Love & Hate – Chapter 24: Faking It

Chapter 24 by Matt Wall

Eden paced back and forth as she bit her nails. She didn’t like the feeling she was having. She knew that she had no true hold on Billy and seeing him with that detective, made her realize how she truly felt for him for the first time.

“What did you need to talk about?” Billy said, as he walked in the room behind her. 

Eden jumped, startled at his presence. “Oh! I didn’t see you there.” She couldn’t look him in the eye and began to fidget. 

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Are you dating that detective?” The look on Eden’s face showed how shocked she was with herself to even ask the question. It was as if it slipped out without her knowledge. 

Billy chuckled. “No. Mel and I are just good friends. Have been for a long time.”

She nervously sighed with relief. “That’s good.”

“Were you jealous?” 

“I don’t know what I am or what that was. It’s just good to hear, I guess.”

He stepped closer to her. “Is that all you wanted to ask me about?”

Their eyes met and locked. Her heart began to pound. “No, actually. I wanted to talk to you about Ciri Jackson.” She broke her stare and backed up. 

“What about her? How is her progress?”

“That’s the thing. I think she’s faking it.”

Billy gave her a disapproving look. “She’s not faking it. I operated on her spine.”

“Not that. She’s awake, but pretending to be asleep.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I think it’s Van. I think she’s afraid of him. He hasn’t left her room since she got here.”

Billy nodded. “I’ll get him out of here. At least long enough to find out if you’re right.”

“There is one more thing,” she said. “If you can make sure that no one here would ever find out, I would like to go have that drink with you.” Her eyes were lost in his again. “If you can promise me that, you have a date.”

He leaned in to kiss her and she turned his head by the jaw and kissed him on the cheek.

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