Read Unexpected for Free Online Page B

admitted.
    “So really, you don’t have anything to lose,” he pointed out.
    The only thing I was losing was this argument.
    And Tristan wasn’t even finished yet.
    “Just think about it. You don’t really think you’re going to be mad at him forever , do you?” The thought, though unrealistic had crossed my mind. “So that means you’re going to have to have to forgive him sometime. And since you’re pretty miserable about it right now, why not just do it and get it over with?”
    “Why do you always have to be so reasonable?” I demanded.
    He grinned back and shrugged. “Can’t help it.”
    I didn’t have anything to say to that. My room became oddly quiet. I had been fidgeting with one of the bags on my bed but when I glanced at Tristan, he let out a sigh.
    “You know what I said earlier, about the dance? Can we maybe just forget I even brought it up?” he wondered. “You’ve got enough going on in your life. I don’t want to make anything weird between us. Okay?”
    That answered that. He had definitely withdrawn the semi-invite. This was a good thing, I tried to tell myself.
    “Okay,” I said. “But just so you know, I thought the offer was really sweet.”
    A slow smile spread across his face. “Yeah? Sweet enough that you might actually want to go with me?”
    I opened my mouth to respond but he cut me off.
    “ I’m kidding.  Forget I said that. I might not want to hear your actual answer. I’m just going to pretend that you might have said yes,” he told me in a teasing tone. Then he turned to leave. “See you later, Britta.”
    And out my door he went.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    4
    I spent the next few days contemplating what to do about my dad. Tristan had a point. I was going to have to get over it eventually. Why drag it out? Yet I continued to do so until the end of the week. I waited until Thursday night. Mom had left that morning for her extended ski weekend. That way, on the off chance Dad brought her up, I could tell him how she’d left for a romantic getaway. With a guy. Who made her happy and made her smile in a way that I didn’t remember him ever doing.
    Fortunately for me—and maybe him, too—his phone was off. It went straight to voice mail. I left a message. Short but probably not all that sweet. But hey, at least I tried. The proof was there.
    Mom had asked me to invite a friend over while she was away. She said she’d feel better if I wasn’t home alone. Only, I wanted to be home alone. It gave me time to read. So, with a request to the Garrett’s—who lived diagonal from us, across the street—to keep an eye on me, she was satisfied. Of course, the Jacobs lived right down the road. And we knew everyone in Secluded Pines, if not well, at least by name. So even though she was worried about leaving me home alone, I felt completely safe. And if I decided at some point I didn’t want to be home alone, I was pretty sure Jamie would come over immediately. Or I could go there. Either way, hypothetical crisis averted.
    And just in case there was a crisis that could not be averted, Mom had left the name, number and address to the lodge on an enormous hand-made sign on the fridge. She’d also insisted I enter it into my phone. In case I decided to leave the house and I encountered an emergency while I was out having fun.
    I nearly had to shove her out the door to be sure she left on time. When she finally did leave, she assured me that the neighbors would be watching. And that she would be calling.
    As if I doubted that for a single second.
    Once she was finally gone, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon tucked away in my room. Later in the day, I’d called my dad. After that, I received a text from Jamie asking if I could come over for a while. My first thought was to tell her she could walk over here, since