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She repeats the words, with pretty good pronunciation, then asks, “What does that mean?”
“It means… I’m so glad I met you.”
Her cheeks turn an instant pink, but she looks me in the eye when she nods and whispers, “I’m glad I met you too. Thanks for being there for me last night. And this morning.” She brushes the bangs out of her eyes. “And thank you for keeping my secret.”
Her gaze dips to the table, and I reach forward and tip her chin up to look at me. “You can trust me. I won’t say anything… although I do think you should tell Mick.”
She lifts her chin away from my touch and gives me a smile that can only be described as stubborn. You know, a polite way of telling me that she’s never gonna take my advice in a million years.
I concede with a soft sigh and follow her out of the booth. She insists on paying, since I apparently did her a favor by getting her out of the house this morning.
“And for not saying anything,” she whispers before digging some cash out of her wallet. Her fingers are trembling as she holds out the money. “Keep the change.” She smiles at the waitress who served us, then dips her chin and walks out the door.
I wave goodbye to the waitress, thanking her again for the great service, before walking out into a light sprinkling of snow. I grin up at the sky, sticking out my tongue and catching a few flakes before noticing Rachel standing next to the truck and looking like she’s about to turn into a popsicle.
Rushing over to open her door, I’m about to cinch her waist and hoist her into the truck when I remember what’s hiding under her layers of clothing. I stop myself just in time, relief pulsing through me. The last thing I want to do is cause her more pain.
Images of Theo’s fuckwit of a friend punching her in the stomach, then pounding her as she lay on the ground make my insides vibrate with rage, but I manage to hide it by the time I’ve slipped behind the wheel.
At least I think I do.
The drive back to the house is kind of quiet because I’m stewing, and she obviously can’t think of anything to say.
When we get back to the house, she gives me a small smile and whispers, “Gracias,” before disappearing up to my room.
I watch her long legs race up the stairs and lean back against the wall, grateful the house seems to be empty. Everyone’s probably left for class already, and I probably should too. Reluctantly gathering my stuff, I check my phone and wince at the string of texts from Ethan.
I don’t mind you taking the truck, dude, but where the fuck are you?
I missed three calls, too wrapped up in listening to Rachel’s story to even notice my phone was vibrating. I always leave it on silent and usually rely on my watch to let me know when I get a notification, but of course I’m not wearing my watch because I forgot to charge it last night, and my charger is up with Rachel.
I get the sense that she needs some space right now, so I type an apology back to Ethan, then run upstairs to call out a goodbye to her before taking off to class.
As soon as I park Ethan’s truck, I head toward the building I know he’s due to come out of.
“Hey, Liam.” A puck bunny whose name I’m struggling to remember waves at me.
I’m pretty sure her tongue spent most of the night in Asher’s mouth last time we threw a party at Hockey House. They probably did it on the couch I slept on last night.
Awesome.
I try to hide my grimace, giving her a polite smile to counter the way her hungry gaze is devouring me.
Picking up my pace, I run down the concrete path and make it just as a swarm of students is exiting the building. Ethan towers above the clump of girls trailing him, but he’s too busy texting to notice.
“Ethan!” I raise my hand to grab his attention.
The second he sees me, he flicks his fingers in the air, and I lob the keys at him.
“I’m really sorry, man. I lost track of time.”
Ethan shoves the keys in his pocket and frowns at me.
“What?”
“Where were you guys?”
“I took Rachel to Taffy’s for breakfast.”
