“Rosie?” my sister calls as she knocks on my door. My eyes flicker open, and I wonder what ti it is. “Are you up yet?”
“Ahh!” I pull the covers over my head when she turns on the light because my eyes aren’t ready for it.
I tossed and turned most of the night, but I must have finally crashed at so point. There’s no way I’ve been asleep for long because I feel exhausted.
“What are you doing?” She laughs and yanks the blanket down. “You’re going to be late. I made breakfast.”
She is way too chipper this morning, and why didn’t my alarm go off? Oh yeah, it’s because my phone is busted.
“Cereal?” I love my sister, but she’s a terrible cook. When we lived in Vegas, I did the cooking. Graham does the overseeing of the house, and more often than not there are als prepared so that we only have to heat them up.
“Hey, I’ve been practicing,” she huffs.
“You’re really taking this housewife stuff seriously.”
It’s actually adorable seeing her this way. For once, soone is taking care of her, and she deserves it. She’s so smitten with Luke. I think he makes her long for things she never let herself want because she didn’t think it was possible. The whole white picket fence was not in the cards because she had to take care of. College wasn’t an option for her, and I hate that I held her back.
“I need practice.”
“Practice?” I echo, and then I watch her bite her lip. It’s what she does when she wants to say sothing but is afraid to. “Out with it,” I say around a yawn.
“I’m pregnant!” she blurts out, and I jump up from the bed and give her a hug.
“Congratulations!”
No wonder she’s so damn chipper this morning. I didn’t know they were trying. I an, I know they are always all over each other, but I never heard them talk about kids. Clearly Kat is happy about it, and I have no doubt Luke is too. Anything that puts a smile on Kat’s face makes him happy as well.
There was a ti when I didn’t think n like Luke existed, and I’m surprised when an image of Siegfried flashes through my mind.
“Hey.” Luke pops his head into my bedroom.
“Congrats,” I say to him.
“Thanks.” He’s smiling as he cos in holding a box. “Sorry to interrupt, but this package was at the door with your na on it.”
“Thanks,” I say as I take it from his hand. “What ti is it?”
“Seven,” both Kat and Luke answer at the sa ti.
“Let get dressed, and I’ll co eat your breakfast,” I say around another yawn.
“Did you not sleep well?” Kat asks. “Was the date that bad?”
Thankfully, when I got ho last night, she and Luke were still out to dinner. Otherwise I’m sure Kat would have been all over about who dropped off because it was a different car than the one that picked up. When I heard them get ho, I pretended to be asleep so Kat couldn’t pepper with questions. I didn’t want to burst into tears again and make her worry.
“It was fine.” That’s the only way I can describe it. First it was an utter disaster, but then there was Siegfried. My stomach flutters even thinking about him.
“It must have been better than fine with the way you’re smirking.”
Crap. Did I smirk when I thought of Siegfried? What is wrong with ? That’s Dalton’s freaking dad!
“Let get ready for school,” I say again, trying to change the direction of this conversation.
“Fine,” she huffs, and the two of them leave. Once I’m alone, dread falls over . I don’t know if I tossed and turned all night because I couldn’t stop thinking about Siegfried or because I would have to face Dalton today.
I put the box on my desk and grab my glasses. That’s when I notice that the box doesn’t have a return address on it. The only thing on the front is my na and address, but there’s no actual postage. Weird.
After I rip it open, I see that it’s a brand-new iPhone. I can’t believe it, but I’m glad it’s here. Grabbing my broken phone out of my bag, I pull out the sim card and swap it with the new one. When I power it on, I click through the settings so I can use it today.
How the hell did I get a new phone so fast? It’s then I see a Post-it-size note in the box with a ssage.
Thought you might need this.
S
My stomach does another dip. He got a phone? Holy crap. Why? He was so sweet last night, but this is too much. How can this man possibly be related to Dalton?
I quickly sign into my Apple account then put the phone down so it can do its thing while I get ready for school. One plus side to this new school is uniforms. At first I thought I’d hate them, but it does make it easy to get ready every day.
I pull my polo shirt on before I tug on the skirt and zip the side. I hear my phone start to go off as I put on knee socks and shoes. After I dart into the bathroom to finish getting ready, I grab my bag hanging on my desk chair then my new phone off my desk. The sense of dread cos back as I slide my finger over the phone to unlock it.
Has Dalton texted ? He was so taken aback when he tried to kiss and I jerked away at the last second. You would have thought I’d smacked him. Then he verbally slapped by saying, “A chubby girl doesn’t have the room to play hard to get” before he stord off.
I should have known things were going to go really badly when he started throwing beers back the second we got to his place. He hadn’t been happy that I didn’t want to join him in the drinking either.
There are two texts from a number that doesn’t register to any of my contacts. Maybe they haven’t loaded over or I didn’t do sothing right when I transferred my other phone. I click the text and stop walking. That’s when I realize the unknown number is one that’s never texted before. I quickly add him then scroll to read what he’s sent.
