Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1) - R.S. Grey Page 0,127
suitcase beside me. It was 9:00 PM London time, and I wasn’t sure if Georgie would have her phone on her, but I tried her anyway. The traffic around the airport made it hard to hear the phone ring, and for two seconds I feared I’d be stuck on that sidewalk with nowhere to go. I’d have to find a random hotel and stay the night like a lonely loser.
“ANDIE!” Georgie squealed into the phone. “Took you long enough!”
I sighed with relief at the sound of her voice. “Hi Georgie.”
“I take it you’re phoning to shower me with praise on my excellent detectivating?”
“Uh, well…yes, something like that.” I glanced around. “I’m actually in London.”
She screamed so loudly into the phone I had to hold it away from my ear to keep from going deaf. The few people hovering on the curb beside me, waiting for their taxis, sent me awkward glares.
“Georgie, stop screeching.”
“Where are you!? I’ll come round and pick you up.”
“I’m still at the airport. My plane landed like thirty minutes ago.”
“You’ve come for him haven’t you?” She sounded so excited by the prospect.
“Unless he’s already found someone else?” I joked with a flat, anxious laugh.
“Are you kidding me? The prat has been lolling around his flat like the world is ending. He’s clearly been waiting for you to call, and any time I try to go over he nearly bites my head off about giving him space and what not. It’s all been very dramatic, I assure you.”
I smiled. “Well if you wouldn’t mind giving me his address, I think I’ll just head straight there.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Freddie
“OPEN UP, FRED!”
I groaned at the sound of Georgie banging on my door. “Go away, G. I’m not up for company.”
She ignored me, used her key, and shoved her way into my flat like a Tasmanian devil. I kept my head tucked in the fridge—looking for something to eat—but she strolled past me and picked up an empty bag of crisps from the kitchen counter.
“Listen, you insufferable hermit,” she said, crumbling up the empty bag. “You need to tidy this place up and then maybe consider having a shower yourself.”
I picked up my shirt, sniffed it, and only recoiled a bit. “It’s not so bad,” I said, returning to my search for food. I’d already eaten dinner a few hours earlier, but food was distracting and since Andie was on my mind, a distraction was more than welcome. I shoved the vegetables aside and reached for a cheese stick.
I let the refrigerator door fall closed and then glanced over to see Georgie drop a heavy paper sack at the base of the kitchen island. It sounded like there was a bowling ball stuffed inside.
“What’ve you brought, G?”
She ignored my question and walked toward me with determination. I’d barely pulled back the cellophane wrapper on my cheese stick when she slapped it out of my hand. It fell to the ground with a sad thump.
“Hey,” I moaned. “I was going to eat that.”
“Are you listening to me?! Leave the cheese stick!” she said with fire in her eyes. “You need to shower! Now!”
I’d seen a few different versions of Georgie over the years. She was excitable and loud and opinionated and crass, but this was Georgie on a whole new level. Her bright eyes were wide and anxious, urging me to take her seriously.
When I didn’t move quick enough, she groaned and shoved past me to get a bin bag out of the broom closet. She whipped it open with a loud POP and tore through the kitchen, throwing away anything in her sight: trash, papers, an empty pizza box. She nearly tossed one of my gold medals (I hadn’t gotten around to putting them up with the others yet) but I reached out and caught it before it fell into the bag.
“Georgie, you’ve gone completely mental. Should I ring a doctor?”
She ignored my teasing and turned back for the broom closet where she’d found the bag.
“Do you have a candle or something?” she asked, pinching her nose closed with her fingers.
“What’s going on?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Just…” She glanced around, trying to think up a lie. “I think you needed to freshen up a bit.”
“I have a housekeeper who comes twice a week. Now fess up. What’s gotten into you?”
She was a terrible liar, made worse by the anxious energy she put off when she was up to something.
I pulled the bag out of her hand and let it drop to the