All Chapters of Fated to My Best Friend and The Alpha: Chapter 21 - Chapter 23

"Screw cooking, I ordered pizza," Mom announces as she walks back into the living room.I jump, startled, my attention still fixed on Drevin's text."Hmm?" I glance up at her, quickly locking my phone and placing it facedown on the coffee table. I try my best not to let her see how much that message has affected me."I said I ordered pizza," she repeats, a little slower and quieter this time."Oh, yeah. That's great. Dad and Callum love pizza.""Yeah, plus we're not done with our girls' day.""We aren't?" I'd assumed that with Dad and Callum coming home soon, our girls' day would be over."No way, favorite daughter!""Only daughter," I remind her, rolling my eyes.She laughs and reaches down to pull a box from the floor.For a moment, I feel a familiar rush of excitement before reminding myself that I'm not five years old anymore.Still, somehow, that box has the same giddy effect on me that it always has.It's nothing special to look at. Just a plain white box, battered and worn from

I don't get a response from Drevin.Not that I'm waiting for one.Okay, maybe I check my phone a couple of times before I finally plug it in to charge. But that's only because he was the one who wanted to talk in the first place. You'd think he'd have his phone nearby.Maybe he's busy, Nyx offers.Then he can be busy.She doesn't answer, but I can practically feel her rolling her eyes.I turn my phone facedown on the nightstand and climb beneath my blankets. For a little while, I stare at the ceiling, listening to the muffled sound of the television downstairs.Part of me wants to pick the phone up again.I don't.Eventually, I roll onto my side and fall asleep.***The next morning, I wake feeling better than I have in days.Not perfect. My legs are still a little sore from my first shift, and there's a dull ache in my shoulders when I stretch, but at least my head doesn't feel like it's stuffed with cotton anymore.I reach for my phone.Nothing.I stare at the empty notifications fo