Blitz (Blast Brothers #3) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,109
like I’m joking?"
"I don't know what you look like," I said. "But I'll tell you one thing. You can't claim you never argue when no one ever calls you on your bullshit."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning the first time we met, you were totally rude to me. And here, you don't even think you were arguing because I didn't argue back."
"Hey, you got what you wanted, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I sponsored your festivals, didn't I?"
"Oh come on," I said. "I wanted you to sponsor one festival, but you couldn’t even do it."
"The hell I didn't."
"Okay, fine you did it, but not for the good of the community. No. You did it because you wanted to offset the publicity of that godawful book, which I did read by the way."
"And?"
By now, I felt utterly drained. "I don't know."
"You don't know what?"
"I don’t know anything."
"Got that right," he said. "And we're done talking."
"Great. Because I don't have anything more to say to you, anyway."
"Good. Because you've said enough already." He looked toward his window and said, "Now stop the car. I'm getting out."
Seriously?
I looked around. We were on a long, lonely stretch of road surrounded by farm fields and not much else. But hey, if that's what he wanted.
I slowed the car and pulled off to the shoulder. My car had barely come to a stop when he pushed open the passenger side door. He was out so fast I never had the chance to say goodbye, as if I would anyway.
If Chase were anyone else, I might have worried about him getting home safely. But he had a cell phone, plenty of money, and countless lackeys he could call for help.
And besides, this was his idea, not mine.
After he slammed the passenger side door, I floored it and didn't look back, not even in the rear-view mirror.
And then, I went home to cry.
I knew I couldn’t cry for long, because I still had work to do. But that didn't mean I couldn't take at least some time to wallow in my misery before returning to the festival, where I'd have to put on a happy face no matter what.
And I would, I decided, even if killed me.
Chapter 74
Chase
From the driver's seat of his black pickup, Brody asked, "So, how's it goin'?"
"Shitty," I said. "Thanks for asking."
Brody knew damn well how things were going, because a half-hour ago, I'd called him for a ride.
Since then, I'd spent the last thirty minutes walking along the roadside while Mina's accusations haunted my steps like a crazed hitchhiker.
From the passenger's seat, I said, "Lemme ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"I've apologized, right?"
"For what?"
"I dunno. For whatever."
He shrugged. "Not that I recall."
I frowned. "Yeah, but if I did something wrong, I'd own up to it, right?"
He gave me a long sideways look, but said nothing.
"I would," I insisted.
"Don't tell me," he said. "Tell Mina."
"Tell her what?" I scoffed. "That I'm sorry? Forget it. I already told her that I loved her, and you know what she said?"
"What?"
"Nice try."
Brody was silent for a long moment. "So let me get this straight. You said, 'I love you.' And she said, 'Nice try?'"
"Yeah, except I didn't say it the way you did."
"So how did you say it?"
"I told her friend that Mina was the girl I loved."
"So you told someone else that you loved her?"
"Yeah, but Mina was right there to hear it." I reached up to rub the back of my neck before mumbling, "And actually, the chick's more like her enemy, but you know what I mean."
"So you didn't really say it?"
"Not directly, but Mina got the idea."
Brody gave a low scoff but said nothing.
"What?" I said.
With a slow shake of his head, he asked, "Aren't you supposed to be good with people?"
I knew what he meant. I was the kind of guy who always knew what to say, except not so much these days. "I am good with people," I said. "Just not with Mina, apparently."
"Yeah. And you wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because she sees through your bullshit."
Great. So now he was hassling me, too? I asked, "And how would you know?"
"I'm just calling it as I see it." He gave me another sideways look. "And in case you don't know, confessing your love to a third-party doesn't count."
"Yeah, well, I never did it before, so…" I didn't bother finishing the sentence. But I wasn't exaggerating. As far as confessing my love, it's not like I'd had a lot of experience.
Hell, I'd had zero experience. And apparently, it showed.