Removing my shades, I wiped my tired eyes. “That was good,” I muttered. “All those years of human behavior study makes a person insightful.”
“I should hope so,” she replied, smiling. “Or I’m in the wrong profession.”
“I was planning on blowing today off anyway. What do you have for ex-best friends who both hate and want to marry you? Also, ex-boyfriends who hate you for asking to marry them?”
“Wow.” Leaning back, she crossed one leg over the other. “Good thing we both have nowhere to be.”
MONDAY BROUGHT THE final touches on our event, lady lessons with Mrs. Desai (Delilah was seated on the opposite end of the table from me), and another trip into town. We formed a single-file line marching into the shuttle.
Mrs. Evanston and I had a long talk that carried past lunch. I didn’t tell her my entire history with Mal, but the CliffsNotes were enough to give her the gist. Her advice was much that I had heard before. Methods that we tried and had failed us repeatedly.
I didn’t fault her for that. Mal was a beast restraining orders, cops, security systems, and self-defense training just weren’t equipped to handle.
Our chat about Nathan and Carter ran longer. That was a mess one conversation wasn’t about to sort out. I thought about what I’d say to Nathan all weekend. Sitting on the balcony sensing him inside and hearing the last thing he said to me on repeat. We had to talk.
I walked by Nathan on my way to the back row. Our eyes met, and ping-ponged off each other.
Or maybe we didn’t have to talk.
We had two years of silence and life returned to its standard normal. Since we reentered each other’s orbit, we’ve fought, hooked up, talked, and fought again. Getting sucked into this cycle and believing it would turn out different this time was the definition of insanity. Silence was best for everyone.
I plopped down next to Zion.
“Hey,” he said. “Didn’t see you around much this weekend.”
“I was taking a break. Made a few trips into town to clear my head. You?”
“The same we’ve been doing all week.”
“Are we boring you, Mitchell?” Carter sat down in the seat next to me. “Can’t tap out this soon. You’re in for the whole summer.”
“Go, Carter.”
“Can’t,” he replied. “Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“You’re wearing boring jeans and a whole T-shirt. That’s your something-is-wrong outfit.”
He remembers that?
“Why do you care?” I asked.
“I care about you.”
My jaw clenched. “Get to the punch line, Knight. I care about you as a fiancé. I care about you perking up for the marriage announcement. Which is it?”
“None of the above, Belle. I just care about you.”
“Good morning, everyone.” Mrs. Desai saved me thinking of a response. “Today is a special treat. We’ll be visiting the Citrine Children’s Home and lending a hand. Some of you will make lunch with the kids. Others will complete tasks assigned to us by the home workers. I cleared our entire schedule today to have this time volunteering with the children.”
A guy two rows ahead of me raised his hand. “Why?”
Why? Because you just asked that question.
“Philanthropy and civic responsibility are important values in the community, Mr. Grey. What’s more, penny-pinching, uncharitable apathetic is not a good look on anyone.”
I shared an incredulous look with Zion as Grey mumbled something. I was not expecting that reply. My opinion of Mrs. Desai rose about twelve dozen notches.
No one else had questions for her. The bus rumbled to life, carrying us off the property.
Zion and I fell into conversation as the orange trees whipped by.
“I’d like to be on cooking,” he said. “I learned a few things from my chef. I’m not half bad.”
“If we’re cooking with the kids, it’ll be something simple like pizza. I used to cook with my chef too. She’d let me lick the spoon and snuck me cookies after bedtime. I’ve had like five cavities.”
Zion laughed.
“Your teeth are perfect now.” Carter grinned, showing off teeth that truly were perfect. “Beautiful.”
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what,” I snapped. “You can’t even begin to comprehend how not in the mood I am for your games.”
He cocked a brow. “One second you’re saying you want to be friends again, and then you’re snapping at me for being nice.”
“Damn right.”
Laughing, Carter put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. My lips are sealed. No more mentioning your gorgeous smile. Or that you look amazing even out of your regular clothes. And I won’t say I missed seeing