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Then she yanked open the door and climbed in, her face pale and hands trembling.
What happened since we hung up?I didn’t care, but I needed her to think I did, so I played the part. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just… uh, I don’t know. I think someone’s following me.”
“Why do you think that?” I turned in my seat, not bothering to put the SUV in park. It would come across better if I gave her my undivided attention.
She blew out a breath and looked back at her building. “I-I don’t really want to talk about it. Just a feeling I had.” She turned back to me and forced a bright smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
I made myself take her hand and held her gaze. “If someone’s a problem for you, let me know. I can help.”
Her lower lip trembled before she got control of herself. “Thanks. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“If you’re sure.” I waited for her to nod before I pulled away from the curb and pointed us toward the ice cream shop.
I drove for the next few minutes with classic rock playing on the radio and filling the silence until I found a parking spot on the street not far from Scoops, the favored ice cream shop by Thane’s students. We went inside the well-lit interior and placed our orders for single-serving cups, rather than cones. With a scoop each of ice cream, turtle for me and mocha almond fudge for her, we found a small table near the back.
The hum of conversation swirled around us as we took a few bites. Some color had returned to her face, and her shoulders didn’t look as tight.
“You mentioned you went to another school for a semester before transferring. Was that because of family?”
Spoon halfway to her mouth, she paused. “In part. I liked living at home and wasn’t looking to go away to school.”
Unusual. Everyone I knew couldn’t wait to get away, myself included. “But you changed your mind.”
“Mm-hmm.” Her eyes flicked to the left before returning to me. “What about you? Did you always want to go to Thane?”
“Yes.” I didn’t elaborate. Talking about myself was not the goal, and it was risky. “What was so great about hanging at home?”
A genuine smile curved her full lips. “Brooke liked to go for walks, and she would always drag me and Jax along or whoever was home.”
“Brooke?”
“Brooke and James are my foster parents. Jax is their son.”
Foster parents? What the hell did I miss?“Wait. Aren’t you eighteen or nineteen?”
“Nineteen, and I did age out of the system. It never mattered to my foster family. If they could have, they would have adopted me. Brooke has always said I’m their daughter, and having a piece of paper say so doesn’t mean anything to them. They treat me like one of their own, and I appreciate them so much for it.”
I nodded. That was new information.Or did I know that about her?I didn’t think so. “So, the walks and just being with them then?” I sort of got that. My mom was amazing, but Cole and Damon used to have issues with their parents.
“We did a lot together. Going to the beach. Brooke loves to cook, and she would rope Jax and me into helping her in the kitchen.” She shrugged, pink staining her cheeks. “It was fun and nothing I’d experienced before. I didn’t have a reason to want to leave.”
“Then why did you?” I scooped the last of my ice cream onto the spoon and ate it.
She pushed out a breath, her eyes sliding away for a second. “It was something I needed to do.”
“Why weren’t they able to adopt you?”
Her smile was tight. “What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Huh, I’d hit on a touchy subject. Interesting. Rather than push, I went with the subject change. “I have an older brother.”By two minutes, but she doesn’t need to know that.
“Does he go here, too, or a different college?”
“For now, he’s here. How’s it going living with Piper?”
Her gaze sharpened when I changed the subject. I knew she wouldn’t push it because she’d done the same.
