Chasing Secrets - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,9

me. And I fully plan on letting him. But over the sound of my excited heart, I hear a throat clear from somewhere in the room.

“Okay, as much as I hate to break up this little moment,” East says, “we really do need to talk with you.”

And just like that, the little bubble Arrow and I somehow built around us pops as I’m reminded of everything going on.

But the thing that keeps me going is that, while a lot of bad shit is happening right now, there’s also a little good. And it’s the good I hold on to, because if I don’t, I’ll end up crumbling.

Harlynn

After East pops the bubble that Arrow and I had built around ourselves in that closet, we both start to panic.

“What’s wrong?” Arrow asks East.

“Can I talk to you out in the hallway for a moment?” East says to Arrow, giving him a pressing look.

Okay, when East first said, “We really need to talk to you,” I thought he meant both Arrow and me, but apparently not.

Confusion crosses Arrow’s expression. “Yeah, sure.”

East offers him a tight smile then heads for the doorway. Right before they walk out, though, East glances back at me. Usually, he’s sporting an impish grin, but his smile is different this time. I can’t even put my finger on why that is. Then he looks away and steps out into the hallway. And I’m left wondering what in the worlds they’re talking about.

While I don’t want to eavesdrop, I find myself wishing I could hear what they were saying. It’d be wrong, though, to listen to them. Sure, I’ve done it in the past, but that was before I trusted them. Apparently, my ears have a mind of their own, because I can suddenly hear everything they’re saying as clearly as if they were standing right beside me.

“How bad is the snow right now?” Arrow is saying.

“It’s pretty bad. And it’s currently snowing at an alarming rate,” East tells him. “I haven’t been here in ages … I forgot how shitty the weather is.”

That’s what they’re talking about? The weather?

Okay, then.

I start to shut down my newfound super-hearing when I hear East mutter, “Asher and I need to talk to you about something. Something important. And while we don’t really have time right now to get too into it, I feel like, considering you and our little mouse seem to be getting really close, I should probably tell you what the conversation is going to be about.” He pauses. “That thing Max told Asher … that way … Asher and I have been talking, and we both think we should try it. That is, if you’re on the same page. I’m not really sure if you are or not, since you barely said anything about it when we first brought it up. And this has never really been your thing, but then you were in there with her doing gods know what…” He pauses again. “What were you doing in there?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?” Arrow asks, his discomfort ringing in his tone.

“The kind of question that you’ll need to be comfortable with if this is going to work,” East stresses. “That is, if you want to make it work. Like I said, you’ve barely said anything about this, so Ash and I really don’t have a fucking clue what to think.”

Arrow remains silent for a beat. “Are you guys …? Are you guys okay with it?”

“At first, I wasn’t sure,” East admits with a bit of uncertainty in his tone. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t done anything like this before, but that was always on a sexual level. Never an emotional one. With Harlynn … she’s a little bit different, and this … it would be different than the stuff I’ve done in the past.”

“I like that she’s different,” Arrow tells him.

“I completely agree. And while I’d love for this to fucking work, it’s that she’s different that’s going to make this a little bit more complicated than what we’re all used to. And you’ve never even done anything like this—you’ve barely done anything at all—so you need to make sure that you can handle it. Because, if you can’t, we … well, I’m not sure what we’ll do, but we can’t tell Harlynn about this until we’re all on board with the plan. And even then, telling her about this is going to complicate stuff.”

What in the worlds are they talking about?

“I know