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I huffed out a laugh. They’d be closer to the truth than they’d realize, only to be confirmed if we came out and made an announcement.
“What’s funny?” Astrid asked.
I stepped closer, bringing the three of us into an intimate circle.
Maybe Marianne wasn’t so far off. At the beginning of the school year, I had been all about impressing the wrong people and keeping up appearances. But now, especially after I’d stopped trying to be anyone other than myself, I got a small thrill from feeding into the rumors.
Rhys ducked his head to hear what I had to say, probably assuming I’d whisper. Astrid pushed up to her toes.
“People saw how Astrid touched my hand. Speculations are running wild right now.” I almost grinned, but their own reactions stopped me. Rhys gritted his teeth, glaring at anyone who was still watching us. Astrid turned that beautiful beet red when she was embarrassed and found the floor incredibly interesting.
Well, damn. That took my enjoyment right out of it.
“Let’s go ahead and get out of here for lunch. We’ll go to that burger place down the street. The one that’s like a fifty’s diner.” Rhys moved his arm to hook his fingers into Astrid’s belt loop.
I stepped back so they could go first.
Rhys kept his gaze on the doors and never spared a glance for the other students. The guys called out greetings, girls smiled then sneered at Astrid. As far as he was concerned, they didn’t exist.
I guessed it was good to seesomethings didn’t change.
“You driving?” I asked as we cleared the school. Upperclassmen stood around the parking lot, cutting up and horsing around. Out here, no one paid attention to us other than a few of Rhys’ friends calling out.
“Why don’t you drive?” Rhys caught my gaze over his shoulder. “With what happened the other night, I’d rather not be in the Rover if possible.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” We walked over to my beat-up yellow car. It was nothing like Rhys’ ride, but he’d never made me feel beneath him for it. For anything at all. Once we were all inside the car, I turned the radio down from where it was this morning. It was cool outside, but the warm winter sun had heated up the seats for us. “You know, you saved me from a school function this weekend. Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome?” Rhys had given Astrid the front seat but based on the way his knees were cramped to his chest he was probably regretting it.
“What are you skipping out on? Debate team celebration?” Astrid laughed and snagged my hand that was closest to her. I smiled, enjoying the way her delicate fingers threaded through mine. Yes, over the last few weeks we’d made so much progress. I couldn’t have imagined we’d be this comfortable already.
“Nah, that’s in April.” I grinned. “The yearbook committee is having their idea of a rager. There will most likely be cheap wine and wine coolers going around while they sort through pictures and map out the content of the yearbook.”
Rhys snorted. “Damn, that sounds like you’re going to be missing out. All we’re doing is taking a quick flight to Michigan for the weekend. Even checking out the school, I doubt we’d have half the fun as sorting through hundreds of photos about people we don’t care about.”
“Eh,” I said. “I don’t mind it. Deciding what memories are recorded during this milestone in our lives is actually pretty cool. I just didn’t like their attitude about it, and I didn’t want to tie up my weekends. That’s my time with you guys.”
“What is the plan? Weren’t you trying to push it out until you were more confident with your recovery?” Astrid twisted in her seat to look at Rhys.
He groaned and adjusted his legs again. Poor guy. Maybe I’d sit back there on the way back and let him drive.
“We were discussing it, but with my dad’s arrest, I’m afraid if I push it out too far, I’ll lose the chance all together. Coach knows what’s going on and he said to take the trip this weekend. We can send them video footage once I’m back to one hundred percent if they need assurances. Even that’s a stretch. Depending on how big this case blows up, they could pull their interest in me completely.”
“Can they do that?” I frowned. Understandably, they wouldn’t be happy about the press, but to reject him from attending school seemed harsh.
“I don’t know if they can reject me from the school. I’m already accepted, but the hockey scholarship is supposed to cover tuition. I could be a reputational risk during the trial. It will come out on the news that I go there, and they’d probably be fucking angry to be in that kind of light. Wouldn’t you? I can just see it; ‘Rhys Bennett only son of Stan Bennett—President and CEO of Bennett Enterprises, convicted of embezzlement—is attempting to outrun the family crimes by attending the University of Michigan.’ Until he’s no longer the new Enron, they won’t enjoy reporters camping out, waiting for the next juicy story.” He swiped a hand down his face and groaned again.
“They can’t punish you for your father’s bad decisions,” I growled. But as I’d listened to him, I knew he was right. They wouldn’t want that type of publicity. College students did ridiculous stuff all the time, and when reporters were on hand to document their stupidity, they could potentially face trouble. Trouble that wouldn’t be on their door if it wasn’t for Rhys.
Shit.
“It’s not about punishment. It’s about protecting their own hides.”
Astrid’s mouth pulled down in a frown just as I pulled into the diner. “I hate this, Rhys. Reporters would be punishing you with their harassment. It’s not freaking fair.” The anger in her voice caught me off guard. “You despise your dad. I wish you could make a statement that you’re estranged and be done with the whole thing.”
This was one big clusterfuck. How could I forget about everything going on with Rhys after the other night?
Rhys leaned forward and kissed the frown off Astrid’s face. “It wouldn’t matter, baby,” he said softly. “As his only son, they’d still be interested in what I’m doing. If I did make that kind of statement, they’d believe it was a strategy to separate myself and never believe it. I’ve had the same thought a hundred times a day since he was arrested, and I can’t lie to myself anymore. I’m going to have to ride this out until it’s old news.”
