Read Online Why Now? by Carey Heywood - Free Book Online

he wanted to know if I needed to talk, if I was okay.
    Shit.
    I didn’t even think about leaving them there when I took off. Granted, it’s Ferncliff and not a giant metropolis but it would still be a long walk. It was an asshole thing to do.
    All I had been thinking of was getting away. There are some people incapable of embarrassment.
    Case in point, Reilly. Nothing embarrassed her. I wished I could be like her; so confident, so unruffled by whatever came at her.
    Her composure was a thing of beauty; her snappy comebacks were lightning fast.
    My fingers moving over the screen of my phone, I reply to Heath’s text. I’m so sorry you had to go get them. I was being silly. I’m fine.
    His response is immediate; did Jake upset you?
    My eyes close, the weight of my shame shutting them. Heath was such a good guy. A good guy whose grandmother’s ring was on my finger. My eyes open. For a few long moments , I stare blankly ahead. Once my vision clears, I reply, he didn’t do anything.
    Holding my phone I wait for his reply, only it never comes.
    A couple minutes later, when Reilly rushes into our apartment.
    “I’m so sorry, Kacey,” she says, the moment her eyes meet mine.
    Whether I’m ready for it or not, I’m engulfed in a hug.
    “Please don’t be mad at me. Please don’t be mad at me,” she pleads over and over, still hugging me.
    “You know I can’t stay mad at you,” I reply, pushing her away. “I need to know which videos you sent him, though, so I can decide exactly how long I’m going to be pissed.”
    Taking my hand, she pulls me to her room, where her laptop is. Patiently, I wait while she searches her email history for every message she’s ever sent Jake.
    “Don’t forget, I sent him these eons ago. You can even check the date stamps,” she says, passing me her laptop.
    I settle down next to her on her bed and look at the list of emails in front of me.
    “The one’s with the little paperclips are the ones with videos or pics, and look, there aren’t that many.”
    Of the listing of sent emails, there are ten or so with paperclips. I click on the first one and see it’s a picture of Reilly and me sitting on her bed in our dorm room.
    Reilly, as usual, looks beautiful. I, on the other hand, look like a gigantic dork.
    My mouth drops before I ask, “Why’d you send him this picture? I look terrible in it.”
    She rolls her eyes. “Shut up. You look great.”
    Mentally, I disagree; I don’t say anything though because I’m busy clicking on the next file with a paperclip. It’s a video. Clicking to open it, I press play. It’s silly but not mortifyingly so. I move to the next one. It’s another picture, this time of just Reilly. The next is another video. Again, I open it and press play. It’s not a big deal. I repeat this process for the next four emails, getting more relaxed with each one.
    Until I open the fifth and press play to watch the video I would never ever want Jake Whitmore to see in a million years.
     

 
     
    “Can I borrow your laptop?” I ask once we’re back at Heath’s place.
    “Sure,” Heath replies, nodding his head in the direction of his sofa.
    His laptop is sitting on the center cushion of it. Ever since Kacey freaked the fuck out, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out why the videos Reilly sent me would set her off.
    I’ve never seen her like that. God, when she looked at me with tears in her eyes, it knocked the wind out of me.
    “Want a beer?” Heath asks from the kitchen.
    “Sure,” I reply, pulling up my email account.
    Moving the cursor to the search field I run one for all the emails Reilly has ever sent me.
    A bottle comes into view and distractedly I reach up for it. “Thanks.”
    Heath sits down next to me, his eyes on the computer screen. “You good?”
    A crap load of emails pull up and I turn my head to look at him. “Kacey flipped when I told her Reilly sent me some videos they made.”
    His brows pinch together. “What