Page 41 of Playing the Player

Liam<3: Is Livvy still with that douchebag?

I burst out laughing. I show Conor the text and he laughs too. “Liam has been crushing on Liv since he was like five.”

“Poor kid is just waiting for his chance.”

“He’ll be waiting for a while.”

Me: Yes she is.

Me: And he's not a douchebag. I actually think you'd love him.

Liam<3: Funny.

Liam<3: Why don’t you live with Max anymore?

Oh shit. My stomach drops. How the hell did he find out?

Me: Who told you that?

The three little dots appear. Disappear. Appear again.

“What’s wrong?” Conor asks, noticing the change in my expression. I don’t answer him though.

Liam<3: His new girlfriend.

My blood runs cold.

“Sash, what is it?” I barely hear him. My fingers move like rapid fire as they fly across the screen.

Me: What are you talking about?

Liam<3: I'm at your apartment.

My heart stops as I stare at the screen. No. No, no, no. I read the message again, convinced I’ve somehow read it wrong.

I watch as the typing bubble appears and disappears again. What the fuck is he doing? My pulse pounds in my ears.

Then another message comes through.

Liam<3: Well Max's apartment.

I stop breathing. I stop thinking. I can’t even begin to process the words staring back at me.

Max’s apartment. The place I lived with Max. The place where I’m technically still supposed to be living because I didn’t want to tell my little brother the truth.

Shit.

17

Conor

I’ve never seen Sasha look as panicked as she did at the bar. I honestly can’t blame her.

Her fourteen-year-old brother travelled from New York to Florida on his own without telling anyone. That's what we’ve gathered from the phone call Sasha had with him while we were running down the street to her old apartment.

“I can’t believe he did that!” Sasha shouts, tears streaming down her cheeks. “That was so reckless. Did he not fucking think about everything that could have went wrong?”

We slow to a walk as we approach the apartment building, both of us struggling to catch our breath.