And now I’m scared again, but not at the idea that Steve might not like me.
I’m afraid I won’t like him.
14
Ella
Since Val doesn’t have a car, and I don’t have a job anymore, there’s nothing stopping me from driving her home after school on Friday. I was hoping we would catch up during the drive, but she’s surprisingly quiet, so at the next red light I glance over and come right out with it.
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
Her gaze flies to mine. “What? No! Of course not.”
“Are you sure?” I say anxiously. “Because I’ve been a really crappy friend this week. I know I have.”
“No, you’ve been a busy friend.” She smiles sadly. “I totally get it, Ella. I’d be distracted too if my boyfriend was being accused of murder.”
“I really am sorry I haven’t been around. Life…sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
We trade grim smiles.
“What’s going on with you and Wade?” I ask as I drive through the intersection.
“Nothing.” Her tone is vague.
“Nothing? Seriously?” They’ve both been super cranky every day this week, barely even looking at each other at lunch. That’s not nothing.
I turn onto Val’s street and slow down in front of the Carrington mansion. Before she can escape, I click the locks so she can’t open her door.
Val snickers. “You realize this is a convertible, right? I can just climb out.”
“Well, you’re not going to.” I give her a stern look. “Not until you tell me what’s up.”
“Nothing’s up.” She sounds exasperated. “Wade is…Wade. We’re not together.”
“But do you want to be?” I press.
She heaves a huge, exaggerated sigh. “No, I don’t.”
I narrow my eyes. “Really?”
“Yes… No… Maybe. I don’t know, okay?”
I sigh, too. “Are you pissed at him because he hooked up with someone else?”
“Yes!” she bursts out. “Which is so stupid. It’s not like we were even going out in the first place. We just fooled around a couple of times in the bathroom. But…I was having fun again, you know? I wasn’t obsessing over Tam anymore.”
Sympathy tugs at me. Val took her breakup with Tam, her old boyfriend, pretty hard. I was so happy to see her finally getting over it.
“And then Wade asks me to hang out one weekend,” Val goes on, “and I was busy, so he was like, okay, rain check. So I get to school on Monday and find out he made out with Samantha Kent on Sunday at the golf club! That is so not cool.” Her expression clouds over. “It reminded me of Tam screwing around on me and…” She trails off.
I reach out and gently squeeze her arm. “I get it. You got burned and you’re not looking to get burned again. You were too good for Tam. And you’re too good for Wade.” I hesitate. “But for what it’s worth, Wade seems to feel really bad about everything.”
“I don’t care. I told him before we hooked up that I wanted it to be exclusive. If he’s with me—even if it’s just casual—then he’s just with me.” She stubbornly sticks out her chin. “He broke the rules.”
“So I take it you’re not coming to the game tonight?”
“Nope. I’m staying home and waxing my legs.”
I laugh.
“Want to come over?” she asks. “We can make it a spa night.”
“I can’t,” I say glumly. “Unlike you, I don’t have a choice about going to the game. Callum told us last night that the whole family is going—no exceptions. It’s a show of force.”
Val’s lips twitch. “I didn’t realize we were at war.”
“We might as well be.” I shove a strand of hair out of my eyes. “You’ve heard all the whispers at school. People are saying the most terrible stuff about Reed, and apparently some of the Atlantic Aviation board members are giving Callum grief about it, too.”
“Are there reporters camped out in front of the mansion?”
“Shockingly, no. Callum must have thrown his weight around or something, because any other case like this would cause a huge media storm.” I slump down into the seat. “Reed’s lawyer wants us to act like Reed did nothing wrong. We’re supposed to stand together as a family and all that.” Only I’m not supposed to stand too close. Reed didn’t tell me that, but Callum took me aside the other day and suggested that we cool it on any PDA.
She rolls her eyes. “And going to a football game will convince people that Reed is innocent?”
“Who knows.” I shrug. “Plus, Callum thinks it’s a good time for Steve to ‘come out’ to the other families. He’s hoping maybe it will cause enough of a stir and take the heat off Reed.”
Val’s dark eyes probe my face. “How’s that going, anyway? You and Steve.”
A groan slips out. “Not great. He keeps trying to spend time with me.”
She mock gasps. “How dare he!”