to LA.”
“So we could sit around the hotel and be bored?” I knew I was hedging, but I was freaking out. No way Mrs. Sadler would keep our secret.
“Let us talk to your friend’s mom,” Dad said. “We’ve got to get the girls down. Final callbacks are tomorrow, and I think they have a real chance at landing this role! Who knows, you may end up staying over at your friend’s more often if they do.”
Ray smirked, and I hit him.
“Did you trip?” Dad asked.
“No, no.” I stood up and went toward the stairs. Ray jumped ahead of me so there was no chance of him being seen on my screen.
We came into the kitchen at the same time his mom did. She wiped her hand across her forehead. “Just got Jonah down.”
I smiled and held my phone to my chest. “Good, um, my parents were wondering if they could talk to you about my asthma?”
Her eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
I nodded vigorously. “They’re just precautious.”
“I get it.” She smiled and extended her hand for the phone.
Begrudgingly, I said to my parents, “This is Sally,” and handed it over.
She smiled warmly into the phone. “Hi there.”
Mom introduced them. “I’m Barb, and this is Mark.”
Nerves raced through my system, and I folded my arms tight over my chest to keep from exploding.
Dad said hello, and Mom said, “I know we’re being extra careful, but I’d hate to see something happen...”
“No need to explain yourself,” Mrs. Sadler said. “I’d be the same with my little girl.”
“They’re always our babies, right?” Mom said.
Mrs. Sadler chuckled and nodded. “So lay it on me. What do I need to know?”
Mom launched into a big tangent about asthma and triggers and how to use my inhaler. On and on, and then she finally said, “I’ll text you the info so you have it.”
With a relieved laugh, Mrs. Sadler said, “Thank you. I promise we’ll take care of your girl, and I’ll make sure they stay separated at night.”
“Oh,” Dad said. “There’s no need. You know how teenagers are. They need to let loose every now and then.”
Mrs. Sadler’s eyebrows rose. “I do, which is why they will be separated.”
My cheeks, ears, and neck felt hot, and I was freaking out. She was one more sentence away from revealing everything.
“Thank you,” I said and reached for my phone. “I’ll give them your number.”
She said goodbye to my parents and passed my phone back.
“Have a good night, honey,” Dad said.
“Love you,” Mom said.
And then we ended the call. I nearly sagged from the relief, and I gave Mrs. Sadler an apologetic look. “Sorry, my parents are a little overprotective.”
“Really?” she said. “It seemed like they’d be just fine with you two sharing a room.”
My blush returned with a vengeance. “Well, they’re progressive.”
“They do own that crunchy food store, right? Fresh? Raw?”
“Ripe,” I said.
She pointed her finger. “That’s the one.”
Ray frowned. “We better get back to working on our homework.”
His mom nodded. “Have fun.”
“Fun,” he said. “I thought we weren’t allowed to let loose.”
She rolled her eyes and batted a hand at him. “Get out of here.”
With an awkward half-smile half-wave at his mom, I followed him downstairs.
He sat on the chair and I flopped back on the bed, then rolled my face into the mattress and groaned.
“Watch out,” he said, “my mom might worry we’re doing what teenagers do.”
If I wasn’t so mortified, I might have laughed along with him.
Forty-One
Ray grinned at me from the desk chair while I did my best to ease my complete embarrassment. “So what about you?” he asked. “You know everything about me—you even know where I sleep.”
I folded my legs underneath me, getting more comfortable on the bed. “Technically, I haven’t seen your room yet.”
“You don’t want to.” He was only half-joking.
“Because of all the dead bodies?”
“Dead bodies?”
“They’re always hidden in the bedroom,” I explained
The incredulous look on his face was adorable. “Why—how would you even know that?”
“That is one thing you should know about me.” I pushed back my sleeves. “I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts. Like, a lot.”
His eyebrows rose. “Getting plans together?”
“More like curing boredom.”
Laughing, he said, “If I’m bored, I watch a comedy.”
“That works too,” I said. “I’m not picky, really.”
“Is that what got you interested in video? Watching movies?”
I nodded. “Kind of.”
He flipped his chair around and rested his big forearms on the back, then his chin atop them.
“Story time?” I teased.
With a smile, he nodded.
“Once upon a time...”
He laughed. “Good start.”
“Stop making me