Read Play With Me for Free Online Page B

trapped inside. At least my
to-be-read stack would shrink drastically this way.
    Later that day,
my phone vibrated on the night stand, with Tony’s name flashing on the display.
I pushed the button to cut him off. Just letting it ring wouldn’t have been
enough. He needed to know that I didn’t want to talk to him.
    A few moments
later, I got a text message. ARE YOU MAD AT ME?
    Jerk, I wouldn’t
answer to that.
    It didn’t take
long for him to send the next text. SO IT’S NOT A QUESTION OF IF BUT OF HOW
MUCH .
    I clamped down
on my teeth, scowling sinisterly at the phone since he wasn’t here to receive
the evil glare himself.
    I WOKE UP IN A
STRANGE HOUSE, IN A STRANGER’S BED, WITH A STRANGER SLEEPING NEXT TO ME. WHAT
DO YOU THINK?I texted back, then picked up my book, and read three more
lines before my cell beeped again.
    WHAT DID HUNTER
DO TO YOU? I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!
    HE DID NOTHING.
HE WAS A PERFECT GENTLEMAN. OTHER THAN YOU, IDIOT!
    No text came
after that. But soon my phone rang again. This time I picked up. “What?”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “I don’t care.
You forgot me at the party.”
    He sighed before
he replied. “I didn’t forget you. It was the middle of the night, and I figured
the way you were—”
    “Drunk?”
    “—yes. I thought
it wasn’t a good idea to take you home. And your mom finding out. You seemed in
a good place in Hunter’s room. He promised you’d be awake already when he would
go to sleep.”
    “What time did
you leave?”
    “One. Why?”
    Okay, so he
couldn’t know what happened. “Someone threw up in the hall. The party was over
at three.”
    “Shit.” He
paused. “So will you come and hang out on the beach with a few of us?”
    “I can’t. I’m
grounded all week. Will Cloey be with you all?”
    “Um…yes.”
    Terrific! Tears
of frustration welled up in my eyes.
    “You only met
her yesterday. I don’t see how you can hate her so much.”
    “You know what I
think about bimbos.”
    “Look, she’s not
a bimbo,” he tried in what should be a soothing tone. “And I think you two will
get along well once you know each other better.”
    “No thanks. I’d
rather stay grounded for the rest of the summer.”
    “Agh, Liz. Just
when have you become so complicated?”
    Me—complicated?
“Know what? I wish you a nice day at the beach. Now, if you don’t mind, I have
a book to read.” I didn’t wait for him to say bye, or anything for that matter,
but pushed the disconnect button and tossed the cell into the laundry basket
across the room. Screw him and the Barbie Clone. Screw them all.
    As the first tears
came out, I wanted to rip my room apart with the anger I felt. But I was going
to spend a lot more time than usual in here the coming week and I didn’t want
to live in a mess. So I took it out on my diary. In the evening I watched some
TV then went to bed early.
    It was still
dark when someone shouting my name in a subdued voice woke me. Since there were
not many people who called me Matthews, I jerked upright in my bed, my heart banging
in my throat. I rushed to the window and found Hunter standing in our yard,
dressed in shorts and a black tee.
    “Hi,” he said
and smiled when he saw me. “You don’t look like you’re ready to go.”
    I fought to find
my voice but kept it low, leaning far out of the window. “How did you know this
was my window?”
    “I didn’t. It
was trial and error.”
    Gag. “How many
windows have you tried?”
    “Yours.”
    Okay. Oh—kay .
I needed to calm down. The captain of the soccer team waited below my window,
and I stood here in my tank top and boy shorts. Duh, it was five in the
morning.
    “Are you
coming?”
    “I can’t. I’m
grounded.”
    A sly smile
played on his lips. “For sleeping with me?”
    “For not
sleeping in my own bed,” I whispered back, fighting to bite down the grin he
teased from me.
    “How long are
you grounded?”
    “Until Sunday.
But I can come to the training.”
    “At