Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,58
alone in here. You can come in.”
Wyatt pushed the door the rest of the way open and rolled up next to her. “You hate this idea, don’t you?”
“I’m not condoning her friend’s behavior. At all. But… I get it. It’s confusing. It’s scary. And she’s only eleven. How can she be expected to deal with this at eleven? I’m seventeen and I can barely deal with it.” CJ felt the tears and tried to push them back. “Part of me wants to kill that kid. But part of me feels like I would have been that kid.” The tears crept out. “I don’t know if I would have handled it any better. I’m every bit as awful. You should throw the water balloons at me.” CJ could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks. She was mortified. “I don’t know why I’m crying. That’s not fair either. She’s the one in the wheelchair and I’m the one crying.”
“Bend,” Wyatt said.
“Huh?”
“You’re too tall. I need you to bend.”
CJ crouched until she was at his eye level. He took a bit of paper towel and used it to dry her tears.
“You’re not awful, Clarke. You never would have laughed.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
They looked at each other for a long moment. His hand was still on her face. She was wondering what it would be like to kiss him. She was almost certain he was wondering the same thing. If she leaned forward, she could find out. But she didn’t. She pulled away.
“Well,” she said, standing up and shaking off the moment, “I guess we should probably get on with this.”
Wyatt was staring at her, but CJ wouldn’t meet his eye. She put all the water balloons in a bag.
“Don’t worry, Clarke. We’re not really going to throw water balloons at a kid. I thought we could just hurl them at trees or something. You on board with that?”
She nodded. Then she held the door for him and followed him out.
Jordan was driving Martha home when she got the text. Since her parents had made her sign an actual legal document swearing that she wouldn’t text and drive, she asked Martha to check the message for her. She regretted it the second that Martha told her who it was from.
“It’s from that political guy, Scott Mercer.” Martha’s voice was filled with surprise. “Why is he texting you?”
“I don’t know. Weird.” Jordan quickly reached for her phone.
They’d been texting a lot. Some of it was professional, but some of it was not. They texted back and forth about what TV shows they were watching. And their hopes and dreams. Casual things like that.
Martha held the phone out of reach. “Don’t you want me to read it?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing important. Don’t worry about it.” She made another grab for the phone and the car swerved as she jerked the steering wheel.
Martha eyed her. “Jordan. What the hell?”
“Nothing,” Jordan said. “I don’t know what he wants.”
“Well, let’s find out.” Martha crammed herself against the window so Jordan couldn’t grab for her phone. As Martha opened the message, Jordan felt an edge of worry. She honestly didn’t know why Scott was texting.
“He says”—Jordan braced herself—“‘Can you be at City Hall tonight? Can’t tell you why over text, but you’ll want to be here for your article.’”
“Oh,” Jordan said. The text was professional. Thank god. “Interesting. Guess I should check that out.”
“Guess so,” Martha said. There was an air of suspicion in her voice. “So I guess we’re not hanging out tonight?”
They were on their way to Martha’s apartment to work on their history project together. “I think I should probably follow this City Hall lead,” Jordan said. “It sounds important. Don’t you think?”
Martha turned and stared at her, deadpan. Jordan was pretty sure she was about to ask her what the hell was going on. But she shrugged instead. “Whatever. Can you drop me at the theater, then?”
“I thought you weren’t working tonight.”
Martha shrugged. “I’m not.” She didn’t elaborate, and Jordan was almost positive that Martha was doing it on purpose. If Jordan was going to have secrets, then so was Martha.
After she dropped Martha off, Jordan rushed home and changed clothes quickly. She grabbed her car keys, then thought better of it. Parking downtown would cost a fortune. She’d have to take the bus.
The bus took forever, and by the time it dropped her off, she was in a rush. Still, she took a moment to pause in front of City Hall and take