The Thief Who Saved My Life

Chapter 18

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" I muttered, pacing back and forth across my bedroom floor.

There was no winning. I could only lose.

I stopped and flopped back on my bed, the mattress bouncing a little under my weight and the comforter pulling loose from the sides of the bed where it had been so neatly tucked.

Everything seemed so simple and clear when I walked away from Garret, knowing what he would do. It didn't seem so simple any more. It didn't seem so worth it, to ruin everyone because of my own poor decisions.

I had two options.

Do nothing.

Garret releases a video.

My dad's life is ruined. Julia's life is forever changed. My own life would become significantly harder.

Stop this.

Easy as cake I could call Garret and prevent the tape from being released. Prevent lives from being ruined.

I protect my father. I protect Julia.

I still lose.

The weekend came to an end in a blur that I was too distracted to notice.

Monday went similarly.

And there I was, switching up between pacing and flopping on my bed trying to come up with a solution. Trying to decide what I was going to do. And I only had twenty-four hours. If I didn't show at Garret's party, I didn't really know what would happen.

My phone buzzed, it's sound slightly muffled from the blanket it rested on and I hesitated before reaching for the phone, nervous of what the message would say, but the buzzing didn't stop. It was, I realized an incoming call and not a text. My lips shifted into a reluctant smile when I saw Tyler's name.

We hadn't spoken since he walked me to my car on Saturday night.

I wish I had spent all day Sunday and Monday replaying our kiss in my head. It was totally worth the replay. But breakfast with Julia and all she'd told me threw me off enough to make me question every decision I made. And instead of daydreaming about Tyler kissing me, his hands exploring my body... I was remembering the way Garret kissed me, the way he touched me. Debating over going back to that.

I swiped the green prompt on my phone and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered sounding shier than I think I ever had before.

"Hey, Ev—" Tyler said, sounding quiet because of all the noise around him.

"I can barely hear you," I said, my stomach dropping. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yes. Hang on let me get somewhere quieter." He was quiet for a long moment and all I could hear was noise—voices, maybe music, something and then it all stopped. He sighed into the phone. "Sorry. Better?"

I hummed in agreement, happy to hear his voice. It was calming, something I thought I could listen to forever. At the sound of his voice, everything I had been worrying myself over for the last couple days faded to the background. And by the end of the conversation with them, any thoughts of Garret or what he may do were completely forgotten.

"Where are you?" I asked. With the exception of Saturday at Garret's and the hospital, I guessed, I had only seen Tyler at his home and he hadn't struck me as someone who gets a lot of chances to enjoy life.

"Work."

"Work?" I echoed having momentarily forgotten that he has a real job and the gambling and any other shady stuff he does is more of a side gig.