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“Meaning you wouldn’t like horses if you hadn’t grown up here?”
“I don’t know,” I reply honestly.
“Your grandfather doesn’t race them anymore, though.”
I’m surprised he knows that. Based on Caleb’s low level of involvement in his own family’s horses, I wasn’t expecting him to know anything about my family’s. “Uh, yeah. He stopped racing after…” I clear my throat. “He just decided it was time.”
“But he kept all the horses? That’s a lot of work for…well, nothing back.”
I scoff, well aware of exactly how much work it is. “It’s notnothing,” I reply, miffed. “We still breed them. They’ve all got championship bloodlines. And I ride them… sometimes.”
We emerge outside. The night air feels especially chilly after being in the warm barn.
I pull my jacket tighter to keep any wind from sneaking underneath. “Simon gave me some questions. There’s only ten, so it shouldn’t take long to get through them. That should give me enough for the article. Andrew can’t wait to get my draft, especially after your unexpected visit earlier.” I emphasize the last three words. “Thanks for that, by the way. Andrew’s convinced I’ll scare you off and we’ll have to lead with a story on the running track that no one will read.”
There’s a pause before Caleb replies. I play with the zipper on my coat, wondering when I started feeling nervous around him, instead of annoyed. Has this giddiness always been there, hidden beneath irritation? Or is it new?
“You should take that as a compliment,” he finally says. “Not much scares me.”
“You’re sayingIscare you?”
“You pack a hell of a punch, Matthews.”
“What doesthatmean?” I ask. As tempted as I’ve been on multiple occasions, I’ve never actually hit Caleb.
“It means you tell it like it is. Not many people do, or want to have to confront it. Why do you think people act so nervous around you?”
“Because my mother gambled away all our money, made some questionable choices when it came to men, and then dropped dead out of nowhere. Then, my absentee father felt some misguided sense of obligation, so he returned, only to overdose at the racetrack when parenting became too much for him,” I say, summarizing my messy past succinctly.
Caleb lets out a short, surprised laugh, and then quickly glances over at me, like he’s worried his amusement at the expense of my parents’ demons will offend me.
“I, uh, I didn’t know the details,” he says.
He’s lying.
My mother died when I was in sixth grade; my father the summer before I started high school.
It feels like a long time ago—it was a long time ago—but the drama surrounding my parents is far too juicy not to be still gossiped about regularly. I’m certain Caleb has heard far worse about my family than what I just shared with him.
“That’s not why people are intimidated by you, Lennon.”
I shoot him a look of disbelief as we climb the front stairs to his house. “You’re joking, right? That’s all people care about.”
“No, I mean it,” Caleb insists. “I never see you talk to anyone at school besides that new girl…”
“Cassie,” I supply.
“Right, Cassie,” Caleb agrees quickly, probably worried I’m going to lecture him about remembering girls’ names again. “I’m just saying, if you opened up a little… Some people might surprise you.”
It’s remarkably similar to what Cassie said before Marcus’s party, but I’m more willing to believe Caleb on this. Given our history, I don’t think he’ll sugarcoat anything.
“Somepeople might.” I stress the first word, because I’m pretty sure I know who we’re talking about. “But most won’t. You walked into homeroom with me, the first day of freshman year. You saw how they all looked at me. I’m still the same person I was then.”
“Maybe other people aren’t.” Caleb holds open yet another door for me—this time the imposing black one that marks the entrance to the house.
I step inside the front foyer and open my mouth, ready to respond. I close it again when a stunning blonde woman appears in front of us.
“Caleb, where have you been?” she asks, patting the elaborate twist her hair is pulled back in. “I texted you three times. You were supposed to look over the color schemes for your graduation party.”
