Page 26 of Slumming It

"No." His voice hardened. "Your phone.Now."

Yikes.

I stalked toward him and slapped the phone into his hand, telling him, "If you don't find anything, I'll expect an apology."

Already, he was swiping at the screen. "Password."

"I don't have one."

He looked up. "You're shitting me."

I wasn’t. "No. See for yourself."

So he did. I watched with growing indignation as he took his sweet time in scrolling through God-knows-what. His expression remained stony as his long fingers slid across the screen, checking for pictures and video and who-knows-what-else.

Finally, he held out the phone and said, "Count yourself lucky."

"Lucky?" I sputtered. "Youdoknow, you owe me an apology, right?"

He didn't look the least bit sorry. "Nope."

"But why not?"

"Because you were hiding under my bed, for fuck's sake."

I looked toward the bed in question. "Well, sure…if you put itthatway." I looked back, forcing my eyes to meet his. "But I can explain."

"Forget it."

"Why?"

"Because your story's gonna be bullshit, and I've already heard it."

This made no sense. "From who?"

"Experience," he said. "So drop it."

I felt my eyes go all squinty. "Are you always this cynical?"

"Yes." He frowned down at me. "A final note."

"What?"

"That nondisclosure – it starts now."

"But that's not fair," I protested. "I haven't even seen it."

"But you will," he said. "And if you're smart, you'll keep your mouth shut starting yesterday."

Iwassmart, probably smarter than he realized, but I still didn't like his tone or the way he'd phrased it. "And if I don't?"

"Then I'll destroy you." He paused to let that sink in before adding, "Andanyone you tell."

His words sent a cold shiver down my spine, and I took a single step backward. "You don't need to get all nasty about it."

"I agree," he said. "So don't let it come to that."

Double yikes.