Strung Out (Needles and Pins #1) Read Online Free

and book you into a hotel.” He made the offer, and again, I was touched. “And if you want, I can have someone meet you at my house tomorrow and let you in. How long are you staying?”
    “A week. Two at most. Gage is expecting me. We talked last week, and I may have misunderstood the plans for when I arrived.” I tacked on the fib at the end because Gage’s father had always been hard on him. “Thanks though.” I really did want to stay at Gage’s house. Memories of watching movies and playing video games with him as a preteen and teen were some of the best I’d stored away over the years.
    I glared again at the caller ID flashing my mother’s name and once again thumbed ‘ignore.’ He recited Gage’s address and said he’d follow up by texting it and the codes to his son’s house since “Gage isn’t reliable about receiving guests.”
    Thanking him again and ending the call, I related the location to the cab driver. As the vehicle pulled away from the curb where we’d been idling, I finally accepted my mother’s umpteenth call.
    I was sorry I answered when my mother began to rant. “Why didn’t you pay the rent before you left?”
    “I paid half, Mom. I already told you that you would have to pay half of the rent this month. I can’t cover it every time.”
    My mother’s raging tantrums were only the barest tip of her childlike behavior. She was inept at supporting herself or taking any type of responsibility.
    “I talked to the landlord. He said it was okay to be a little late.”
    “What did you tell him?” I clenched the phone suspiciously.
    “I explained the car was running hot and I needed to put it in the shop.”
    Letting out a relieved breath, I relaxed in my seat.
    The car had been running hot. But I knew my mother wasn’t having it repaired. She’d gone on for the last week about how we should buy a new one—“a Porsche’ maybe”—when I turned twenty-two in a few months.
    Feeling queasy just thinking about my birthday, I ended the call without a word and then sent my mother a text saying the call was dropped. Next, I routed my parent’s future calls straight to voicemail.
    The city lights were now below and their glow was viewable every few turns of the road as the taxi wound up a mountainside. The cab slowed at a gate, and the cabbie’s eyes met mine in the rearview as he announced our destination. Not really knowing the protocol, I exited, dragging my luggage behind me. As the car reversed, I turned to the looming shadow of a home against the night sky and the gate guarding the fortress.
    An elaborate dragon adorned the ironwork, his wings spread and open mouth sinister in the dark quietness of the night. I moved closer to the circle of light cast by a lamp on this side of the fence and punched in the code. As the gate rolled open and the cab’s taillights faded, I experienced momentary panic.
What if he isn’t home? Do I let myself inside an empty house? Make myself at home?

Chapter 6

    T he doorbell and the subsequent woofing of his large mutt was an unwelcome intrusion into his comatose state. Another peal rang through the house and five seconds later beeped the app on his phone. The clarity of the bell confused him until he roused enough to remember he was in a downstairs guestroom and not in the muffled sanctity of his bedroom. Never did he hookup upstairs. Swiveling his head, he groaned when he saw he still had company.
    Again with the doorbell and fresh barking.
    He flung aside the sheets and fumbled through the clothing strewn around the room for his phone.
    Jeans on the floor. Not his.
    A bra entangled on his foot and he kicked it aside.
    Another chime. He trailed the sound to the adjoining bathroom floor. Jabbing at the flashing icon, he tilted the screen to a side view of a hot babe, leaning slightly as she peered into the leaded glass sidelight. Stepping back, she punched the doorbell again.
    “You gonna get that?” The disgruntled voice from the bed was