These few days would never be enough as far as I was concerned, and I wasn’t looking forward to her departure. I never wanted her to leave.
“What are you thinking about?” She looked up at me as we walked through the lobby.
“Wondering if I can convince you to stay for a little while longer.”
“I’ll be back in three weeks,” she said. “I already have that flight booked, remember?”
“Good to know.” I clasped her hand and guided her to one of the private pools.
“This one is even prettier than the last one you showed me.” She unbuttoned her jacket and slipped out of her jeans, slipping into the pool completely naked.
I smiled, watching her swim across the water. When she reached the other side, she came up for air and laughed. “Are you going to come in and join me?”
“In a minute,” I said, pulling my shirt over my head. I removed my phone from my pants and noticed new alerts.
There was a new text from Michael and a letter from someone I’d never messaged before on Words & Letters.
Text message from Michael: Sorry! I missed your text from this morning. You said that we need to talk about something important, in person? Tell me when and where.
Text message from Me: Friday. Your place. Breakfast.
Text message from Michael: Can I get a hint as to what it’s about, so I won’t have a heart attack?
Text message from Me: A woman I’m planning to date long-term.
Text message from Michael: Oh, well fucking FINALLY. Why can’t you call me now and tell me about her?
Text message from Me: It’d be best in person. The woman from Words & Letters did eventually come into town, so I want to hold off until her last day.
Text message from Michael: Of course, you do. Is she attractive? Do you think I’ll like her?
I ignored that text for now and opened the new message from the app.
Letter Topic: Bella/Christina
Dear Ryan/Dane,
Just so you know, if you fuck up my friend’s heart, I will murder you. I will also make sure that no one ever finds your body.
She really likes you, but if this is just a fling on your end, please don’t lead her on.
If you don’t care about her as much as she cares about you, please do the right thing and A) Let her know or B) Leave her alone and let her come home to Charlotte.
Your future killer/Your new friend (Your choice)
Sincerely,
Daniella
SIXTEEN Christina
My Last Day in Spokane
I leaned back in the uncomfortable Hilton chair and typed the first few lines of His Big Fat Cock, double-checking to make sure that the description of the hero’s cock was as hot as I wanted it to be.
Since Dane had an important meeting this morning, he’d dropped me off at the hotel and promised to return in time to drive me to the airport.
As I was redrafting a few adjectives, my phone buzzed with a new text message.
Text message from Dad: I’m downstairs in your hotel’s lobby. Come and meet me now.
Shit. I forgot to make dinner plans with him.
Grabbing my purse, I took the elevator downstairs and spotted him alone in the corner. He was staring straight ahead, sitting in front of five full shot glasses.
“Hey, Dad,” I said, sitting across from him.
“Christina.”
“How’s Baby Noah?”
“He’s fine,” he said, his face devoid of any emotion. “How are you?”
“Great. I uh—I meant to say goodbye before leaving, but—”
“You were too busy spending all of your fucking time with Dane.”
I said nothing, unable to read or sense where he was going with this.
“I spoke to him not too long ago,” he said. “He came over and decided to tell me what the hell was going on between you two, behind my fucking back.”
His eyes were narrowed, and the veins in his neck were swelling by the second.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Isn’t it?” He crossed his arms. “How old were you when he first came onto you? Did he seduce you whenever I left the living room? Was it during one of those weekends when I asked him to drive you and your other friend to the lake?”
“I barely paid attention to Dane back then.”
“Was he Dane then, or was he Mr. Holland?”
“I…” I hesitated to answer. He’d always been introduced to me as “Dane,” and I never learned his last name until someone happened to mention it in passing. I knew that wasn’t the right answer, though. Not now.
“He was Mr. Holland.”
“Then did he first come onto you? Before or after your senior year of high school?”
“What?”
“He’s too old for you, Christina.” He looked as if he were seconds away from losing his shit. “I knew he was attracted to younger women here or there, but—”
“But you have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.” I cut him off, unable to take anymore. “He didn’t groom me when I came to visit you back then. He barely spoke to me at all.”
He picked up a shot glass and tossed the liquor back.
“I met him on the goddamn Words & Letters app.”
“Watch your tone. Now.”
I sighed. “I met him on the app, just like I met all of my other friends except Daniella,” I said. “I know you’ll find that hard to believe, but it’s the truth. When you left years ago—when you decided that you couldn’t bear to be in the same state anymore, we had to move.”
“I’m well aware of what happened when I divorced your mother, Christina.”
“Are you?” I glared at him. “Because I don’t recall getting a single, ‘I’m sorry for pulling you out of school during your junior year and making you start all over via online-school, since me and my wife are too petty to pick who’s responsible for paying for private
