AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I smile as I look over at her. “You’re not dying.” I follow suit and push myself up into a sitting position with a grit of my teeth. “Cause if you are then I’m already dead.” I feel kind of bad that I was forced to ditch her last night, but I know the guys well enough to know that they would make sure she got home safe.
She huffs a laugh. “Last night was insane, I have never been to a party like that before.”
My smile widens at her innocence as I imagine what kind of parties she must have attended in the past. “I can’t even tell you how many parties I have attended like that,” I explain. “Back home, there was a party like that almost every weekend. The guys and I typically preferred to do our own thing, but when we did go to them, damn we had a good time.” I laugh at the memory. “Hudson and I have always been the first and last one on the dance floor, but the others would never let me ignore them for long. Stealing me away for games or random adventures every chance they got.” My voice trails off as I take in the look on her face at my little trip down memory lane.
I push myself out of bed and grit my teeth at the shooting pain which makes Shelby frown. She doesn’t comment, but I can see all the burning thoughts right there on her face dying to spill out. I grab us both a bottle of water from the fridge and pass one over to her which she accepts gratefully. As I move back over to my side I notice the trash can sitting on the floor, and water and meds on the side table, neither of which I remember putting there. Hmm weird. How did I get back here last night? Was I alone? I can’t remember anything after Hudson made me come in the woods. Did he bring me home?
When I sit back down on my bed I make sure to keep my face blank, but still she can’t keep her mouth shut. “Okay, I know I promised I wasn’t going to say anything, but I just don’t understand how you walked away from the guys and ended up with Carson.” Her words burn through me as shame swallows me whole. If only she knew. “Last night was the happiest I have seen you since you came here and you expect me to believe you just threw that all away forhim.” The way she says him would tell me exactly how she feels about my fake boyfriend if I didn’t already know.
I’m not surprised at her tone, not after what she knows, what she saw. How could I expect her to feel any other way?
Forcing my eyes away from her so she doesn’t have to see how sad my whole situation really makes me. I lie back on my bed and stare at the ceiling. “I told you about the contract,” I start slowly, not sure how much to even tell her, or how I can explain it past what I already have. “Well it’s airtight.” That is as simple as I can put it without explaining about that night, about the guys, about the blackmail. “So to get out of it is going to take a lot of work, work that I am doing behind the scenes.”
“What kind of work?” Her tone is pleading and I know she is desperate to help me anyway she can.
I roll onto my side and find her already staring at me. “The kind that would null and void the contract,” I whisper as if I don’t want anyone else to hear us even though there is no one else here. “If it pays off it would void everything and I could be free.” Even just admitting that aloud sounds dangerous. Like if I say it too loud it might never come true. “I’m scared.” My last admission draws a tear from my eye but thankfully it falls onto my pillow before she can see it.
Her tone is understanding as she whispers back, “Scared of Carson hurting you?”
I’m already shaking my head. “No, he’s already hurt me, already done the worst thing he could possibly do to me.” I wish that was true but it isn’t, even what he did last night isn’t as far as he can take it.
I will rip the dress off you and finish what I started last week if you don’t behave.
His words flow through my mind but I push them away. “I’m scared that I’ll make the wrong move and ruin everything,” I admit. “That everything I am trying to do will all come crashing down around me and everything I have endured will be for nothing.” Voicing my true fear feels better than I could have expected and it’s like some of the weight of my chest shifts as I share my burden with her.
When another tear slides down my face and I see one on hers I clear my throat and move back onto my back. “I don’t expect you to understand, we are from different worlds.”
“So let me in,” she demands, climbing from her bed and moving over to my own. She leans down and takes my hand in hers, forcing my eyes to her own. “Our worlds might be different, miles apart, but that doesn’t mean they can’t collide if we let them. So please, B, let them. Let me help you.”
Tears gather in my eyes, I don’t know if it’s the hangover, or just the fact she is willing to help so freely without anything in return. “Shelby, I don’t know what to say.” My voice shakes, betraying my emotions to her and her tense shoulders relax.
“Say yes and let me work my magic.” Her tone is playful but I can hear the pleading in it.
I bite my lip in my hesitation. I’d be giving her access to everything. If she pushed, she would be able to find out exactly why I’m in the position I’m in. Why I walked away from the guys. But I’ve seen her skills, not even all of them. Just a fraction and it’s already helped me so much.
I can’t do this alone.
“Okay,” I finally relent. “Here’s what I’m thinking.”
Shelby eagerly pops up, her eyes wide, ready to help.
“Are you able to hack into someone’s computer and say download all the data to our own hard drive?” She nods once quickly.
“Depends on their security but it’s usually pretty easy. Just have to tell me what you want downloaded.”
I grin, I didn’t think I could love this girl more. She has no questions, no suspicions. Just ready to take whatever I need if I say it’ll help me.
I tap my fingers against my knee. I’ve had a loose idea percolating in my brain, but I wasn’t sure if or how I could pull it off, but maybe she could.
“Could you also create a fake email correspondence using that computer?”
Her grin gets wider. “Easy. Just need to make sure they don’t start using their computer while I’m doing it.”
I smile with her. “Then I have a plan.”
ChapterThirty-Three
My mind has beenin overdrive all night.
