Just to be a dick, I called out, "Oh hey, turn off the sink, will ya?"
I heard a sigh, but nothing else. Probably, she was still hiding out in the shower, as if shewouldn’tneed to come out eventually.
But hey, I had all night. And the delay wasn't all bad. It gave me more time with her phone. With one hand, I started scrolling through her texts. I started at the top, where she'd left dozens of messages for someone named Jason.
Her boyfriend?
Maybe.
If so, they were definitely on the outs. Her texts fell into one of three basic categories.
Where are you?
Why aren't you calling me back?
Will you please text me or something?
Some of the messages, the later ones in particular, included a good bit of profanity. All of them reeked of desperation.
The cursing surprised me. In high school, Arden hadn't been the type. Instead, she'd been all prim and proper – well, except for that one time, when she'd cursed up a storm.
And me? I'd been on the receiving end.
As far as her desperation, that surprised me too. I didn't like Arden. Hell, I might even hate her. But I wasn't blind to what I'd seen back in high schoolandjust now in the shower.
A girl like Arden – she wouldn’t need to beg.
At the memory of her silhouette, naked and slippery with suds from her hair, I felt my jeans tighten only a fraction before I remembered who she was.
Arden Fucking Weathers.
No way I'd be tappingthat, even if shedidbeg – which, truth be told, happened to me more than you'd think.
From inside the bathroom, she called out, "Will youpleaseshut the door?"
I didn't move. "Why?"
"Why else? For privacy."
"From me?" I said. "Don't worry, I'm not interested."
"I don't care," she called back. "You were the one who opened it. You should shut it."
My guess? She still hadn't budged from the shower.Little Miss Modesty.She'd been like that in high school, too. Her clothes were never tight. Her shirts were never too low in the front or too high on her midriff. And her skirts – on the rare occasions she wore them – were never short enough to be interesting.
She'd been a good girl all the way through –until she wasn't.
When I made no reply, she said, "Alright fine. But promise me you won't look."
I was still scrolling through her phone. "Don't worry. I couldn’t if I wanted to."
"Why not?"
"Because I'd have to move," I told her. "And trust me, you're not worth it."
Was I being an asshole?
Hell yeah.
