training today sorry
i’ll call her later
Mom
No problem, sweetie! I wish you could have checked on her, but I understand. Just let me know if you hear from her. <3
Scottie, text me the second you’re up. I’m worried about you.
I groan.
The scene of domestic warmth this morning almost made me forget my situation, which is idiotic. To Lucas, I’m still Jake Rodgers’s girlfriend. If anything, he’s probably kicking himself right now for forgetting, too.
I’m “taken.”
And if Jake, his stupid agent, and my family get their way, not even Liam Neeson could save me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Scottie
Igive myself a couple of lazy hours of scrolling social media withTaken 2on in the background before my disgusting state overwhelms me. I don’t feel completely better, but I know if I don’t have a shower, I’ll physically bar Lucas from ever setting foot in my house again.
I pick up the used tissues that missed the trashcan, open my windows to let in some air, and then take a hot shower.
The water hits me like a hundred tiny massages, easing the ache that’s been living in my bones for two straight days. I stand there longer than I mean to, breathing in lavender steam and trying to feel like a person again.
I finally pour shampoo into my hand, work it into a creamy, bubbly lather, and rake it through my hair, scrubbing my head longer than normal. Then I rinse and put on conditioner, smoothing it over my strands and running my hands through my hair in a way that normally feels nice but now feels … insufficient.
A memory of Lucas’s hand grazing my hair this morning surfaces, and my fingers slow in the conditioner.
I drag them across my scalp and through my hair again, trying to recreate the feeling?—
WAIT.
This morning, his hand only skimmed my face and hair once.
So why does my body remember him running his hands through my hair on repeat?
Is this wishful thinking?
Or an actual memory??
My breathing speeds up as memories come in rapid flashes.
Lucas’s hands in my hair.
His low, soft voice.
His breath close enough to stir the tiny hairs on my face.
His voice in the dark:
Why are you dating him?
And then my voice?—
He needs me.
