Give Me Back Whats Mine ➳ David Dobrik

Chapter Twenty Eight ➳ As Smart As A Whip And As Sharp As A Tack

NATALIE

'... and so, you'll check in the morning of the wedding, the whole place is reserved for our guests to stay for the weekend. Oh my god Nat, I can't wait for you to see this place! It's so freaking beautiful! You wouldn't believe how much money Noah's parents have spent on this whole thing, I actually feel sort of bad ...'

I watched Hadley chew on her bottom lip through the screen of my phone, her mind travelling a million miles a minute. The last thirty-two minutes of our facetime had consisted of her word vomit, bounding from one subject to the next, from pure elation one minute and jittery nervousness the next.

'Hadley ...' I interrupted, shaking my head. 'The only people more excited for this wedding than you and Noah, is his parents.' She blushed at this, forever humble and modest. 'You're like their favourite person on this planet. I mean like, I'm fairly certain they love you more than they love Noah.'

I watched her close her eyes and let out what looked like a big sigh of relief.

'This is totally their dream too.' I smiled, happy if I could provide her brain with some momentary relief.

'Thanks, Nat.' Hadley grinned. 'I can't wait to see you. And Dave!' She quickly piped up.

'Yeah, well, we're heading to Chicago for a couple of days before the wedding, so we won't actually have that far to travel, expect us to be amongst the first to check in on Friday.'

'Speaking of which ...' She started, her grin taking on a certain wickedness. I felt what was coming before the words even left her mouth. Her face said it all before her lips even had the chance to get it out.

'I've booked you guys your own separate rooms, but say the word and I can have one of them cancelled.' She said, her eyes glinting with mischief.

'And why would you do that?' I asked, trying to keep my heart from leaping out of my chest.

'Well, I thought maybe you guys might like to ...' She paused. '... share?'

I tried my best to keep my face as stoic as possible. 'And why would we want to do that?' I deadpanned.

She couldn't contain herself any longer, letting out a shrill squeal. 'I saw ALL the photos of you guys in New York.'

A whooshing sound roared in my ears as all the blood in my body raced to my cheeks.

I knew she would've have seen them. Especially when it seemed like everyone else in the world had. But what I'd been afraid of was that she would understand them for what they really were, and not for the lie we'd been carrying around for the last couple of weeks.

'And?' I continued blankly, hoping that my blush wouldn't be evident through the phone.

'Oh, come on Nat!' Hadley continued to squeal. 'I know you guys! There is no way that was an act. You're both dreadful, dreadful liars.'

'I don't know what to tell you, Had ...'

It wasn't that I didn't know what to tell her, but more that I didn't want to. I didn't want to lie to her like we'd been lying to everyone else. Because she was right. She did know us.

She was us. The very best of us. Her and Noah were as good as family.

So I said nothing, hoping she would pick up on my reluctance to talk about it.

I really should have known better.

She plowed on. 'Well, if you don't want to share, I'll make contingency plans.'