I nodded and pushed aside my empty coffee glass.
"How many men have you slept with?" she said with a smile.
I laughed. "I'm not gay."
"If you say so." She pulled out a 20 dollar bill and set it on the table. "Come on, we need to put a few states behind us today."
"I got this," I said and pulled out my wallet.
"Despite what you think, I don't actually need your help, Tyler."
And just like a switch, it seemed like she hated me again. "I wasn't trying to..."
"You can pay next time." She slid out of the booth. "We'll take turns."
I stood up and stretched. "Okay. If that's what you want."
"Like I said, I'm not going to inconvenience you at all. I'm just going to encourage you to get to California as fast as humanly possible so that I can get back home." She walked out of the restaurant without waiting for me.
I had been wallowing for a whole week. I was sick of my own thoughts. The toxicity that seemed to pour off of Hailey was somehow just what I needed. And I wanted to know more about her. I slid out of the booth and quickly followed her outside. That had always been part of my problem. I liked the chase. I liked when girls made me work for it. Apparently I was a glutton for punishment.
"So, how many girls have you slept with?" I asked as I unlocked the car.
She laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
I'm sure I had a shocked look on my face.
She laughed again. "I'm just kidding. You wish." She got in the car.
When I sat down she was holding my phone in her hand. I tried to reach for it, but she held it out at arm's length.
"Can we please use the GPS now?" she said. "We need to figure out the best way to get there."
"Just use your phone then."
"It doesn't connect to your car charger and I didn't bring an adapter." She swiped her finger across my screen. "Do you know you have 23 missed calls?"
God this girl was infuriating. "Yes. Can I please have my phone back?"
"Who's trying to get a hold of you?"
"No one important." I snatched it out of her hand.
"Are you in some sort of trouble?"
"Are you?"
She bit her lower lip. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right?"
I slid my phone into my pocket. "Yeah. I guess." That didn't really answer my question, but in a way it did. Something bad had happened to her and she was trying to fix it. I could relate to that. I started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. If shegoogled that number, she'd find out who was calling me. She'd jump to conclusions about why I had left New York. It wasn't something I wanted to talk to her about. I wanted to go back to the light, flirtatious banter.
Missing Pieces - Chapter 9
Hailey
Saturday
If I had a photographic memory, I would have been able to memorize the number. As it was, I only got the first three digits. 212. I'd look it up later. It was most likely a NYC area code, which really meant nothing. But it was odd that all the calls were from the same number, which showed up as unknown on his phone. So it wasn't someone who he knew. Maybe it was his ex girlfriend, though. He could have deleted her number. 23 missed calls was a lot. Maybe she was a stalker.
