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I bobbed my head. “I mean, if he’s available, but any time before tomorrow evening is fine with me.”
“Oh, he’ll make himself available for you.” Alec sounded sure of it as he punched in a quick text, speaking the words aloud as he typed them. “Need you in front of the library ASAP. It’s Raina.” Grinning at me, he nodded in self-accomplishment. “There. That ought to do the trick.”
And he started to re-pocket his phone, only for it to begin ringing.
35
RAINA
“Well, that was fast.” Arching his eyebrows, Alec sent me ahere-we-gokind of look as he pulled the phone free of his pocket yet again before answering, “Yo.”
After a pause, he cringed slightly and met my gaze. “I meant, she’s here in front of the library with me, and—what’s that?” He listened for a moment before shifting the receiver end of his phone away from his mouth so he could tell me, “He wants to know why you’re not in Galveston.”
My eyebrows spiked. “How did he know I was in Galveston?”
Alec shifted the phone down to his mouth. “How did you know she was in Galveston?” After a moment, he lifted a calming hand. “I just—whoa. Alright. Okay. Jeez, yeah. I’ll see ya.”
Ending the call, he shoved the phone away and sent me a tense smile. “He’ll be right here.”
I shook my head. “And he didn’t say how he knew where I’d been staying?”
“Didn’t mention it, sorry.” With a helpless shrug, Alec spiked a hand through his curls. “But if you told Oaklynn where you were going, she probably relayed it to him.”
“Oh.” I hugged myself, not sure what to do now.
Alec sent me a glance as if he wasn’t sure what to do either. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he lifted his shoulders and asked, “So… How have you been feeling?”
“Better,” I answered.
He nodded. “Good, good.” Flailing out a helpless hand, he added, “Hey, I’m sorry about your sister.”
I glanced at the ground, swallowing hard. “Thank you.”
A beat passed before Alec blurted, “Want to watch some more reels with me?”
I looked up and caught his seeking expression before I blinked. “What?”
He flushed and then shrugged. “It was kind of our thing. So I thought you’d—I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m bombing this.”
“No, you’re okay,” I assured, actually comforted by his awkwardness. “Reels sound good. Thank you.”
“Really? Right on!” He smiled encouragingly before producing his phone again and pulling up some short videos.
Scooting closer, he held up the phone in front of us so we could both see, but I really couldn’t see much with all the outdoor sunlight shining on the screen.
When a notification dropped down from the top, saying he had a message from Hope, I was relieved. It was still hard for my eyes to adjust to some things, and the videos had been starting to give me a headache.
Pulling back, I said, “Go ahead and answer that.”
“Oh, it’s just my sister,” he said dismissively, even as he did as I suggested and checked the message. After a quick smile, he typed back a reply, only to send me a guilty grimace as he put the phone away. “Sorry.”
“No, no,” I assured, letting him know it had been completely fine to respond to her. He seemed happier after her message, which made me miss Kinsey. “You guys get along well?” I guessed. “You and your sister.”
“Oh, yeah. Definitely,” he assured with a big grin, which faltered a second later. Then, with a chagrined shrug, he admitted, “I mean, not until I was, like, thirteen. And none of my friends can stand her to this day, but she and I are solid now. We tell each other everything.”
“Sounds like me and Kinsey,” I agreed, only to remember that Kins and I would never share secrets again. Pain clogged my windpipe. But I kept talking about her, anyway. “Even when we lived two hours apart, we messaged each other practically every day.” With a self-deprecating laugh, I admitted, “I think our relationship actually grew stronger after I moved to Westport.”
Alex pointed as if he could relate. “Hope’s and mine did too. She had to go to Ohio with her mom about five years ago, and we’ve only gotten closer since then.”
