
She tilted her head down and stared at the carpet between us. “Thank you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s my fault for wanting things to be normal. I should’ve known better.” I didn’t wait for her to respond; it was clear we were done. Whether our friendship was totally kaput or we’d rekindle it somewhere down the road when things were calmer remained to be seen. I supposed it didn’t really matter.
I walked across the hall to my room, where I began the process of throwing everything into bags. I had options, of course. I could move back in with my dad, or any one of the guys. It wasn’t like I didn’t have anywhere to go. My choices were plenty, but even so, I didn’t know where I’d end up.
Fang’s place was kind of in a bad part of the city. Mike’s place was probably the most normal, but it was right in the center of downtown. Kieran’s apartment was small from what I’d heard, and there was still the fact he was MIA after walking out earlier.
Shit. As much as I hated to say it, it might just be easiest for me to move in with my dad.
This sucked.
I made sure my bedroom door was shut before I called my dad. With everything that happened, it might be smart for me to move back in with him anyway, so I could keep an eye on him. Plus, it’d make snooping a hell of a lot easier.
My dad answered after the third ring: “Laina, kiddo. It’s pretty late. Is something going on?”
“Uh, yeah. Kelly and I kind of… had a falling out. I need to be out of here by tomorrow. Can I come home?”
It was more than obvious he wasn’t expecting me to say that, because it took him a while to spit out the phrase, “Of course. I—can I ask what happened? You two seemed close.” It probably took a lot for him to say that, since he was never a fan of hers, even years ago.
“It’s complicated, and it’ll be easier for us both if I move out right away.”
“All right. You need help moving?”
“No, I’ll get Fang and Mike to help. Thanks, though.” I could tell my dad wanted to ask more questions about it—I’d have to come up with a story to tell him that did not involve me getting kidnapped again—so instead I changed the subject, “Did you hear from Tessa today?”
“I—” My dad stuttered. “—I did. She stopped by, showed me the latest ultrasound.”
“Did you mention getting a test done to make sure you’re the baby’s father?”
“I did. She got upset, but ultimately agreed. She called her doctor right then and there to set the test up. I’m going in with her later this week.”
Hmm. Not what I wanted to hear. If she was okay getting a paternity test done, it meant that baby in her belly was indeed my dad’s—which meant it was my sibling, and I couldn’t have her taken care of while it was still inside her. It complicated things, ridiculously so.
