Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
There.
I hung up, then wiped him from the phone and his number too.
Then I realized the last text hadn’t been from him.
Trent: Hey. Call me later. Want to make sure you’re okay.
Well… I sat and stared at it, and groaned. Shit on me.
Me: Sorry I flaked last night. I’m fine. How was your flight?
I studied my phone after that, looking at the history, and saw that Lucas had texted all day yesterday. They just all came flooding in at the same time because reception was iffy on this island.
Well...still didn’t matter. He cheated. We were done.
A new text came in.
Unknown: Bitch.
That was Lucas.
I laughed, and once I started, I kept going.
I was tempted to tell him I’d met Reese Forster last night, just for some revenge, but it wasn’t worth risking my NDA. He was the type to call Keith and tattle on me, or worse—show up so I would introduce him.
I groaned. I was too awake now. It was five in the morning. I’d gotten four hours of sleep. But in camp life, that was almost eight hours. Reese Forster had kept running drills until twelve-thirty. I could’ve kicked him out at midnight, but I hadn’t had the heart.
I’d turned the light off in the cage, though, so when he was done, he must’ve thought I’d gone.
I was like a creepy statue against the wall, just to the side of the counter. If he had looked in and to his left, he would’ve seen me there. I’m sure that would’ve gone over well, but he hadn’t. He put the ball on the counter, made sure it didn’t fall off, and left, hitting the light switch as he went.
It had been dark, but a little bit of moonlight showed through the screen door, so I could see enough to take the ball and put it on the floor, then feel around for the door handle. My phone was in my pocket. I had been just leaving the cage, pulling my phone out to light the way, when I heard the screen door open again.
It was Forster.
I held still, not moving an inch.
He’d walked clear across the courts and checked the other screen door, shaking it and then locking it after he found it open.
He never turned the light on again, just rotated swiftly, retraced his steps, and locked the first door behind him.
The locks on the screen doors didn’t really hold. If someone wanted to break in, they could’ve just ripped the door open with a bit of extra oomph. But still, his concern had me melting.
I didn’t know where he was staying, but there was a good chance he was at the staff headquarters. They were the nicest place to stay, and Keith had closed it down for campers during this session. Forster was just about the best kind of camper there was, and if that’s where he was going, he would’ve taken the same path as I needed to.
Stalking him in the dead of the night was a step this girl wasn’t ready to take.
So I held back and sat on a bench just outside the gyms. After giving him a few minutes’ head start, I let out a soft sigh and headed down the trail by myself.
If anyone tells you walking down a wooded path by yourself, at night, on an island with no lights is peaceful—they’re lying to you. They’re straight-up bullshitting you, because it wasn’t. I felt like I’d spent half my life at this camp, and even I got freaked out. My phone’s light was a small help, but not much. Visions of deer running at me, ready to spear my chest with their antlers or hoof me to death had me picking up my pace. Then there was the slight whiff of skunk. I was probably imagining it, but by then, I didn’t need to add much more to get to full sprint. And because the path was made of wood chips, I was trying to run while picking up my feet so my toes wouldn’t get caught up on anything.
My knees were rising almost to my chest, making my phone bounce so much that I about clipped myself in the chin with it.
I turned it off, but I could still imagine how ridiculous I would’ve looked to anyone wandering around with night-vision goggles.
And then I started thinking about the time people had snuck onto the island and we’d had to catch them and escort them back off. That had taken a coordinated effort by most of the staff, and tonight was just me.
So now I was running from deer, skunk, and any random island intruders.
I’d been out of breath by the time I got to my cabin, welcomed by the faint odor of fish.
That had been my night, and so far my morning was off to a bang-up start. After chilling myself to the bone because it was seriously cold at five in the morning, I dressed and stuffed a bag full of whatever I grabbed. I wouldn’t have much time to run back here since Keith wanted the courts open almost all day. A few minutes later, after lacing up my sneakers, I hit the path again.