Secrets in a Small Town by Nicole Stiling

Author:Nicole Stiling [Stiling, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635554359
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2019-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Plink. Plink. Plink.

Eliana mustn’t have turned the faucet handle all the way off when she brushed her teeth earlier that night. Micki smothered herself with a pillow, refusing to get out of bed to go shut it off. If she could just fall asleep…

Plink. Plink. Plink.

Damn it. She threw the pillow off and breathed in deeply. She couldn’t stop thinking about Savannah, so obviously rejected but so closed off. Walled up. Again.

She wanted to go to her, but Micki couldn’t shake part of her earlier conversation with Chloe. Was Savannah just experiencing a form of misplaced gratitude? She wasn’t one to lavish praise on people, ever, so maybe in some fucked-up, subconscious way, this was her way of thanking Micki for being there? The thought made her shudder.

But no. She noticed the way Savannah had looked at her, the way her body had hitched in anticipation when Micki was running her fingers over her stomach. They didn’t touch like friends; even the simplest pat on the shoulder was filled with subtext, and Micki was confident it wasn’t one-sided. Savannah certainly wasn’t an open book, by any means, but Micki didn’t feel it was even a possibility that this thing between them was imagined. They were both way too old to be acting like shy teenagers stuck in an endless loop of will-they-or-won’t-they. The more Micki thought about it, the angrier she became.

This is stupid, Micki thought, sitting up, listening to the damned plink of water dripping into the porcelain. She closed her eyes tightly and craned her neck toward the ceiling. Now or never.

She threw off the blanket and stormed out into the hall. She angrily twisted the handle of the sink to a definitive “off” position before marching to Savannah’s door. She raised her fist, ready to pound, ready to have the conversation they needed to have.

And then she froze. She contemplated going back to her bedroom but couldn’t will her feet to move. She sighed and rapped lightly on the door with her knuckle. If Savannah was already asleep, then it would be that much easier to—

“What is it?” came the response from the other side of the door. Cold, aloof.

“Can I come in?”

No response.

Micki huffed and opened the door, the room in total darkness. It took Micki a minute to adjust to it before sitting down on the edge of Savannah’s bed. Savannah pulled her foot away to ensure there was no contact.

“Why are you angry with me?” Micki asked softly.

“I’m not.”

“Don’t do this. Please. Just tell me the truth.”

“It’s very late. There’s no reason your insecurities can’t wait until morning.”

“You know what?” Micki asked, standing up. “Fine. Try to get a good night’s sleep, you coward.”

Savannah shot up like a bullet. “What did you just say to me?”

“I just called you a coward.”

“I think you should get out of my house. Now. You need to leave.”

“No, actually, I don’t. I’ll go back to the guest room and lie there, staring at the ceiling for the next five hours until I have to get up.

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