Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,93

retreated into the crew house. As I carried in her suitcase, I said, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

I set down her suitcase and shut the door behind us. "If you didn't think we were staying here, why'd you bring your suitcase to the front door?"

"Oh, that?" She gave a weak laugh. "It was for dramatic effect. You know, to put you in the vacationy mood."

Funny, it actually had, but not because of any hotel or spa plans. It was because I'd been so thrilled to see her.

I was still thrilled. But now I felt slightly ashamed about how she'd gotten here in the first place.

I didn't want to be ungrateful to anyone, not even to Brody.

Did that make me a sap?

Probably.

And yet, if things had been even slightly different, his gesture would've melted my heart.

But not now.

Now, all I felt was despair. And I hated that Cami had been caught up in the middle. I gave her a concerned look. "Are you disappointed?"

She sank down onto the living room sofa. "About what?"

I claimed the sofa's opposite end. "Oh, come on. You know. That we're just staying here."

Together, Cami and I had agreed on this revised plan because neither one of us had felt right about taking something so extravagant from Brody when my relationship with him was decidedly over.

But for Cami's sake, I still felt guilty for the bait-and-switch. I glanced around. "I mean, this is no luxury hotel."

"Forget the hotel," she said. "You were the main attraction."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Because you really do look disappointed."

"Of course I'm disappointed," she said. "But not because of the spa or whatever."

"Oh. Then what is it?"

She sighed. "I'm disappointed because I actually believed him. He sounded so sincere. And I was so happy for you – for both of you, actually."

I knew the feeling. There was a time, and it wasn't too awful long ago, that I'd been happy, too.

With a wistful smile, Cami continued. "It was all so thoughtful. Or at least, I thought it was. And in the car, all the way down here, I kept thinking how lucky you were to find that special someone, you know?"

I did know. Until a couple of days ago, I'd been feeling pretty lucky myself. Whatever Brody and I had, it had seemed so achingly real.

But now I knew better. The whole thing was built on a foundation of lies.

It really was depressing.

On the couch, Cami gave me a hopeful look. "Are you sure you're not over-reacting, at least a little?"

I stiffened. "What?"

"I just mean, I know he bolted without telling you and all, but —"

"That's not it."

She hesitated. "What do you mean?"

The last time I'd talked to Cami, I'd been angry about Brody leaving so suddenly with no warning, and also for avoiding my phone calls after the fact.

But all of this was nothing compared to what I'd learned from my cousin. I'd been planning to call Cami later on tonight to give her the full story. I would've called her even sooner except I'd been too busy crying.

Now, I saw no reason to put it off.

But where to begin? Finally, I settled on, "See, the thing is, Brody's been lying to me all along."

Chapter 53

Arden

When I finished talking, Cami stared in obvious disbelief. "He didn't."

With a bitter laugh, I replied, "Oh, but he did."

In spite of everything I'd been led to believe, Brody had purchased the house under less than honorable circumstances. And, as if that weren't bad enough, he'd known all along about my connection to the place.

He'd known. And he hadn't cared.

Or worse, he'd cared only enough to buy the house out from under me as some sort of twisted revenge for what had happened back in high school.

Either way, he'd been lying to me from the start. And he was still lying to me now.

Cami frowned. "But are you sure?"

"Of course I’m sure."

This should've been obvious. After all, I'd just spent the last hour telling her everything I'd learned from Jason when he'd stopped by just last night.

Turns out, selling the house hadn't been Jason's idea at all. Instead, he'd been forced to sell when a prospective buyer had started making trouble with the city.

On the couch, Cami was saying, "But you can't be totally sure. I mean, Jason has lied to you before, right?"

I knew what she was getting at. "You mean about the repairs? Yeah, I know. But this time it's different."

On the couch, Cami still looked unconvinced. "How so?"

"Because this time, there's