AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cocking my head to one side to get a better look at him, the altercation with Dot runs at warp speed through my mind. Of all the puzzling and alarming things she said, one thing prickles at the back of my neck, piercing and incessant.
“Look, I know she’s a liar and malicious…” Suddenly it’s hard to say what I’m thinking out loud. Instinctually, even I want to reject the words.
Oliver stares intently, as if waiting with bated breath. Gah, how do I say this? I don’t want to hurt his feelings or cause any doubt between us. I trust him implicitly, but I can’t ignore this nagging feeling in my gut. “It’s just that Dot seemed so sure of herself.”
Chapter22
Oliver
Wren pulls back the covers on our bed, and Gretzky bumps his nose into her leg, seeking attention. She runs her hand over his coat and scratches behind his ear.
The silence between us grows like mold, thick and sickening. She hasn’t said anything since the library. Now we’re getting ready for bed without our usual banter or flirting. It’s plain to see Dot rattled her.
I’m a little freaked out too, not so much from Dot’s threat—what else is new and we expected this—but the way in which Dot came out of nowhere. The urge to find her and confront her overcame me as we stood in the parking lot.
Wren fervently insisted we go home. She didn’t want to see Dot again and even tried to reassure me that she was okay. I believed her, although the longer we go on with this silence and with how aloof she’s acting, I’m no longer so sure.
I discard my shirt and toss it onto a chair. “Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?”
She shakes her head and strolls into the closet to change, both dog and cat following her. From there, her voice carries, though muffled and distant. “No, I'm fine.”
Next to go are my jeans and socks, then I slide into bed and pull up the covers to my waist. Wren ambles to her side of the bed, avoiding eye contact.
“Wren.” I pause, waiting for her to look at me. It takes longer than it should and even then, her gaze is hesitant and doesn’t quite meet my eyes. “You’re quiet. Is something on your mind?”
“Nothing. I told you everything she said.” She fluffs her pillow and the cat curls up at the end of her side of the bed. “Word for word. I’ve left nothing out.”
“I wasn’t referring to Dot. You brought her up. I only want to know what's going on in your head.”
Raking both hands through her hair, she sighs and drops onto the bed next to me. “I already told you…there was something different about her. She was still belligerent. Still Dot. I don't know, there was just something more self-assured, more contained about her. It felt like confidence, like someone who believed in something without a shadow of a doubt. Sorry, it’s hard to explain and doesn’t even make sense to me.”
“Okay. And you got all that from her ramblings? I’m not sure what you mean, but I wasn’t there.” I shrug and grapple with understanding what it was about Dot—apart from her usually bullheaded demeanor—that got under her skin.
Because no matter how she protests and tells me everything is fine, it isn’t.
Unprompted, she turns to face me. “I don't believe her, Oliver. You don't have to worry about that. I trust you.”
I try to swallow past the immovable lump in my throat. The one that settled there from her very first look of uncertainty outside the library earlier tonight. “I know.”
But do I?
I want to believe Wren trusts me, and until now, I did. Although it’s hard to when she looks at me like she’s trying to puzzle the pieces together as to what I’m hiding. Why would Dot tell her I’m lying? And about what?
Wren turns off the light and lies on her back next to me. Both of us stare at the ceiling in the dark, not touching or talking, something we always do.
She cuts through the awkward silence stretching between us. “We knew that she would do this, that she would come back at us with something. I guess, in some ways I'm surprised there isn't more… And maybe that's it. Maybe I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Hey.” I slide an arm around her shoulder. “She can't do anything to us.”
Scooting closer, she lightly kisses my cheek. “I know.”
I should be comforted by the gesture, yet her lackluster response unnerves me. Shaking it off, I tighten my hold. “Remember, I’m meeting with her tomorrow.”
After my announcement at the Grill, I’d texted Dot right away to tell her what I’d done. Telling her face-to-face would’ve been better, but she was still avoiding me. I wanted her to hear it from me first, and I asked to meet and talk about the Nest. Surprisingly, she completely ignored my news and agreed to meet about the business.
“At the Nest, right?”
“Yeah. I’m going to talk to her about ambushing you in the parking lot.”
