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“He might not be as bad as he seemed at first. And the bet, that was partially my doing,” I say as I speed up to pass a car. “Plus, I think he was the one who bought me the new tires.”
Londyn’s jaw basically ninja slaps her lap. “Seriously?”
I nod, shifting gears. “Yeah, I overheard him talking to Alex about it. I guess Alex was the one who slashed my tires and Blaise bought the replacements.” I purposefully don’t mention when I overheard this conversation, hoping to avoid talking about the bag buried in the backyard, since that will only lead to me lying more.
“Then, why did Blaise act like he was the one who slashed them?” she wonders, dropping her soccer ball onto the floor.
“I think because Alex gets into so much trouble,” I tell her. “He’s trying to protect him or something.”
She aims a purposeful glance at my neck where my necklace once was. “That sounds familiar.”
My hand floats to the base of my neck. “I guess so … But anyway …” I lower my hand and change the subject, not wanting to talk about Mom’s necklace. Or for Bailey and Payton to find out that I pawned it. “The tire thing was pretty cool of Blaise. And he didn’t really seem too bad this morning. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he still got under my skin, but he wasn’t as terrible as I thought he was going to be. I’m still trying to figure him out—if he’s really a nice guy and my first impression of him was wrong, or if he’s just putting on an act now. According to Rhyland, Blaise isn’t cocky at all. And he says he doesn’t usually hit on girls or date, so I don’t get why Blaise was trying all thatsweetheart,babyflirty crap the first time we met …” I trail off as I become highly aware they are all staring at me in amusement. “Why are you guys looking at me like that? What’s so damn funny about what I said?”
Londyn slowly shakes her head as she stares off into empty space. “It’s nothing.” She then trades a smile with Bailey and Payton.
“It’s something,” I scoff. “Or else you guys wouldn’t be grinning at each other like a couple of silly Muppet babies.”
Bailey giggles. “We’re Muppet babies.”
I sigh. “Come on; just tell me.”
“It really is nothing.” Londyn pulls out a pack of gum from her bag, pops a piece in her mouth, and then props her feet on the dash as she sits back. “We’ve just never heard you talk about a guy so much. You’re usually so anti-guys.”
“Because guys are trouble.” Irritation burns inside me at her speculation. I’m mostly irritated with myself, because she’s right. “And I’m only talking about Blaise because you guys were asking me questions about him.”
“Okay.” Doubt laces her tone, which only frustrates me more.
“It’s the truth.” I turn into our empty driveway.So, Dad’s not home yet. “You guys brought Blaise up first when you asked me how my morning went with him.”
“True.” Londyn nods in agreement then glances over at the Portersons’ driveway where their SUV and Rhyland’s car is parked.
Rhyland is getting out. He throws us a wave while Jaxon hops out and hurries up to the house without a glance in our direction.
“Jaxon was so offish on the drive to school this morning,” Bailey remarks as she slings her backpack over her shoulder.
“I think he’s just shy,” Payton says.
I slip the keys out of the ignition and open the door. “How did your drive with them go this morning anyway? Londyn said not too bad.”
Bailey stuffs her phone into her pocket. “It was okay.”
“Much better than I thought it was going to be,” Payton agrees as Londyn gets out and flips up the seat to let her out. “When Londyn first accepted Blaise’s offer to ride with them, I nearly shit a brick.”
“Me, too,” Bailey says as I hop out and slide the seat forward. “I’m sure if Alex was with us, things would’ve been awful. It just sucks that you had to spend the morning with him.” She offers me an apologetic look as she ducks out of the car.
“Actually, he was pretty quiet for the most part.” I can feel all their gazes on me as I make my way up the driveway, probably wanting more of an explanation. But I promised Blaise. And while I can be a straight-up liar about a lot of things, I respect—and understand—his need to protect his brother way too much. So, I shrug when I reach the front door and see they still haven’t stopped staring at me. “What? He was.”
The three of them trade yet another glance, and then Londyn’s gaze zeroes in on me. “What’re you not telling us?”
I avoid their gazes as I unlock the door. “I’m not keeping anything from you. Why would you ask that?”
Her gaze is relentless. She knows me too well. “Because I know you, and I can tell you are.”
“I’m really not.” I’m so torn. Torn over telling her the truth and keeping my promise to Blaise. “I don’t know why it seems that way.”
She stares at me for a bit longer before looking away with hurt in her eyes. “All right.” Then she steps inside the house and heads straight up to our bedroom.
Releasing a sigh, I move to chase after her so I can tell her … well, I’m not certain yet, but then our dad pulls into the driveway and my worries transfer elsewhere.
