squeaked against the bath as I let myself slide down under the water. At least I wouldn’t have to face her. As cowardly as that sounded I was glad she hadn’t forced us to talk things out further. After all how could I possibly justify what I’d done: it was selfish, hurtful, and totally unfair to her. I wouldn’t blame her if she did hate me… and yet… Al was it for me and for some reason she’d decided to give us another chance. I wasn’t going to walk away from her; not this time.

Alice called as I was making lunch, (tuna on rye: gotta get my protein), and we arranged to meet at Carmen’s around half 7. Hearing her voice made a happy tingle run down my spine, and I couldn’t wait to see her. I hummed to myself as I got milk from the fridge and put some coffee on. It seemed like an eternity since I’d been around the gang. I didn’t think that Shane would have let the others know about Al and me. Even when she wasn’t dealing with a secret she was notoriously discreet about people’s business. The only other person that knew about us was Ethan. I found my happier mood being deflated by the sudden thought of him. It seemed obvious he had wanted to hurt me as much as Alice by sending the photos to Lara. So might he have anything else planned? Let’s face it I wasn’t sure what he was capable of. I pushed my sandwich away, losing my appetite. Maybe I was being paranoid but the thought of my parents seeing them or worse the media getting hold of them made my blood run cold. The press would have a field day with them. It wasn’t me being prudish either, I don’t quite know what we had been thinking that day, but I knew Al also thought them plenty kinky enough to be for our eyes only. Why she hadn’t kept them locked away somewhere I didn’t know… or maybe she had and Ethan had still got at them. I ran a hand through my hair. Stop getting carried away. I told myself to breathe. There was no reason to think the jerk would do any of those things. I’d talk to Shane later; knowing her she would have been keeping her ear to the ground.