On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,56
a second, I thought he might kiss her. But reason prevailed and he stalked off, leaving me to face her wrath alone.
“What?” I barked.
“You’re a piece of shit, do you know that?”
“Now hang on—”
“Has it ever occurred to you that Callum had his reasons for not telling you all about her?”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” My fists curled against the soft material of my shorts. I didn’t like the shadow in her eyes, like she was about to deliver a crushing blow of her own.
“Their mom...”
“Fiona, yeah? What about her?”
Josie hesitated, inhaling a harsh breath. “It’s not really my place to say anything, but that girl is currently breaking her heart because your little girlfriend enjoys feeding off of the misery of others.”
“Girlfriend?” I spat the word, my stomach dropping at the insinuation. “She’s my brother’s girl or have you forgotten that?”
“Have you?” Accusation coated her words.
Anger bristled under the surface. I knew what people were saying about me and Victoria. But it wasn’t like that.
Except that one time it almost was.
Fuck.
“Just get to the fucking point, Josie. I don’t have time for this.”
“She died, okay,” she blurted out. “Their mom died, and Callum hasn’t told a soul.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” I jerked back as if she’d slapped me.
Fiona wasn’t dead.
She couldn’t be.
I would have known.
Josie nodded slowly, sadness washing her expression once more. “Cancer. Three months ago. From what I can gather, Calli stayed by her side the entire time. God,” she rubbed her collarbone, “I can’t even imagine.”
“She’s... gone?”
A cyclone of pain and confusion slammed into me. I remembered Fiona. Her kindness and compassion. She was always accepting of me and my fledging relationship with her daughter. Fiona hadn’t turned bitter and angry at her husband for leaving them or even blamed Callum for his less than stellar life choices.
She was a good person.
A good mom.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I choked out, still reeling from the bombshell Josie had just dropped.
“Because she came here, knowing how hard it would be... and she did it for her mom. To honor her promise to a dying woman. That girl is so fucking strong.” She heaved a deep breath.
“Look, I don’t know all that went down between you. That’s your business. But I do know this... Calli already has a brother that abandoned her and a father than sounds like a selfish asshole. She doesn’t need you and Victoria tag teaming her. You don’t want her? Fine. Then leave her be. SU is big enough for the both of you.”
Her words were like a slap to the face.
Fiona was gone.
Dead.
And Calli hadn’t breathed a word about it.
But why would she? I’d been nothing but an asshole to her since she arrived.
“I didn’t know,” I ground out, the words twisting something deep inside me.
Josie’s eyes bored into me and I didn’t like the fact she could see through the stone mask I wore as armor.
And then she said eight little words that rocked my world.
“Would it have changed anything if you had?”
Calli
The walk back to campus was long. But I needed to clear my head.
They knew.
They all knew the truth.
All thanks to Victoria and Zach.
I’d seen the sick satisfaction on his face as he’d outed me in front of Josie and his friends.
And Joel.
Poor sweet, undeserving Joel.
I’d wanted so badly to tell him, but then the Ferris wheel happened, and I was confused. Confused about why my body responded to Zach so viscerally after all this time... after his betrayal.
I’d known the fair was a bad idea. I needed to distance myself from Zach and the team, not place myself in the center of them. But I couldn’t help myself. I liked Josie and I liked Joel, even if he didn’t evoke the same emotions inside me that Zach did.
God, Zach. Why?
Why?
I let out a shuddering breath as I crossed the street to my building. After the long walk and constant stream of tears, I wanted nothing more than to strip out of my clothes, slip under the hot shower jets, and wash away the stain of the night’s event.
They knew.
My heart clenched.
I could still picture the crushed expression on Joel’s face as realization dawned on him. He didn’t deserve to be in the middle of this thing, but my selfishness, my desperate need to surround myself with good, trustworthy people, had outweighed my desire to protect them from the truth.