“Tasha!” Ty’s voice came from the front of the house, though the resounding footsteps echoing through the hall informed me that he wasn’t stationary. He was heading toward the living room. Which meant he was seconds away from finding me dry humping the neighbor, who was supposed to be under the impression that I was my sister, who was very much engaged to someone else.
I quickly pushed off his lap and stepped away, doing my best to steady myself on such weak legs while giving Jacoby enough room to get off the couch. Neither of us knew what to do. Opening the door to go outside would be noisy, and there was nowhere for Jacoby to run that didn’t involve passing Ty in the main hallway other than the kitchen. So he started to head that way, but at the last second, he stopped and ducked next to the couch, just out of view.
It turned out to be a smart move, because a split second later, Ty entered the room. There was no way Jacoby would’ve made it to the kitchen in time. And once I had a moment to think about it, the kitchen would’ve been the worst place to go—in the event Ty went to the fridge, there would be no escape for Jacoby, and we’d surely be found out.
“W-what’s going on?” I tried my best to act and sound unfazed by his impromptu visit, which was pointless because I could tell without a mirror that I looked guilty of something.
Ty’s brows knitted together as he scanned the room. “I tried calling, but you weren’t answering. So I decided I’d come over to make sure everything’s all right.”
“Yeah, it’s all good. I was just, um…playing video games.” It was at that point that I turned my attention to the TV, noting the screen. And what I saw left me with majorly conflicting feelings: Jacoby wasn’t losing, I was. He’d pressed pause on his side, which meant the character that continuously died was mine. I’d basically assaulted the guy for no reason.
Well, it wasn’t for no reason.
“I see that.” Ty started to come closer, so to keep him from spotting Jacoby crouched in the corner of the room next to the sofa, I quickly stepped toward him. Within seconds, I closed the gap between us and turned him on his heels, putting his back to Jacoby. Just as I thought I’d gotten away with the sly maneuver, he hitched his thumb over his shoulder and asked, “Who was here?”
“Huh?” Playing dumb never worked out well for me. “What do you mean?”
“There are two plates, two glasses, two cans of beer.” He couldn’t have taken more than a quick glance at the coffee table when he walked in, yet he was able to recall everything on it without turning to point it all out. He must’ve had a photographic memory or something.
“Oh, that…yeah, it was just me.”
“Why would you need two of everything?”
“I don’t need two of everything; it just worked out that way. You see…what had happened was…” A rehearsed lie was so much easier than coming up with one on the spot. “After I ate, I went back to the kitchen for more, but I forgot to bring my plate with me. So instead of coming back to get it, I just grabbed another.”
“And you needed another glass, too?”
All I could do was nod. He either believed me, or he didn’t; nothing else I had to say would change his mind. If anything, it would simply dig my hole even deeper. And considering the fact that I had a person hiding out in the living room, the extra plate and cup were the least of my concerns.
Thanks to the ten days he spent with me, Ty was well aware of my housekeeping skills—or lack thereof. That worked in my favor this time. He just shrugged and rolled his eyes, which left me feeling slightly offended. I mean, I may not have always picked up after myself right away, but I wasn’t lazy enough to dirty another plate just because I didn’t want to go back in the other room to get my own. What kind of person did he think I was?
“Whatever,” I said while waving him off, slightly annoyed. “What did you come all the way over here for? What’s so important that you couldn’t just text me and wait for a reply?”
“I caught wind of what the girls had to say about you after your brunch today.”
That worried me. “And…?”
“If you want people to believe you, then you’ll need to be colder toward them. They didn’t have anything bad to say, which normally would be great, but considering you’re supposed to be Tiffany, it’s enough to sound alarm bells for some. Even Jeannine thought you were acting strange. And since she’s the only one in the group who personally knows your sister, she’s the one we need to convince the most.”
“You had to drive all the way over here to tell me that I was too nice?”
“Yes, because you’ll be filming again tomorrow, and we need to go over this stuff.”
I grabbed his wrist and tried to walk him toward the front door. “Sounds good. We can do this all over FaceTime. Call me as soon as you get home, and I’ll make sure to answer.”
But he stopped halfway down the hall, refusing to go any further. “No, Tasha. I’m already here, so we might as well get it over with now. Based on what I’ve heard, it shouldn’t take long. There are just a few things that got overlooked last week.”
I tried to get him to go to the kitchen, but he refused. He didn’t want to go upstairs, either. There were several other rooms downstairs, yet the more I suggested somewhere other than the
