Read Online Play Dirty (Make the Play #4) by Amber Garza - Free Book Online Page B

ever given Talia. And the one she gives me back feels different than her usual ones too. The entire exchange unnerves me. I avert my gaze.
    “Look, Josh, why don’t we go out to dinner? Discuss things. You can bring Talia.” He’s grasping at straws, desperation thick in his voice.
    For a split second I want to say yes. Then I picture my mom’s face, her tear-stained cheeks and red puffy eyes. And my heart hardens back up. “No.” I shake my head firmly. “Now why don’t you get back to Olivia? I’m sure she’s missing you.” Without giving him the opportunity to reply, I release Talia’s hand and turn my back on him.
    Awkward silence wraps around us. Talia bites her lip and looks down at her feet.
    “It was nice to meet you, Talia,” Dad finally says.
    “You too,” she responds, barely looking at him.
    “I’ll…um…talk to you later, Josh.” My shoulders tense at his words. “If you change your mind…” his words trail off as if he can’t bring himself to ask again. Then I listen to his footsteps retreat. A few seconds later, in the distance I hear the bell on the diner door as it dings.
    “You okay?” The concern in Talia’s voice causes a stir in my heart that I desperately want to ignore.
    “Fine.” I stare out at the cars passing on the street and the people walking along the sidewalk. Anything to keep myself from looking at Talia’s face. If her expression matches her tone, I don’t know if I can take it.
    “You’re really not going to the wedding?”
    I blow out a breath. “I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because of my mom.”
    “Did she tell you not to go?”
    “No. She actually told me I should go.” Normally I would’ve cut off these questions long ago. I don’t like being interrogated, and I don’t like opening up to people. But for some reason, I keep answering Talia’s questions. It’s like she’s my therapist or something.
    “Then why aren’t you?”
    “My dad hurt her.” Turning, I look straight into Talia’s face. “She gave her life to him, and he left her for Olivia. Broke her heart. Going to the wedding would be a betrayal to her, and I won’t do that.” The pity on her face bothered me. This is why I don’t tell people stuff. “I better get going,” I say swiftly before she can say something apologetic to make me regret spilling my guts even more than I already do.
    “Okay.” She appears confused by my sudden need to leave. “I’ll…um…see ya later.”
    “Yeah.” I back away from her, but stop abruptly. “Thanks, Talia.”
    “For what?”
    For being there for me when I needed you. For standing by me when my dad was here. For being a friend. “For showing up this morning after I texted you. I know it was last minute.”
    She shrugs. “Hey, it’s all part of the plan, right?”
    Ah, yes. The plan. “Right.”
    “Did it work?” she asks suddenly.
    “Did what work?”
    “The kiss…and everything,” she stumbles over the words. “I…um…noticed Hayes watching us when we were in the booth, but I didn’t notice if Ashley was. So I was just wondering if it worked on your end.”
    I don’t know if it worked. The truth is, that I hadn’t even noticed Ashley after Talia showed up. I was too fixated on Talia. That realization causes me to feel off-balance, out of control.
    And I don’t like it one bit.

TALIA
     
    The hall is crowded when I step out of my last period class, and I have to fight my way through the students walking shoulder to shoulder. Usually I’m the first one out, since my desk is right by the door. Ashley and Hayes have the class right across the hall, and I do my best to avoid them. Josh’s last class is clear across campus, and none of my friends share this period with me so I’m always walking solo. Running into them alone is the worst.
    But today I had to stay after class to talk to Mr. Warner about my failing test grade. Luckily, he’s letting me retake the test. But the “F” scrawled in red marker is