Laurence’s friends had continued with the bowling, but they were obviously listening in. If Austin was embarrassed at being turned down publicly, it didn’t show. He sat back and shrugged. “Fine. We’ve got all summer.” He turned his face pointedly away from Connor, and Connor gritted his teeth, annoyed that Austin was baiting him and that he was biting.
“All summer?” Connor asked.
“Dad’s renting a place on the coast, so I’ll be in the area.”
“And what about school?”
“I’ve got a private tutor. School was too boring without you,” Austin said.
Connor narrowed his eyes at Austin, trying to read his expression. There was no hint of a lie in that coy smile. And Connor didn’t know what he was playing at. If he was willing to leave school and move here to be closer to Connor, then why did he act the way he did that night? Why had he made plans with Peter and then stayed silent when accusations flew Connor’s way?
“So… Dad, we can take the car?” Laurence asked. He cast the same puzzled look at Austin that Trevor did. Everyone had to find that remark strange. Even Nick took a break from glaring at Connor to send a hard look Austin’s way. Maybe voicing that he liked Connor was enough for Nick to dislike him.
“I’ll think about it,” Trevor said. He looked at Edith, a question in his eyes. He reached across the table and enfolded her smaller hand in his. Connor straightened in surprise, seeing the look of cool disgust she had fixed on Austin. He’d only ever seen that level of hate directed at himself. And despite Austin expressing that he liked Connor, he hadn’t misbehaved in any way. Nothing that would lead to Edith labelling him as a ‘”bad kid.” But then again… maybe the fact that he claimed to be Connor’s friend was enough to earn that classification.
Laurence turned back around and surveyed the burger in Connor’s hand. “Is that… they serve veggie burgers here?” he asked, shocked.
“It’s pretty good, too,” Connor confirmed. Given that the bowling alley served very basic chipper food, he understood Laurence’s surprise.
“I have to try it,” Laurence said. He glanced toward the food counter where there was a long line.
“Here,” Connor offered the burger, reaching for the chips on his tray instead.
Laurence took it, smelling the patty before he took a modest bite from the side. Connor watched his face for his reaction.
“Mhm,” Laurence nodded and took another bite. “It’s beetroot, isn’t it?”
“And chilis.”
“Fuck, that’s super good.”
“Laurence,” Trevor warned.
“Sorry!” Laurence said through a mouthful of food.
The rest of the night was smooth sailing as far as Connor was concerned. He didn’t have to engage with Austin, made sure he didn’t have the chance to make plans with Laurence, and they headed home after Austin’s lift arrived. Connor didn’t see who was driving the black BMW that pulled up; their windows were all tinted dark enough to be illegal, so Connor’s curiosity grew. All he knew about Austin’s dad was that he was filthy rich, a stuck-up snob, and Austin hated him. Hated him enough that he could never hide the sneer that would overtake his features whenever he talked about him.
Connor got into the back of the car; Trevor joined him as Laurence and Nick said goodbye to their friends and Edith used the bathroom.
Trevor turned to Connor.
“You two aren’t friends, are you?” Trevor asked.
Connor thought about Austin showing up at the house while he wasn’t there and being alone in a room with Laurence. There was no way Laurence was equipped to deal with the devil Austin could be. “No,” Connor said. “Next time, just send him away if I’m not there.”
“Nick said you weren’t happy about Austin and Laurence being alone in a room together.”
Connor snorted. That warning didn’t take long to get reported, did it? “No. Like I said to Nick, he looks nice, but he’s not. And Laurence can be very soft.”
Trevor took that in. “That’s more than just not being friends with him.”
Connor didn’t have the chance to get into the part about Austin screwing him over, not that he would have, because Laurence opened the door and hopped into the car, scooting into the middle seat. He looked at Connor.
“You’re not friends with Austin, are you?” Laurence asked.
Connor almost snorted. Trevor did.
“Dad, I’m not saying that to be mean. It’s just—”
