“He did call you,” Emily snaps, accusation in her voice.
I flip through the clothes faster, taking care not to meet her eyes.
“What did he say to you?”
She gasps.
“Wait, what did you do?”
Why she bothers to ask me questions is anybody’s guess. Emily can read me like an open book.
Thankfully, Ava walks up to us and sets the green dress back on the rack. “Are either of you hungry? I want to get out of here.”
It’s enough to distract Emily and get her off my ass for an answer I don’t want to give.
Gabriel did call me. The night of the party, in fact. It’s been four days since that night, and we’ve been texting back and forth ever since.
The second I tell Emily I agreed to a date with Gabriel this weekend, she’ll ship me off to the nearest mental facility. And maybe it would be what’s best for me.
My history with Gabriel is complicated, to say the least. And Emily has every right to worry. Gabriel’s the reason I was sent off to an all-women’s college. And he’s also the reason my father put me on lockdown with the very real threat to disown me should I embarrass him again.
I’ve been on my best behavior because of that threat. Hopefully, I can stay that way. I have to stay that way, which is why Tanner’s price is impossible.
“Not me,” Emily answers. “I have somewhere I need to be.”
Ava and I glance at each other and laugh.
“Tell Damon and Ezra I said hi,” Ava jokes.
A shadow darkens Emily’s eyes. I don’t like the look of it. “That’s not where I’m going. You two have a good time, though.”
After giving us both hugs, Emily walks off, leaving Ava and me to stare.
“What was that about?”
Unsure, I shake my head. “Maybe she’s mad at me,” I offer. It’s not a convincing excuse, but it’s enough to appease Ava.
Relieved to walk out of the store and escape the pounding beat of music blasting above our heads, I wait for the inevitable question I know will come.
The words hover over us as we make our way through the food court and up an escalator to the second floor. They’re still there, but silent, as I text my driver, Scott, to let him know where to meet us.
Like a ghost lingering in my shadow, the question I know is in her head trails us relentlessly. My muscles lock as I brace for it.
Really, it’s just a question. Nothing to be afraid of in the long run. But the moment it’s asked, I’ll have to answer it, and that’s what scares me the most.
Not that I’m worried about Ava’s reaction. It’s more that I haven’t yet admitted what I’m doing out loud, and I fear hearing my own words will somehow cement the truth inside me that I’m being stupid.
By the time we hit one of the larger department stores, the question slams down like a hammer against an anvil, the words floating over her lips with an innocence that shatters against the ground as heavy as an angel whose wings are shredded.
“Why would she be mad at you?”
I’ve always hated moments of truth. Not because truth is a bad thing. More that it’s a difficult pill to swallow.
“I agreed to go out with Gabriel this weekend.”
I spit the words out like they’re acid burning my tongue. The instant they’re out, I clearly hear how horrible they are. Gabriel almost cost me everything, and now I’m turning to him for help. Just like I turned to Tanner all those years ago.
Neither Emily nor Ava know the truth of what I’ve done. Tanner never told anybody, and I’ve always been surprised by that. If anything, I’d expected the Inferno boys to take out a few billboards to splash my shame across town. Maybe a parade to commemorate the victory, or an effigy they could tie to a stake and set aflame because the witch had been brought to her knees.
But no. There wasn’t a peep. Tanner quietly did what I needed him to do. He fixed my fuck up, and I’ve owed him ever since.
Ten years. It’s a long time to sit on a ticking bomb, waiting for it to explode. Unfortunately, now the countdown has reached those final numbers, and the force of the blast will tear me to shreds.
The response I know is coming from Ava is even heavier than the question she took forever to ask. It sits on my shoulders