Page 55 of Set Play

On our way.

Chapter 28

Mateo

What the fuck just happened?

Today 10:12PM

Me:

u didn't ruin anything, Chispita

Today 10:42PM

Me:

Whatever's going on, please talk to me. Let me help.

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Chapter 29

Mateo

Yesterday 8:41PM

Me:

Can we please talk about what happened in Phoenix? I just want to understand

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Today 4:24PM

Me:

Élise, please.

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Chapter 30

Élise

Today 10:45AM

Reyes:

Élise, Idk what happened in Phoenix, but u can’t keep ignoring me. The adoption event is today. I’d rather talk in private first.

Like every other message Reyes has sent me over the last six days, I read this one and then close the app, setting my phone down with a sigh. I hate seeing only his last name now, but after Phoenix, I knew I needed to distance myself better.

This whole thing is fake. He and my brother are rivals. We can’t be together. This whole thing is fake. We can’t be together. We can’t.

“Mateo again?” Niamh asks, looking up from her own phone with an empathetic smile.

I nod, thankful that the server chooses that instant to arrive with our meals: eggs benedict for me and stuffed French toast for her. Every month, we say we’ll get something different, yet we never do.