Never His Girl (Kings of Cypress Prep #2) - Rachel Jonas Page 0,96

Valley.”

“Cool. Still super close,” she concludes, which I don’t disagree with. Having Southside at a school within ten miles is the next best thing to having her right on campus.

We enter a stretch of silence that’s not so much awkward, but it’s enough that the reality of how Casey and I are connected creeps back into this space. Sitting before me now, she’s notably less carefree than I remember, sort of withdrawn. I’m wondering if she ever really bounced back. There were some dark days to face after the decision she made, and she chose to face them alone.

That phone call from her is one I’ll never forget, hearing her cry uncontrollably into the receiver, questioning her worth, her sanity. She vented to me about things I don’t even think she meant to share. Because, despite our circumstances, we weren’t close. At the time, we hadn’t known one another long enough for that. I was just the guy she’d been careless with, and the result tied us to one another in unexpected ways.

“You’re really okay?” I ask when I feel like I have to.

She focuses after snapping out of a daydream, putting on a weak smile I’m starting to think is just a mask.

“I am,” she insists.

“Being honest, I’m not always,” I admit, feeling no shame in saying it.

Her gaze lowers then, as she spins her mug aimlessly on the surface of the table.

“I’ve made peace with things. Mostly, because I understand there wasn’t any other way. I did what was best for both of us,” she concludes, finally meeting my gaze again.

Things go quiet between us, like they were a moment ago, and there’s no sense in beating around the bush at this point.

“I’m sure you know I didn’t come here just to catch up.”

She nods and her gaze shifts toward the frosted window again. “Kind of figured that.”

Being up front about shit is still new to me, so I have yet to master the art of finessing my way into a conversation. So, until I get that right, I just kind of blurt things out as they come to me.

“The night of your nineteenth birthday party, do you remember talking to Parker? Telling her what happened between us?”

Casey’s dark eyes flash toward me and she nods. That’s when I see the guilt in them.

“I fucked up,” she admits. “I should’ve called and given you a heads up, but I just—”

“I’m not angry,” I cut in.

“I was drinking and I was having a moment and… I just kind of spilled my guts.”

She sounds ashamed, but she shouldn’t be. We’ve all fucked up before, so I don’t hold this against her.

“You don’t have to explain,” I say, holding her gaze until I’m positive she knows I mean that.

Having gotten the message, she eventually nods.

“Only reason I even brought it up is so you understand what I’m about to tell you,” I explain. “Parker’s using that info as leverage, using it to keep me quiet about the shit she pulled with the video.”

“That was her?”

I nod once. “It was, and she said that if I snitch on her, she’ll expose what happened between me and you.”

“Of course she did.” Casey leans back in her seat to think.

She and Parker have been acquaintances for years because of dance, but never quite friendly. Actually, I don’t know that anyone would classify Parker as good friend material.

“All of this kind of brings me to why I’m here today,” I share. “I thought I’d be able to find a way around it, but the only way to shut Parker down is to steal her leverage. And the only way to do that is to own my shit, come clean about the past to your father. Then, there’s nothing else that bitch can hold over my head. Once that’s behind me, I can let Harrison know that Parker was the one who—”

“West, you can’t do that,” Casey cuts in. “You can do whatever you need to as far as Parker and the video, but the part about us? That can’t get out.”

My brow quirks with the explanation, but there’s an intense look of concern on her face that I don’t immediately know how to read. I mean, I expected a bit of pushback, considering that what I’ve just proposed will affect her, too, but during the hours long drive up here tonight, I worked out how I’d handle it.

“Casey, I get that you want to keep this from your dad, and trust me, I kind of