“What did you get on it?” he asked before picking up the gown to examine it.
“I dropped something in my lap while I was eating. You won’t find it, because Jessa took care of it for me. It’s all gone.”
“It took you that long to spot-treat a stain?”
“I wasn’t gone that long. Stop being dramatic.” I waved him off and tried to walk away, hoping that if I left the room, he’d drop it. Sticking around to answer more questions would surely open up room for error on my part, and I wasn’t in the mood to get caught in a lie. Especially after my night with Jacoby.
Unfortunately, he followed after me. “I’ve been here for over an hour. Your phone was going straight to voicemail, and you were nowhere to be found. Did you really expect me not to worry?”
I stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned to face him. “I guess I lost track of time. I’m sorry to make you worry, but as you can see now, I’m fine.”
“Why is your phone off?”
I had to think about that for a moment, though I didn’t want it to be obvious. The truth was, I had no idea. “I guess it’s dead, and I didn’t notice. I’ll charge it so you can get ahold of me anytime you want. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get dressed.”
“That’s another thing,” he practically shouted, even though I was only two feet away from him. He gestured to Jacoby’s shirt and boxers, looking me up and down with a narrowed gaze and prominent curl in his top lip. “Why did you go over there wearing that? Is that what you slept in?”
“Can we deal with this after I get ready?”
“Sure…I just don’t understand why you’re perfectly okay being around the neighbor like that yet uncomfortable around me. There’s a higher chance of her finding you attractive than there is that I would.”
I rolled my eyes and continued my climb up the stairs while answering him over my shoulder. “It has nothing to do with you. I just want to put on real clothes.”
Thankfully, he didn’t follow me, giving me space to clean myself up. Out of fear of Jacoby stopping by, I skipped the shower, choosing to wipe down the important parts instead. Washing my hair would have to wait for a safer time. Right now, I needed to quickly get ready and meet Ty back downstairs before he had a chance to pick through my lies from this morning.
While brushing my teeth, I remembered tossing my purse on the couch before leaving out the back door. That was why my phone was dead—I’d left it in the clutch I’d taken to Jeannine’s dinner party. Out of all the questions Ty had flung at me this morning, that was the only one I could answer honestly, and it was the only one I hadn’t had an answer for.
Keeping up with this charade had become more and more challenging. Fooling everyone around me into believing I was my sister was hard enough, the only thing making it slightly easier were the very few people I didn’t have to pretend around. Except now, I had to lie to one of the people who helped make up that safety net about something entirely different.
If I wasn’t careful, the web of lies that I had spun would imprison me.
Ty was on the couch with one leg crossed over the other and his phone in his hand when I returned to the living room. For someone who was so high strung five minutes ago, he certainly seemed relaxed now. He glanced up at me as I entered the room but quickly returned his attention to the device in his hand, correcting my previous assumption of his mood. He wasn’t as relaxed as I’d initially thought. Instead, he seemed perturbed, possibly on the verge of becoming angry.
I took a seat on the opposite side of the wrap-around couch, getting as far from him as possible. And suddenly, I understood why someone would need such a massive piece of furniture—to distance themselves from others without sacrificing the comfortability of the sofa.
“Well? Are you going to answer my question now?”
Honestly, I couldn’t remember which one he was referring to. So playing dumb didn’t take much effort when I shrugged and said, “I’m going to need you to repeat it for me.”
“Why didn’t you get dressed before going next door?”
Oh, yeah. That’s right. That question—the one I specifically didn’t want to answer. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any way out of it this time, so my only option was to come up with something fast and pray he believed it. “She was outside, and I didn’t want to lose my opportunity by taking the time to change out of my pajamas.”
“How did you even know that she would be able to help you?”
“What is this, a deposition hearing? What’s with all the questions?”
He finally put down his phone and looked at me. “I’m simply trying to understand the extent of your interactions with others. Don’t forget, Tiffany will come back, and when she does, all the people you’ve befriended will get a nasty dose of reality. I’m sure you don’t want that. And I, for one, don’t need more rumors to deal with—on top of the ones about her appearance that I already know will spread like wildfire.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Ty. I’ve made sure to keep up the sham around others, including the neighbors. She won’t be shocked when Tiffany treats her like garbage. The ones you should worry about are the women I have to film with.”
His brow furrowed in concentration. “Why should I worry about them?”
“I’ve been blindsided left and right by these women—namely, Serenity.”
“I’ve already told you—”
“Yeah, and I call BS on what you told me.” I was beyond frustrated by this entire thing. In a way, I felt like Ty and my sister had sold me a lie. They
