Page 40 of Stolen Summer
“Hi, it’s me. I’m the problem; it’s me,” I said, quoting one of Frankie’s favorite songs.
“Arie, seriously.” I could all but see her roll her eyes. “Two days. You spent two days with him. If you didn’t have sex, tell me you at least swapped spit.”
Silence.
And that was all the confirmation she needed. “Thank you, God,” she sighed. “I was about to suggest you get your head checked, because if you didn’t at least kiss him, there would be something seriously wrong with you.”
The brush finally worked smoothly through my wet hair. “Not helping.”
“So how was it?”
“Traumatizing.”
“Are you saying his lips left a lasting impression?” she inquired, sounding too hopeful.
I rolled my eyes at Frankie’s ability to twist everything I said. It was a damn gift, but his lips had made an impact. I touched my mouth, recalling the feel of his mouth and the steel of his piercing offering a hint of coolness to the overwhelming heat of his kiss. But that wasn’t what I meant. “No, I was talking about being trapped in his house.”
“Oh, yeah, totally dreadful,” she agreed sarcastically. “I can’t imagine being locked in the most beautiful house in Fallen Oaks with a guy every girl in town has imagined naked.”
“You have such a way of putting things into perspective,” I grumbled, placing the brush on the table beside my bed.
“Skills. I can also tie the stem of a cherry into a knot with my tongue.”
I laughed. “You're ridiculous. I missed you.”
The playfulness left her tone. “Don’t ever go silent on me for two days again.”
This was probably not the best time to drop a bomb on her, but I had to get this burden off my chest. “I need to tell you something, but don’t freak out.”
“I make no promises, but how the hell can you top what just happened?”
My damp hair soaked the back of the tee as I took a breath. “He asked me to stay with him for the summer.”
Her scream pierced my bedroom, and thankfully, I didn’t have my phone pressed to my ear, or it would be ringing right now.
“Frankie,” I scolded. “Get control of yourself.”
“Are you kidding me? What happened in that house?” She quickly rattled off questions as if she couldn’t get them out fast enough.
“It’s not what you think. He’s paying me.”
“Like an escort?” Confusion lined her words.
“I guess in a way. But no sex. I made that very clear.”
“I bet you did,” she mumbled. “Why would he need an escort?”
She couldn’t see me, but I shrugged regardless. “I don’t know. Something to do with his parents, I think.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“You know how much I could use the money.” Frankie was all too aware of my financial struggles. We shared every part of our lives, and in her case, she overshared some parts. For the last two years, we’d gone to the same college, Fallen Oaks Community College. We’d both graduate this summer with associate degrees. Me in psychology, and Frankie in digital art.
“If you’re asking me what I would do, I think you know the answer,” she said. “I’d do almost anything to get out of this town. Even sleep with Cole Riley, though I promise that would be no hardship. I’d do it free. If he wants you to be his fake girlfriend or whatever he has in mind, that’s an easy yes.”
“You’re right,” I sighed, staring at the pile of his clothes in the corner of my room.
“Why the hesitation? Are you afraid you’ll fall for him?” She joked, but that was exactly what I feared. “Holy shit. You like him.”