Was I imagining his jaw going tight?
No.
I knew him too well to miss a tell like that.
His jaw absolutely tightened. And his shoulders squared up a bit too.
“Good timing,” Nave said, pulling the towel off his shoulder to wipe his hands. “Dinner is almost ready.”
To that, Valen gave him a nod.
“I’m taking a shower,” he declared before turning and walking out.
“You know, didn’t know him that well back in the day, being older, but was he always a dick?”
“No,” I said, shrugging. “I think he’s just been in a mood for a few days,” I told him. “I’m going to go tell everyone dinner is ready,” I declared.
I did just that, as quickly as I could, before making my way back to our room.
“Just gotta throw my phone on the charger,” I told Voss as he was making his way to the door. “Make sure you save a plate for me,” I added, making my way toward my bed.
As soon as he was gone, I listened to hear the water from Valen’s shower before rushing over toward his bed to look for his phone.
Not finding it there, I made my way into the section of the bathroom between the two separate shower rooms.
There it was.
On the sink vanity.
Just asking to be gone through.
Swiping the screen, I found that Valen wasn’t a fingerprint or pattern type of guy.
Nope.
He had a number passcode.
Sometimes, knowing someone really well had its perks. But when his birthday, his sister’s, and his parents’ didn’t work, I got desperate enough to try it.
Mine.
“No fucking way,” I hissed as the screen unlocked.
It didn’t mean anything, of course. Most people were creatures of habits. If they had been using one password for a long time, they just kept using that one. No matter how many times they changed out their phones.
It made sense that once upon a time, he’d used my birthday as his password, and then just kept doing it because it was easy to remember and familiar, reducing the chances of locking himself out of his phone.
Still, though, my heart did a little extra skip between beats as I clicked his messages.
There were texts from saved addresses.
His parents, Violet, Voss, and even some from some of the other club guys.
But there was one number right there at the top of his messages that he didn’t have saved.
Opening it up, I saw dozens and dozens of incoming messages. Every single one of them, save for one, coming in.
He’d only messaged them back once.