𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟒

KANE

All I could hear were hushed murmurs from the other side, accompanied by the sight of Marcus sporting a fat, goofy grin. What an asswipe. He's relishing this.
What a prick.

Why didn't she call me?

I gesture for him to pull the call on speaker, but the prick merely smirks and shakes his head. Just as I'm about to stride over and smack that smirk off his face, Tom swoops in, snatching the phone from Marc and activating the speaker.

This is precisely why I prefer Thomas.

Marcus lets out an exaggerated sigh, then gasps dramatically when I flash him my middle finger. What a drama queen.

"Hey, where's Reed?" My heart stops at the sound of my name. He opens his mouth, likely about to inform her that I'm here, but I widen my eyes in alarm, leaping off the sofa.

I position myself firmly in front of him, my eyes widen in urgency, shaking my head vigorously to silently convey my plea for him not to reveal my presence.

"No," I mouth, gesturing emphatically for him to to keep quiet.

"What?" This prick. He knows exactly what I mean; the prick just enjoys being difficult. Thomas snorts at my deadpanned expression.

"I'm not here," I whisper-yell, and he furrows his brows, nodding slowly before responding to
Izzy.

"I don't know, why?"

"Because he called me in the morning, using his pissed-off tone with me," she replies, sounding incredulous. "Like, what did I do?"

Thomas lets out a quiet chuckle, just loud enough for Izzy to catch.
"Hey Tom!"

Fuck, she sounds so cute.

"Hi Belle, how are you?" He replies, leaning closer to the phone when Marc snatches it.

"I'm good, just flipping confused at the moment," she mumbles, earning a laugh from Marc and Tom. "So, Reed's not there?"

I motion for Marcus to carry on.

"Oh." I slap my head in exasperation.

'Oh'? Is that the best this fucker can muster? I'd wager a tenner he's doing it on purpose. This smelly rat is smelly for a reason.

She lets out a soft sigh, mumbling something under her breath that I can't quite catch before adding, "God knows what's up with him and what I did, but he's not even answering my calls. The whole day."

I hate the way her voice sounds so sad. Even though she attempts to sound nonchalant, I can hear the underlying hurt. It's me feel like a right dick.

As she speaks, my brows furrow, hands instinctively patting my jogger pockets. Where's my phone? She didn't call me, I'm sure.

Then it hits me like a ton of bricks— I remember I turned my phone off in a fit of anger and tossed it into my drawer upstairs. Without a second thought, I bolt up the straits, ignoring the puzzled looks from Marcus and Thomas.