I’m good at reading people, knowing them before they get the chance to tell me as well. Body language speaks volume, and if you pay just a little more attention to the details of a person, what they say, how they act, you can figure them out so easily.
But Luan… he talks. He is confident and sure of himself. But there were moments he was the complete opposite. Like when I was standing on my balcony and watching him. He was more hunched over, lacking confidence. He didn’t seem like the guy he presented himself to me, and I want to know why.
So I check the security cameras. Maybe the guy’s still there.
He isn’t. The spot he’s stood at before is empty and nobody else is around.
I let out a deep breath, about to exit the security app when I notice some movement by the front gate. Someone’s pacing around, walking from one end to the other. And then he stops and looks right at the camera like he knows someone’s watching him.
My breathing stops, my brain not believing what I’m seeing, or who I’m seeing.
It’s him.
Here.
In front of my house.
About to ask to come inside, I’m sure.
No.
Shit.
This can’t happen. He can’t come inside. If my dad sees him…
I turn toward Miles, about to ask him for advice when I notice his jaw a little tense. He’s irritated by Allie, but I kind of already knew he would be eventually. “Bet you wish you didn’t come,” I whisper.
They had the choice to stay upstairs and not participate at the dinner, but both Emory and Miles decided to do the polite thing. They’re staying with us for a few days because the hotels around here are crazily overbooked these days. I don’t mind it—though I would’ve preferred spending a few days in a hotel with them—and neither does my family. My dad might be hateful toward me every now and then, but he welcomes my friends any time. Unless they’re male.
Miles is a guy, obviously, but he has a wife and a kid, so my dad doesn’t see him as a threat anymore. He used to when I was eighteen and just moved in with Miles, but I told my father about Brooke back then and that he had a girlfriend, so he didn’t care anymore. Thank god he didn’t because I don’t think I would’ve been able to move out and leave Miles behind.
I don’t give him the time to answer because I have to go out there and stop Luan from ringing that doorbell. Or buzzing that gate. Whatever.
“Cover me for ten minutes, okay? Luan’s here and I need my dad to not see him.” It’s cruel of me to dump that onto him, but I have no other choice unless I want this dinner to turn into a crime scene.
“What?”
“Should somebody ask, just say I went to the restroom or something. Thanks.”
Chapter 8
“looking at you got me thinking nonsense”—Nonsense by Sabrina Carpenter
July 2022
You can do this, Luan.It’s just pressing a button and asking to speak to Grey, nothing bad.
I can’t believe Doro convinced me to do this. Apparently it’s my fault Grey didn’t reach out to me, so I have to right the wrong. I think she’s full of shit, if he wanted to find me, he would’ve… eventually.
Now I’m standing here in front of Ji-Hoon Li’s house, trying to find the courage to ring the doorbell. It wouldn’t be that much of a problem, if the guy who’s known in all of Malibu wouldn’t live in that house. I don’t want to accidentally interrupt that man doing something important.
Just when I finally decide to lift my arm, the gate opens. I take a few steps back, afraid of who has noticed me standing here, but when my eyes meet the same dark ones from a couple of nights before, my nerves calm down just a little bit.
He’s still wearing black cargo pants, a black shirt, and white sneakers but somehow he looks different. I don’t know what is off, but something is.
“Are you stalking me?” he asks, not even saying hello first, but I wasn’t expecting a greeting from him anyway.
“Stalking?” I shake my head. “I live here, Grey Davis.”
