Chapter 12

Lance

I heard a ringing noise and jumped to find my phone in the dark. Shit! Was it Sammie? She had to be okay. When I saw Lauren's name, I let out a breath of relief. Wait! What the fuck was she calling me at three in the morning for? Yes, I'd saved her ass in my contacts. I knew you were thinking it.

“Hello,” I said, as I put the phone to my ear.

“Lance,” she said, sounding very awake.

I hadn't heard from her in a month. Each time I'd turned my laptop on, I expected to see a message. Sure she said truce, but I didn't believe her. She stayed true to her word. In all honesty, I'd missed it. I was able to work though, so that was a good thing. I'd made a huge breakthrough earlier that week, but I hadn't worked everything out yet.

Hearing her voice instantly took away the irritated and worried feelings I'd had when my phone rang. What the hell was she up so late for, and why was she calling me in the middle of the night?

“Yes,” I said.

“It's me,” she said. “It's Lauren.”

I heard her sniffle and instantly felt my chest tighten.

“Are you okay? Are you crying?”

“I did it,” she said with another sniffle. “I got through.”

Her voice was shaking, and I could hear that she was definitely crying.

“You got through?” I asked, unsure whether or not I wanted to tell her that I had too.

“Yes,” she said. “I can't believe it.”

“Why are you crying?” I asked.

“I don't know,” she said. “I'm so shocked. Were you sleeping?”

I sat on the edge of my bed, in the dark, wondering if she'd lost her mind.

“Yes,” I said. “I was. Your ass woke me up.”

“I'll let you go,” she said. “I had to call you. I'm sorry.”

She had to call me, I thought. What did that mean?

“There was nobody else you wanted to wake up? It's fine,” I said. “I'm awake now.”

I got up, walked to my kitchen, and turned on the coffee maker.

“I never thought it would work,” she said with such an animated tone to her voice. The tears were gone. “I seriously didn't.”

“How?” I asked, totally sure she was going to give me an “I can't tell you” speech, but she didn't.

“Is your computer on?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Pull up the project,” she said.

I grabbed my coffee and headed toward my office. When I sat down and brought up what she'd asked using a fresh copy, she started talking faster than I'd ever heard before. I followed along with everything she was saying, and it worked. I was through. I hadn't said a single word the entire time she explained. Once I was through, I sat back in my chair and thought. She'd just told me exactly how to break into it. What the fuck was she thinking? I was her competition. She'd just given me the answer.

“Lance,” she said. “Are you still there?”

“I'm here,” I said, feeling so damn confused. “What made you call me, Lauren?”

Part of me felt guilty. There she was, telling me everything I needed to know to take the win from her. I hadn't called her when I'd gotten through. I hadn't called anyone. The only person I'd even mentioned it to was my dad, and that was only in passing. I was planning to do more research before I called to tell them what I'd done. Not her. She called me.

“Shit!” she said. “I'm sorry. I know you don't want to talk to me. I was just so excited. The second it happened, I picked up my phone, and you're the one I wanted to call. You were the one I wanted to tell. I know I said I was going to leave you alone. I didn't do it to mess with you. I shouldn't have called.”

“No,” I said. “I'm glad you did.”

It was true, I was glad. Out of all of the people in her life, she'd chosen me to call. It was the first time I'd ever felt special to someone that wasn't related to me. Lauren called me. That meant that she trusted me. If she thought for one second that I'd use the information to win, she wouldn't have given it to me. That said a lot, and I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about it.

“You have to call and tell them what you did,” I said. “They're going to be so happy.”

“Okay,” she said. “Now we just have to figure out how to stop someone from getting through. I'll call you right back.”

Then she was gone. I sat staring at my phone. We, I thought. What did she mean we?