Page 108 of Sticks and Stones (Shadow Valley U)
And it’s kind of killing me. I like neat and orderly, and ever since Wren moved in, it’s been chaos. Wordlessly, I start cleaning. Picking up dirty clothes—hers, mine, doesn’t matter—and tossing them in the bigger of the two hampers. I pile up textbooks, trying to keep them separate, on opposite ends of the desk.
“I’m gonna leave you to this,” Evan says on a laugh.
I wave him off.
Once the floor is clean, I move to the bed, changing the sheets, acting like an actual human being.
An hour later, my phone chirps that Wren’s leaving campus—a feature of the location-sharing app I didn’t think I’d need but now insanely appreciate. My room—no,ourroom—is spotless. And all that’s left is…
I move to the stack of notebooks and flip through them one by one. Looking for anything that’s not Wren’s bubbly handwriting.
How girls have such neat,cutehandwriting is beyond me.
I’m on my fifth notebook when I find it. And my blood runs cold.
Your father says thank you for all of your help, Pumpkin.
“What are you doing?”
I slam the notebook closed just as Wren reaches me. She yanks it out of my hand, tossing it on the floor like it’s burning her.
“You can’t just go through my stuff,” she scolds.
I scoff. “No? Why didn’t you tell me about your father’s henchman’s little note? This could’ve been helping our case. Instead, you hid it.”
She flinches.
I stare at her. Her hair is up in a bun. She’s not wearing a speck of makeup. There are dark circles under her eyes, and she’s too fucking pale.
“Why are you scared of me, Sticks?” My voice is so low. I don’t want to scare her off. I just want her to understand that I am going to do anything and everything to protect her.
How she wormed her way into my heart is a fucking mystery.
Taylor bangs on our open door, popping his head into the room. “Why aren’t you ready, Foster? We’re leaving for the bus in twenty.”
Fuck.
I nod without tearing my gaze away from Wren. We’re locked in a staring contest, and I don’t know what will happen to the loser.
“Did you not believe me?”
It’s my turn to wince. “Sticks…”
“Don’t,” she whispers. “Don’t act like you care when you thought I was crazy. I knew someone was in my room. And you neededproof?”
“No—”
“God, stopLYING!”
I jerk back. “I hate you so much it’s going to kill me.”
“The feeling is mutual,” she bites out.
“I know.” I stalk forward.
She goes back, bumping up against the wall. Her breathing hitches, and she tilts her head back to keep her gaze on mine. She’s so angry she’s practically vibrating with it.
“All this fury,” I murmur, tracing her jaw. “So fucking beautiful.”