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Her reaction hadn't been close to what I was expecting.
She didn't judge me or blame me for what happened. She didn't say that I was stupid or call me a whore.Instead, she'd put her arms around me and whispered that it wasn't my fault and that she was sorry it happened to me. And when she'd finally let me go, I swear there were tears in her eyes.
It was the first time I'd told someone what happened since my father banished me for what happened six years ago.
Leighton fishes another sugar cube out of the little pot on the table and pops it into her mouth.
I grimace. “Jesus, Leigh, your teeth must be terrible.”
“Nah.” She crushes the sugar between her teeth. “The town's dentist is pretty good. Probably not what you're used to with your fancy-ass veneers and shit, but he gave me a root canal last month that went okay.”
“I don't have veneers,” I say, crossing my arms across my chest and scowling like a child.
She gives me a look that says she doesn't believe me.
“I have composite bonding,” I say, for some reason feeling the need to defend the cosmetic dentistry I've had done. It's vapid and unimportant, I know, but still, I find myself correcting her. “It's totally different.”
“It's all the same to me.” She shrugs. “But it's good to know your teeth aren’t all shaved down to little spikes like a fucking vampire. Did you know that's how they do veneers? I read about it inUs Weekly.”
“Anyway“—I shake my head with a smile—“we talk about me too much. What's going on with you and Crew?”
“Finally, someone's asking the right questions,” Sadie's voice cuts in and I look up to find her standing right beside us. “Room for one more?” She doesn't wait for an answer before slipping into the spare seat at the table.
“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Leighton looks between us, the space between her eyes crinkled into an adorable but petulant frown.
“Oh, please, Leigh.” Sadie scoffs. “You know exactly what we're talking about.”
“No, I really don't,” she lies.
“Yeah, you do, girl.” I laugh. “How many times do we have to tell you that you need to fuck each other out of your systems before you listen to us?”
“Oh, please.” She blows out her cheeks and sulks. “You couldn't be more wrong, and anyway, it doesn't even matter. I think he's seeing someone.”
Sadie and I lean in simultaneously, both of us resting our elbows on the table and holding our faces in our hands.
“Oh my god, who?” Sadie asks.
“I don't even know.” Leigh purses her lips, looking more annoyed than she realizes. One might even think she's jealous. “But Mr. Garrison who works at the gas station, you know him? He came into the shop the other day to get roses for his late-wife's grave. I know, it's so fucking sad. But he said that Stacey Maddison, the kindergarten teacher who lives on Crew's street, saw the same woman leave Crew's house three times in the past two weeks.”
“The same woman?” Sadie gapes because, apparently, Crew sleeping with the same woman more than once is jaw dropping.
“Yep.”
“Jeez, maybe he's finally found a girl who can tame him.”
“Doubt that,” Leighton says derisively. “The man's about as untameable as a great white shark. She'll be out on her ass by this time next week.”
“Sounds like wishful thinking to me,” I tease because her attempts to appear uncaring about Crew's love life aren't fooling anybody. “Maybe he's foundthe one.”
“Give me a fucking break, Thea. Crew wouldn't knowthe oneif she slapped him across the face with a fish.” Her face grows redder as she talks, so lost in her tirade of hatred that she doesn't notice that the very same man she's cursing out is standing directly over her shoulder. “No woman in the world would put up with his bullshit. That boy's gonna die alone.”
“Ouch, Little James.” Crew rubs his hand over his heart in mock pain, eyes sparkling with amusement the way they always do when he's around her. “Harsh words.”
Leigh isn't quick enough to mask her shock or the flash of guilt on her face. Crew catches it all, smirking wider.
“Fuck off, dickwad. You know it's true.”
“You're just jealous I've got a girl in my bed who isn't you.”
