Chapter Six

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Ava leaves me with strict instructions to not answer Phoenix's text until the morning when she drops me off at home. Between the brain fog caused by lack of sleep, and my rumbling stomach that demands I eat dinner, I'm able to obey her orders for a couple of hours. I even make it as far as powering up my laptop and opening my novel outline and research notes on the Elenna Ilke case, which inspired the plot of the murder mystery I'm working on. That's when my resolve crumbles.

My novel is set in Laguna Beach, and seeing the name in what I've written reminds me of Phoenix and his message. I chose the oceanside town as the setting since it's close to Aliso Viejo, the Orange County city where Elenna lived and vanished from, and my novel is a fictional world loosely based on her disappearance and presumed murder. Laguna Beach seemed like an ideal location choice then, with its turquoise water and picturesque beaches. Now it's causing my imagination to run wild about the Pandora's box I could open by spending next weekend there with Phoenix.

I put my laptop beside me on the sofa and reach for my phone. Phoenix's text is still at the top of my message list.

"Why?" I mumble. "Why do you want to see me and talk? Why now?"

I'd be better off asking a Magic 8 ball or a TikTok tarot reader for clarity than I am sitting in my living room, talking to my phone and expecting a revelation to fall from the sky. Only Phoenix knows why, and only he can tell me. I should get this over with and answer him, even if Ava wants me to wait.

The problem is what I reply with and agree to. He can't really expect me to spend the whole weekend with him, as in staying somewhere together overnight. I'm not a prude, but that's asking for disaster, no matter what Ava joked about exes and casual hookups being fine. I can't be casual about that with him, and I don't want to set myself up for a world of hurt. We need ground rules, starting with me setting boundaries around how much of my time he has access to.

I open his message and begin typing. I can see you one day next weekend, not both. Saturday is better.

Send.

He can take it or leave it. If he declines, I'm off the hook and can look forward to a peaceful weekend spent writing in solitude. If he tries to sell me on both days and a slumber party, then his true intentions will be clear.

My phone chimes a minute later. I scan the message that pops up on its screen.

I'm grateful you're even willing to give me five seconds. Thank you. I can come to you on Saturday if Laguna is too far.

The universe has to be kidding me. It's giving me the humble, considerate, and responsive version of Phoenix to go up against, which are adjectives that didn't belong in the same sentence as his name when things between us were in shambles. His text reminds me of how he behaved when we first met, and of the person I believed he was then.

I was naive in those days. Now I'm just someone who should be older and wiser, falling for what might be the same disguise. I agreed to it, though, whatever self-inflicted hell may come.

Laguna works. Let me know where to go.

It's a bit of a drive, but I would rather meet him there. My home is my sanctuary, and I'm not ready to see him at my door. I may not be ready to see him in Laguna Beach either, but Ava had a point. The worst that happens is I get answers to questions I've had for years. I'll leave early if things get uncomfortable.

And if the best-case scenario happens? If I actually enjoy Phoenix's company, hear him out on what he has to say, and decide to stay the entire time? I can't wrap my head around that idea and what it would mean just yet.

༺☆༻ ༺☆༻ ༺☆༻

"Nerves are for people who have something to lose," I mutter under my breath. "Calm down."

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