“We’re not engaged, Matt.”
“The ring says otherwise. And don’t you dare take it off. You’re mine.”
I wouldn’t dream of taking it off. “Okay.”
“Okay then.” He adjusted his tie. “Text me if you need anything.” He leaned over and placed a kiss against my lips. “Make yourself at home.”
I smiled as he left the room. Home. I looked around at the dark red walls. I never would have imagined this place feeling like a home. But it was already starting to. I lifted up a piece of bacon and took a bite. Yeah, I could get used to this.
***
It didn’t take long for me to get antsy. If Matt expected me to wear this ring everywhere, there were two people I needed to talk to. Class had already started, so Felix had to wait. But Miller was here somewhere. I had to find him.
I wandered out in the hall, avoiding looking at the chandelier. I was a little surprised that Donnelley wasn’t standing somewhere with a machete and instructions from Isabella to lop my head off. But he was nowhere in sight. My feet echoed on the stairs. The Caldwell mansion was still scary. But I knew one room that wasn’t. I walked into the kitchen and was disappointed that Mrs. Caldwell wasn’t standing at the stove humming like last night.
There was a TV hanging under one of the cabinets, just like Matt had said. But I didn’t really want to watch anything. The TV reminded me of movies which reminded me of Uncle Jim. And I didn’t want to sit in the kitchen and cry. I needed to talk to Miller. What had Mr. Caldwell said about the security last night? That they needed to stay outside?
I turned to the back door and almost screamed when I saw someone there. But it was just…wait, Rob? Rob was standing there, smiling at me through the glass. He lifted his hand and waved.
What was he doing here? He was fighting with Matt. And he should have been in class.
But his smiling face made it seem like he did belong here. Had they all made up and I just didn’t realize it? I walked over and opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Me?” Rob said with a laugh. “What are you doing here?”
“Matt invited me?” I wasn’t sure why it came out as a question.
Rob smiled. “Yeah, I heard a rumor you were camping out here. I thought I’d come over and see for myself. Wanna hang out?”
“Oh. Um.” So they had made up? Or not? It didn’t matter, I didn’t have time to hang out with him. “I was actually just about to…”
“Come on, Sanders. There’s nothing to do in this big house. Besides, there’s so many rumors floating around, I’m dying to know the truth. Did you really sleep with James?”
“What? No.”
“Then you should probably come and fill me in.”
“Come where?”
“To my house. We live just down the street.”
I looked down at my squirrel pajamas and slippers. I wasn’t dressed to go anywhere. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
I didn’t really care how I looked. It wasn’t the slippers or the pajamas. Or even the fact that Matt was fighting with him. Matt only cared if I hung out with James, not Rob. “I can’t walk that far.” My feet still hurt.
He laughed. “Such a diva.” He turned around, leaned over, and patted his back. “Hop on then.”
“Rob…”
“Come on, Sanders. You gotta fill me in on what happened so I can stop all those rumors. We can even plan that Isabella prank I promised you. Plus you get a piggyback ride out of it.”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t want everyone to think I slept with James. If Matt heard that, I could only imagine how mad he would be. And I did really want to pull a prank on Isabella. I wasn’t a monster, so revenge was out of the question. A prank though? She deserved at least that. “Can’t I just fill you in here? And we could just go with that frog idea you had.”
“Nope. I’m not allowed into enemy territory. And you were right…Isabella would probably just kill the frogs.”
So the Caldwells and Hunters were still fighting. I bit the inside of my lip. Maybe this was my chance to fix everything I broke. If I could convince him to see Matt’s side…Matt would be happy. He’d have his best friends back.
“How long are you going to make me present my ass to you?” Rob said, rubbing his backside seductively. “Get on my back, Sanders.”
I laughed. “Okay,” I said and climbed onto his back.
“Diva,” he said again as he held on to my thighs.
I wrapped my arms around him so he wouldn’t drop me. We walked past Matt’s pool. I smiled to myself, remembering how Isabella had gotten the nickname Wizzy. I could just imagine a young, hateful tween Isabella trying to swim away from a purple cloud following her through the pool.
I looked around for Miller, but I didn’t see him anywhere. “Can we stop by security so I can tell them where I’m going?” Also, I had no idea where the Caldwell security was, and I was hoping Rob knew. It would kill two birds with one stone.
“We have our own security,” Rob said.
So much for that.
“So if you didn’t bang my brother, I guess that also rules out the threesome rumors?”
“Threesome rumors?” What the hell?
“With you, him, and Rachel.”
“God no.”
He laughed. “Not a fan of Rachel?”
“I’m not a fan of any of what you just said. But yeah…Rachel doesn’t exactly like me very much.” And I didn’t like her. She’d called me a slut and hadn’t been very nice to James either. He deserved better.
“She probably doesn’t like you because James’ tongue was down your throat at homecoming.”
I rested my chin against Rob’s shoulder. “Yeah. And the fact that she was completely naked when I walked in on her and James.”
Rob laughed. “I thought you were the naked one?”
“I had on underwear. And a map.”
He laughed again and turned his head, putting his lips dangerously close to mine. “You were wearing a map? What does that even mean?”