Wicked Games by Olin Sean

Author:Olin, Sean
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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30

Carter took the steps up to the porch at Jules’s house three at a time and he had to check himself in order not to pound on the front door like a crazy person. His heart beat like thunder in his chest. He felt like everything—his whole life—depended on this moment.

Why was nobody answering? The lights were on. There was someone home.

It was a little after eleven. He hoped he wasn’t being rude or something.

Finally, the faded curtain drawn across the window in the door shifted a little and he saw an eye peering out at him. Then the door opened a crack and Jules’s mother slipped out onto the porch. She pulled the door shut tight behind her.

“Can I help you?” she said.

Carter knew from Jules that her mother was a bit of a blissed-out hippie, and she definitely looked the type, with the colorful frayed sarong tied around her waist and the bright-yellow bikini top and long, flowing, sandy-blond hair, but something in the set of her jaw intimidated him.

“Yeah, hi, I’m—hi!” Carter knew he was speaking breathlessly fast, but he couldn’t slow himself down. His thoughts were exploding at an unrelenting pace. “You’re Jules’s mother, right? It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Carter. One of Jules’s friends. I was hoping I could maybe talk to her for a second.”

“I know who you are, Carter,” she said. “Jules can’t come to the door right now.” For a second, she gazed at the aloe plant mounted on the porch railing. Then she went on. “She’s not here.”

“She’s—oh. Can you tell me where she is? It’s sort of important that I talk to her.”

She was sizing him up. She had a quiet groundedness about her, a sense of something tough and strong underneath her spiritual exterior, and he could feel her hardening as she considered what to say next. “Don’t you think you’ve said enough to Jules already?”

There was something not right about this conversation. Carter scratched his head. He was confused. “I . . . er . . .” he said.

“Aren’t you a least a little ashamed to be showing up here like this?” Her tone of voice remained gentle and calm despite the harshness of her words.

“I don’t—” he said, but the woman cut him off.

“Of course. You don’t know what I’m talking about. Okay.” She patted Carter on the shoulder. “I’ve seen guys like you before. You never know what us girls are talking about.”

“But I don’t—”

“Believe it or not, Jules has a certain amount of self-respect.”

“I—I’m confused.”

“I could show you the texts you sent her. Refresh your memory.”

“Texts?” He searched his thoughts for what she might be talking about. Had he crossed some line he didn’t know existed? Maybe he should have stopped bothering her when she hadn’t responded to the messages, but they hadn’t been mean or anything like that. They’d been goofy stuff, just normal hellos and things. Sweet. He’d meant them to be sweet. “I’m really sorry if something I wrote to Jules upset her somehow.

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