Page 91 of Not On Your Life

I freeze, my heart hammering. Lyndi’s right. I should go after my prince.

Or in Crew’s words, the devil.

I let myself out of the house.

The dance is over at midnight. I could swing by his house and toss a few rocks at his window.

Gah.Lyndi got into my head with her fairytale talk.

I’ll ring the doorbell like a normal person.

Chapter 30

Connor

It’s been eight days. Maddie told me to give her seven, and she took eight. Which is so Maddie. I expected nothing less.

But a man can only be patient for so long, and I used every tactic I could think of to distract myself. I deep-cleaned the house so the realtor could take pictures, and it’s officially listed. We already have seven showings set up for tomorrow. And I put together a killer case against Tim’s life insurance advisor. Not to toot my own horn, but that corrupt agent is going to need a very good lawyer to get out of his own mess. I even joined some old friends from high school for a night of basketball. I haven’t done so in forever, and I remembered why after I made a dumb bet with one of the Bentleys. Millie will kill me when she finds out I gave her number to the most obnoxious one.

Now all that’s left to do is wait.

Something I’m not good at.

I drop onto the couch beside Millie. She’s watching a Psych rerun. She has to have them memorized at this point.

“Why so glum, chum?” She knows why. She made me tell her everything that happened with Maddie and me in the pool, and she’s been asking me every day since if Maddie has reached out.

Sean hops up onto the couch by me and cuddles on my lap. Gus is only a few seconds behind as they can’t seem to be apart for too long. Much like the characters. I begrudgingly pet them. Okay, so it’s not begrudgingly. The little monsters have wormed their way into my heart… and my bed some nights. I kicked them out the first night it happened, but they came right back. I might miss them more than Millie when we move out.

I let myself zone out as I watch the main characters act like idiots on a talent show. “How’s your resin hobby going?” I ask Millie.

“This is worse than I thought if you want to know how my hobby is going.”

“I’m trying to be a nice brother.”

She purses her lips. “Then you probably don’t want to know I got a bunch of resin stuck in the carpet upstairs, and I can’t get it out.”

Her admission barely fazes me. “I’m sure we can Google it.”

“Seriously? Where’s the freakout? The ’I told you so’?“

Psh. That doesn’t sound like me.I ignore her and pointlessly study the screen.

“Oh my gosh, beautiful,” Millie mutters.

Maddie’s face flits through my mind at Millie’s use of the word beautiful. Maddie is gorgeous, stubborn and so many other things.

“Ah, I love that dress.”

I frown. No one on the screen is wearing a dress. Though I wouldn’t put it past Sean or Gus.

“What are you talking about?” I grunt.

“It’s prom tonight, and I’m friends with a few of the girls online. Look at Megan.” She shoves the phone in front of my face, but I can’t focus on the tiny square picture.

Prom. The one Maddie got roped into chaperoning by the volleyball girls. The same girls who are just mischievous enough they might help me with something. My mind races with tempting thoughts.

“What time does it end?” I jump off the couch and yank my shirt over my head on the way to the stairs.