Triple Love Score Read Free

backwards and patted down his pockets for the source of the interruption. He stared at the number. “I think I have to take this,” he said. “Some kind of hospital.”
    As he stood up, his pant leg caught on the edge of the board, bouncing all the letters out of place as he slipped out of the apartment and into the hallway.
    For what felt like an hour, she strained to hear his footfalls in the hallway outside.
    When he pushed back in, she almost didn’t recognize him. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end like a man electrocuted. The color in his cheeks disappeared.
    “I have to go.” He kissed her cheek and grabbed his coat. “I’ll be back after your birthday,” he said.
    Too stunned to say anything, she just watched him go.
    She expected him to be back. Her birthday came and went. Her emails and calls went unreturned. She thought for sure that he would show up at Avery’s next party with some excuse about work. She would pretend to be mad, but knew she would get over it just to talk to him again. If he didn’t want to kiss again fine—well, not fine, but she would deal with that—but it wasn’t okay to walk out on their entire friendship.
    “Where’s Scott?” she asked as Bunny enveloped her in a hug at the front door.
    “Scott?” Bunny asked.
    “Don’t be funny,” Miranda said. “You know, your son? I saw him a few months ago, but lately he’s been MIA.”
    “Dear,” Bunny called over her shoulder, “do we know a Scott?”
    Before Linden could say anything, Stanton stepped into the foyer. “Scotch,” he announced. “Did I hear someone request Scotch? I just so happen to have the best bottle right this way. Come along.”
    Linden shrugged his shoulders at Miranda and followed his wife and best friend into the other room. For the rest of the party, no one mentioned Scott at all. Before she left to go back to the city, Miranda cornered Avery. “Seriously,” she asked. “Where is Scott? Why is everyone being so strange?”
    Avery put a manicured finger up in front of her lips. “Quiet. Don’t let Bunny hear you.”
    “Why not? What is going on?”
    “They say he quit everything and flew out to Oregon. But don’t ask. They refuse to speak about it. Linden even talked to your father about redoing his will.”
    “But why? Why would Scott quit everything?”
    “Some trouble with a girl. Drugs.”
    “A girl? Drugs?”
    “It happens,” Avery said. “I never expected it from him, but well, sometimes you never know what’s going through a person’s mind. Please just don’t mention it. Let’s just hope it blows over.”
    But it didn’t blow over. Or hadn’t for the last six years. Until that email from Avery announced his return.
    She tried to conjure up some righteous indignation at the email. A few times, “how dare he” escaped from her lips with barely a whisper as she paced around her apartment the night before. But she wasn’t mad at him. Mad, the burning feeling mixed with embarrassment and shame, was an emotion she reserved for herself. What if she was the reason he left and never spoke to them again? What if some girl meant her? With her needy groping of a childhood crush? What if he spared them both further embarrassment with his disappearance? Once again coming to her rescue by being a gentleman. She longed to get on a plane and run far, far away.
    She pushed these thoughts from her mind as her students filed into the room. She expected a smaller batch because of the holiday, but this was ridiculous. Out of the eighteen assigned to her section only six sat around the table.
    “Hello,” she said. “Let’s just give everyone a few minutes to arrive.”
    Clementine, a girl who favored brown sweaters and overly sensible Earth shoes, sat at one end of the table. The red-headed Ronan took up occupancy two seats over from her. The stoner hippie kid who went by Tad sat two seats over from Ronan and so on. No one talked. They pulled out their phones and