Siegfried: Thought you might need this
Siegfried: Text back so I know you have a phone
I smile down at the phone then let out a small gasp when I see the bubbles pop up. He’s texting right now, and then I realize he can also see I read his ssages.
Siegfried: I told you to text .
The period at the end of that text while the others didn’t have them makes think I’m in so kind of trouble. I respond quickly even though I sort of like the idea that I might be in a bit of trouble. Which is totally nuts because I always follow all the rules.
: I just got set up
: Promise!
: This was too much! You didn’t have to get a phone. My sister would have gotten one. I’ll pay you back.
Crap! Why did I send him so many texts at once? I’m beyond la.
Siegfried: You’re not paying back.
He responds instantly.
“Why are you smiling like a goon?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be cooking?” I fire back as if I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
“You’re smitten. It’s all over your face.” She grabs my arm and pulls into the kitchen. “Tell everything,” she demands. “Your date must have been fire.”
“I think whatever you’re cooking is on fire.” I point to the stove.
“Shit!” she squeaks before darting back over to it.
“Ma’am, would you like to help?” Graham asks. He’s standing close by and already has an apron on.
“You make sound so old when you call ‘ma’am.’”
“Miss. Parks,” he tries next.
“I’m not super hungry.” I fight a laugh because the kitchen is a disaster.
“Luke will want to eat my food,” Kat says defensively.
“I will,” he agrees as he cos into the kitchen behind . His brows lift when he sees the ss, but he doesn’t hold back his chuckle.
“Hey! Don’t laugh at .” She points the spatula at him, and pancake batter drips from it onto the floor.
“I’m sorry, honey, but this is adorable.” He makes his way over toward her, and my phone vibrates in my hand.
Siegfried: Did you eat breakfast?
I don’t know what makes do it, but I take a picture of the chaos in front of and send it to him.
Siegfried: Who’s the guy in the suit?
: Brother-in-law
Why did he ask that?
Siegfried: You should eat breakfast. It’s the most important al of the day.
Siegfried is probably right. I didn’t eat hardly anything last night, and it will be a while until lunch. I sit down at the kitchen island, and Graham helps my sister make a non-burned pancake.
“The bacon!” my sister screams as she rushes over to the oven. She opens it and a cloud of black smoke fills the kitchen. “I ruined it.”
“That’s like a cri against humanity,” I tease her, and she glares at .
“We can make more.” Luke grabs an oven mitt to pull the sheet of blackened strips out of the oven. He drops the whole thing in the sink while I pour syrup over my pancake and try to eat it quickly.
Siegfried: Am I going to have to bring you breakfast?
He has to be teasing , so I send him another picture. This ti it’s my half-eaten pancake.
“Rosie, can you hear ?” Kat snaps her fingers.
“What?” I ask as I pull my attention away from my phone.
“Is it okay if Graham takes you to school?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I only have my permit because in Vegas I didn’t need to know how to drive. “You stay here and keep at it. You’ll get the bacon right the second ti.” She sticks her tongue out at as I slip off the chair and pull my bag over my shoulder.
“Oh, are you still going to that party tonight? Luke and I have so charity thing so we won’t be ho until late. I’m going to the spa today before I get ready.”
Shit. I told her about the party, but that was before everything happened with Dalton.
“I think so.” I an, there might still be a party? Dalton might also be in trouble with his dad. Either way, I don’t think I’m invited any longer, but I don’t tell her that. She’ll worry about being at ho alone. Kat is always worrying over and whether I’m happy being here.
“All right. Text later.”
“Will do,” I say and walk out with Graham to one of the cars.
“You okay?” Graham asks when we pull out of the gates and onto the road.
“I’m fine.” He gives a sideways glance.
Okay, I’m not fine. I’m dreading school today. I’m going to keep my head down and hopefully avoid Dalton. That should be easy enough because when we’re at school he never really talks to . He’ll text sotis, but I haven’t heard anything from him since last night.
“When my wife says she’s fine, that ans she’s anything but fine,” Graham responds.
“I’ve got a test today. That’s all.” I shrug and try to play it cool. I don’t know if Graham would report back to Luke if he thinks I’m upset about sothing. Luke is the sa as my sister. He worries I’ll hate it here too, but that worry probably stems from the fact that it would upset his wife.
My phone goes off again in my hand. Well, hell. I should be careful what I wish for. Though I don’t think I was wishing for Dalton to text .
Dalton: About last night. Sorry, I was drunk.
My phone goes off again a second later.
Siegfried: I want to make sure you’re taken care of.
My breath hitches, and suddenly I feel warm all over. Why are his texts having this effect on ? I have no idea what to say to Dalton, but I respond to Siegfried.
: Thank you for checking on . I ate and I’m on the way to school.
Siegfried: Good girl
I stare at those two words that make my mind swirl. I have to be misinterpreting this. He’s being nice because his son was a jerk, and that has to be it. I wonder if he made Dalton send that apology text too. I turn my phone to silent before I shove it in my bag and we pull up to the front of the school.
I need to stop thinking about the Goz boys. Both are trouble.
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