Page 20 of Shattered Sinner
“I’ll see you in class.”
He said it as if it was a fact. I couldn’t help but think of the bank account that I’d just gotten approved for. I turned to look at him as I slung my bag over my shoulder.
My fingers trembled as I dug into my bag to pull out a twenty because we hadn’t decided who would be paying for this outing, and I was technically the one who invited Easton here.
However, Easton put his hand up. “I’m paying for our drinks.”
I nodded as I saw him get ready to move. “Okay. Bye.” I blurted the words out to avoid saying something awkward.
I left before he could get up and try to walk me to my car. The last thing I wanted to deal with was spending another second alone with him even though we were in public.
Once I was safely inside of my car, I locked the door behind me and let out the breath I’d been holding in. I hadn’t realized how tense I’d been while I was in Easton’s presence.
Could it have been the anger I still felt toward him? Potentially.
Could it be that I was now depending on him to work an angle for me when it came to Iris’s disappearance? Possibly.
But it was definitely the fact that I would end up in his bed at some point soon in exchange for all of this.
Just before I put my car into drive, my phone buzzed from my purse seconds before the text message appeared on my dashboard.
I gasped at the message that appeared on the screen.
11
BIANCA
Staring at the screen of my dashboard, I reread the stark message on the screen. It wasn’t a surprise to me that he’d gotten my number, but it didn’t remove any of the shock from my system.
Unknown Number: Hi Bianca, it’s Tristan Whitmore. I wanted to grab dinner with you sometime this week.
The message had left me dumbfounded as desperation and panic flowed through me. If this engagement and marriage was supposed to happen, it made sense that we would have to actually see and interact with one another. But this wasn’t something I could focus on right now. If I stayed out here any longer and Easton noticed, he’d be over here in a heartbeat.
I pulled out of my parking spot and drove toward my apartment. As I pulled into my parking space, small flurries had just begun to land on my windshield. I’d made it back to my place just in time.
As I grabbed my bag so that I could exit my vehicle, I felt it vibrate and knew I more than likely had another message. That one could wait too because there was no way I was dealing with this while I was outside, and it was snowing.
I entered my apartment and picked up my phone, and just as I was about to read what I assumed was Tristan’s message, the device vibrated again. If he’d sent me three messages in less than fifteen minutes before I’d had the chance to respond, I was more than likely going to ignore him even more.
I sighed when I realized it was from my mother.
Mom: Tristan should be reaching out to you soon. Remember to be nice and don’t embarrass us. If he invites you out somewhere you’re going and I’ll send the team over to your apartment to help you get ready whenever it is.
I blew out an exasperated breath and rolled my eyes so hard I gave myself a headache. If I wasn’t stuck in the middle of this, I would have laughed out loud.
I shifted through my texts until I came to the ones that were from an unknown number. Thankfully, this time it wasn’t from my stalker, but I made sure to double check the numbers to see if my stalker and Tristan were one in the same. They weren’t.
Unknown Number: Do you have a preference?
Now I was left with a dilemma. Do I continue going through with this or say screw what my family says and run now?
I didn’t have the means to run right now and get away without leaving a trail. I needed to play this smart. Plus, finding out about Iris’s well-being was of utmost importance, and what was the likelihood of me being told that information if I was on the run?
I knew I needed to respond, but I wasn’t sure how to. I’d never been in this situation before and everything within me didn’t want to lead him on, but I also didn't want to anger him.
And how would my arrangement with Easton work with all of this?
Whatever, I’d deal with that when I needed to deal with it.
