Olivia's Hypothesis

dates and detectives

Uh-oh, indeed.

"Maybe it's your phone." Aiden frowned, taking out his own and scrolling to find Will's number.

"No!" I snatched it from him, the awkward movement causing a sharp pain to shoot up my right hand. I winced, doubling over to press down on my sore knuckles, one of which was already decorated with a patchwork of purple splotches.

It wasn't bad enough that Elijah had scarred my heart. Now the memory of him threatened to plague my skin, too.

Aiden's eyes spot to my hand, his blue eyes swimming with concern. "You okay?"

He'd kept his promise. He'd hunted down an ice pack from the first aid room without forcing me to see the nurse, and he'd crafted some excuse about me tripping in the hall to pacify Alex. Still, even with the ice, he continued to fuss about me like I was a child. He'd even offered to cut my take out into smaller pieces—as though I'd injured my jaw and not just my hand.

"We can't call Will," I told him pointedly, tacitly sidestepping his question. "He has to call us. Otherwise, his phone will ring, he'll have to answer it, and everyone at the table will wonder why he hasn't hung up."

Aiden's smile fell into a little o shape. He nodded. "Right."

"Newb," Alex teased under his breath.

"So, what? We just ... wait?"

I tossed my phone back down on the bed with my left hand, then wrapped my right one in its icy compress. "We wait."

We all jumped as Alex's phone started to ring, half-surprised and half-impressed that Will had so quickly taken the initiative to call us again on a different line.

As it turned out, it wasn't Will at all.

"Tyler, calm down," Alex cried, springing up from the bed. "Slower, babe. Where are you?" He paused to listen for his boyfriend's reply, bewilderment written all over his face. "Of course. I'm leaving now. Stay in the gas station 'til I get there."

"What's wrong?" Aiden asked as Alex hurriedly put on his coat.

He sighed regretfully. "Tyler's car broke down off the highway. He's called for a tow but it's going to be an hour."

"Where was he coming back from?"

I detected a hint of irritation in Aiden's tone. I could tell by the look on Alex's face that he had, too. But, just as I'd done second before, he ignored the question.

He regarded Aiden with knitted brows, a sheepish smile creeping onto his lips. "Mind if I take your car?"

Aiden stood to retrieve his keys from his desk almost instantly, making more of an effort to hide his disapproval. "Of course not. Do you want me to come with you?"

Alex waved a hand dismissively, already partially in and out of the door. "All good. You stay here with Olivia. Will will probably call soon, anyway."

We barely got a chance to wave him off before the door slammed behind him.

And, in the silence, Alex's words hit me.

'You stay here with Olivia.'

I bit down on my teeth in an effort to mask my nerves. Aiden and I were... alone. Our buffer was gone. Will was yet to call us back or even drop a text about what happened to our connection. There was literally nothing for Aiden and me to do.

Nothing except talk about what had happened with Elijah. About who he was, about what he'd done.

No, thank you.