Mr. Halloway's Pet

Chapter Twenty Two

Drea is the first and only one to respond. David must be sleeping at the ripe hour of 1am.

However, Drea offers to make the drive over for a girls night, and upon asking dad if she could come over, I take his zombified mumble as approval.

With her lengthy eta, I have enough time to process Ethans text asking to get together tomorrow.

Usually I'd be excited, but I still can't shake off a mixture of disgust and embarassment. I'm not sure if it is directed toward him or myself, but the discomfort is heavy in my gut.

My fingers hover over the keyboard in hesitation before my thumbs slowly begin typing.

"I don't think we should meet up for a while, my dad has been asking questions."
-Paige's iPhone

I press send and thank god I have dad to use as an excuse.

Clicking the phone off, my fingers interlace into a knot of worry. Hopefully this feeling of ickiness will pass and I won't have to reconsider my feelings toward him. I'm not sure if me ending the relationship would further complicate things or simplify them instead.

Buzz.

The vibration is loud in the silent room, only surprising me a little.

I expect to see a text from Drea, but Ethans name pops up in my notification bar. My heart deflates upon the realization that I should've waited a little later to text him. The possibility of him being awake at 3am vs 1am didn't occur to me.

"Asking questions? You don't think he would suspect anything between us, do you? I would like to see you soon either way."
-Ethan

His words irritate me a bit. Just this once, I'd like him to not be consistent. I decide to wait on thinking up a response. Maybe Drea can help with that once she gets here.

My eyes squeeze closed and I lie my head on the satin covered pillow with a strangled grunt of inconvenience. He's perfect. Why can't my heart let me have him?

No, not my heart. This is all on my brain. My subconscious. Whatever part of me that lies dormant and throws my own baggage at me when I'm feeling even the smallest sense of happiness.

I roll over, promising myself I'll stay up until Drea gets here. For a second it seems entirely possible but what feels like 5 minutes later, I wake up to a puddle of drool and Drea's name illuminating my phone.

After two attempts to press the answer button, I finally manage to hit it.

"Hello?" My greeting is tired and gravelly.

"I'm herree." Her singsong voice instantly brings a small smile to my face.

Without saying anything, I hang up and hop from my uncomfortable sleeping position to open the front door for her.

"Hey bi—" she begins loudly but I put my index finger to her mouth and her eyes meet my own in confusion at my gesture.

"Shhh, dads sleeping." With that being said, I yank her in and close the door behind her.

She takes her time observing the house, spinning in circles to take in our surroundings. "Wow, your dads place is pretty nice. Definitely an upgrade."

I grab her arm and pull her behind me, not slowing my pace as she stumbles along, "Yea, he's got a lot going for him now that he's not tied down."

Before she can respond, we make it to the room and I close the door behind us, "Alright, here's the sitch."

"M'Kay, hit me with it." She plops onto my bed and looks at me expectantly as I settle next to her.