AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But if I thought I could rattle Grant any more than I already have, I’m wrong. Rather than respond, Grant doesn’t say a word. As we approach the next speed bump, I try again,
“What else did Daddy buy you? The apartment you force me to play at? It must be nice having money just thrown at you. I wonder what that’s like?” We go over the second speed bump and I’m forced to suck in a sharp breath. “How far does Daddy’s money go? Think that he’ll be able to pay off the gossipers when we arrive at the school together?” The third bump comes and then the fourth.
By the time we pull out of my apartment complex, I’m sweating profusely and breathing hard. I’m almost positive Grant is too lost in his own thoughts to notice because he says nothing as we drive down the street. And by drive, I mean flying at outrageous speeds.
“Why do you park your car in the visitor center? You did it at my place too,” he asks me after a few minutes of silence.
I’m about to ask how he knows that, but then I remember that Trip and Jason are practically his lackeys.
“The suspension is shot.” Boy am I good at this lying thing. I make a mental note to pat myself on the back later.
There’s a short pause and I think that’s where the conversation will end. I’m wrong of course. Grant, it seems, has decided to become the next Sherlock Holmes.
“Were you worried aboutmysuspension just now?” Grant’s question throws me for a loop.
“What?”
“The death grip in which you were holding onto your seat indicates you were frightened. I’m assuming it has something to do with my suspension?”
I glare at him. “Why are you watching me and not the road?”
Grant looks over at me and frowns, “Why are you dodging the question?”
“You dodged all of mine.” I cross my arms over my chest and look out my window, away from his probing gaze.
Neither of us say anything for the majority of the ride to school. As we draw closer, my anxiety starts to rise. Am I really just going to step out of this big truck where everyone can see? My heart beats fast. If any of the faculty sees me there are going to be rumors. What if Ms. Barbara finds out? Will there be a meeting? A hearing with the other uppers? They wouldn’t immediately suspend me or start an investigation, right? The blood drains from my face. This is going to be so bad. I should have just made a run for my car and hoped that chasing after me would have been beneath Grant.
Then again, heisa running back.
“My father didn’t buy my apartment off campus. In fact, he doesn’t even know about it. He thinks I hang out in the school’s dorms, roughing it like every other football player on the team. I plan for it to stay that way.”
This information surprises me. I look over to find Grant watching the road, jaw clenching hard. His knuckles are tight around the steering wheel and his shoulders are rigid.
“He didn’t buy me the truck either. My uncle did before he died.” He glances over at me. “I may have grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth, but it comes with strings, dollface. Don’t mistake me for some asshole who doesn’t believe in hard work.”
Strings? What type of strings is he talking about? I open my mouth to ask but another, more pressing, question pops up and takes precedent.
“Why are you sharing this with me?”
Grant shoots me a dark look. “Because, dollface, things have changed.”
Changed? Changed how? And why? While it’s not like he’s just shared that he does insider trading, or that he beats old people for shits and giggles, Grant opened up to let me see just a little bit inside of him and that’s big. I can feel it in my bones.
And I don’t know how to feel about that.
Because, at the end of the day, this isn’t a real conversation between two people getting to know one another. It’s a conversation between a blackmailer and a victim, a small truce in a tight space, where we can share just a small insight about one another without any detrimental consequences.
Even if I wanted to ask him more questions, I don’t have the chance. He pulls up to a remote bus stop on Groveton’s campus and stops.
“Know where you are?” he asks, giving me a pointed look.
Of course I know where I am. The library is just through those two buildings straight ahead.
Shooting Grant a dark look, I make sure my purse is secure on my shoulder and my cardigan is in my arms before I open the door and jump out. The fall to the ground is ridiculous, and I yelp in terror before my feet hit the ground. Behind me, Grant laughs. Without looking, I flip him the bird and slam the truck door shut.
He honks, causing me to jump in surprise, before he pulls away, leaving me to walk the rest of the distance to work.
* * *
