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She’s chewing on the inside of her cheek. Her nostrils flare. “I’d rather not play. I think I’ll just take Jerry home.”
She turns and gathers him up. She stops short at the door and wheels back around. “Can you get a ride back to the resort with Sebastian maybe?” Her eyes are searching mine before they close briefly, nothing more than a long blink, but one that speaks volumes.
I follow her out, but just stand on the porch to watch her drive away, alarm coloring my ability to think clearly. I hear the door open behind me and soon, Oliver, Sophie, and Sebastian are flanking me on either side.
“What happened?” Sophie asks. “She sure left in a hurry.”
“He doesn’t have to tell us if he doesn’t want to,” Sebastian growls.
Oliver and Sophie step forward and rotate so they can see both Sebastian and me. “Yes, he does,” Oliver says.
“What are we? His distant cousins he never talks to?” Sophie says. She looks at me, her mouth pulled down into a slight frown. “She seemed upset. You seem upset. Want to talk about it?”
“Thanks, but no,” I say, my eyes still scanning the road she just drove down. “Not right now,” I amend so it sounds kinder. I stand up straighter. “We should just get back to the game.”
I want to follow her. But something tells me to give her a little space if I can possibly stand to.
Chapter 31
Oakley
First I learn about the DUI, and now I discover he gambles?
My throat feels as though I’ve been at the Superbowl, and my team is down and on the verge of losing: raw, bitter, in shock.
“I got a notice from the bank today about my savings account being closed because it’s gone below the limit. Do you know anything about that, Brandt?”
I grow sick at the memory. At a stop sign on the drive back to Alec’s place, my eyes close.
He laughs, not even looking up from his phone. “And why would I know anything about your account?”
“Because I asked them to send me an itemized statement. It shows there were several transfers in the last two months to your checking account.” There has to be a reason for all of this. Why is my brain having such a hard time figuring it out?
He jams his phone in his back pocket, his lower jaw moving over to one side. “You’ve let me use money from that account before.” He gets up off the couch, walks into the kitchen, and starts pouring himself a bowl of cold cereal.
I search my memory, unsure of what he’s talking about. Finally, I remember his parents’ thirtieth anniversary party several weeks before. “My phone wasn’t working that day! I had you log in so we could transfer some money over to your brother so he could get the group gift. That wasn’t permission to take all of my money!”
“We’re in a relationship, Oakley. We share stuff. I don’t see what the big deal is—”
It only takes me a little while to find the receipts in his email from DraftKings, FanDuel, and so many others I don’t even recognize. Three thousand seventeen dollars. Twenty-six hundred. Five thousand four hundred four dollars…
I startle as a car behind me lays on the horn. I slowly move forward through the intersection, my heart pounding dully in my ears.
Alec is not Brandt.
Which is true. He’s not. Brandt got mean there at the end…on a bender I knew nothing about most of the time, always searching for something he couldn’t have to alleviate whatever it was that was causing him pain.
I knew—eventually—that Brandt was tortured. That doesn’t mean I knew anything about why. And just because he was tortured doesn’t mean he had license to steal my money.
Alec is a lot more open and honest. I’ve seen a vulnerability and humility in his eyes that was foreign to Brandt’s vibe and soul.
But tell that to my racing heart and sweaty palms.
Jerry doesn’t like being in the car, and his little wiggly butt goes crazy as he paws at the window and licks it a couple of times for good measure.
“There, there, Jerry,” I murmur. “We’ll be home soon.”
Except, will we? It doesn’t feel like home to me right now. I wonder if it ever did.
