All-American Princess - Maggie Dallen Page 0,40
cool confidence I knew well.
Only, these days, it was getting easier and easier to see through the smoke and mirrors.
These days, it was entirely too tempting to fall for the girl underneath.
“What happened with you and Brandon today?” I asked, cutting to the chase.
She looked over at Tess, who was tapping away at a computer at the kitchen table, her hair falling into her face. Lila looked back at me and then gestured for me to follow her into her bedroom.
I hovered in the doorway. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this. I guessed maybe I’d thought there’d be clothes strewn everywhere, maybe makeup and brushes on every surface. But the room was spotless, everything packed away like she was one foot out the door, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
The thought shouldn’t have filled me with regret. I should be happy to see her go. But after weeks of pretending that I didn’t seek out reasons to talk to her every single day, I’d be blatantly lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I liked the girl. A lot. Flaws and all, I was drawn to her. She was complicated, and she was confusing, and more often than not, she drove me crazy, but that didn’t change the fact that I liked her.
Of course, that also didn’t mean I’d sit back and let her hurt my best friend. Crossing my arms over my chest, I fought the urge to touch her. “Are you going to tell me what happened with you and Brandon today?”
One side of her mouth hitched up. “Let me guess. Amber came running to you.”
I didn’t answer, and she rolled her eyes. “Why do you all think Brandon is so helpless?”
“Not helpless,” I said automatically. “Just…”
She arched her brows in challenge.
Ah hell. I wasn’t about to throw my best friend under the bus and tell her that he had something about him that made people want to look out for him. Maybe it was his father’s very public death, or the not-so-secret secret that his mother’s mental health was questionable at best. The guy had been dealt a crap hand in life. I might have lost my mother, but I’d always had a solid home life, thanks to my dad. And I hadn’t had my worst memories splashed across every national tabloid known to man.
Ever since he moved back here for good, we’d all looked out for him. This town always took care of its own, but with Brandon—well, it was like we’d all adopted him after his dad’s death. But there was no explaining that to Lila because that would mean she’d have to understand community and belonging. She’d have to understand Pinedale and what it meant to live in small town, for better or for worse.
When I didn’t finish that sentence, Lila let me off the hook. Maybe she did get it, after all, because her expression softened a bit, and I caught a hint of regret. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
She glanced up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. I stepped closer and saw it in the glow from her bedside lamp. Her eyes were puffy and her nose pink. She looked cute—natural and sweet—but she’d clearly been crying.
She made eye contact once more, and her gaze was startlingly direct. “That’s a lie. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I did what I had to do.”
Her voice was shakier than I’d ever heard, and I shook my head. “What do you mean what you had to do?”
She dropped her gaze, looking down at her hands as she teased the frayed hem of her thin tank top. “I only told him the truth.” She shrugged. “I get why you want to protect him. Brandon is sweet. He’s gentle and innocent and naïve…” She looked back up at me. “He’s sheltered.”
My throat went dry, and I didn’t even know why. It was like she could see straight through me to all the secrets I’d been keeping. To the secret. I pushed that thought to the side. “He’s not that sheltered.”
She nodded. “If you mean because he’s been keeping that ranch running despite his mother’s gambling problem or the way he looks after her—”
“What do you know about his mother?” I interrupted, my voice harsher than I’d intended. My mind was racing to figure out how she knew more about my best friend and his family than I did. Gambling? Was that why money was so