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My knee-jerk reaction is to tell him to mind his business, but I hesitate. Hadn’t my punishment this morning been because I didn’t open up to them? These guys claim theywantto know everything. So, is this a test? My face warms again. This time, it’s from anger. I hate this stupid game.
“It was fine.”
“Tell me about it?” Jason presses, sounding genuinely curious.
I glare over at him. “You first.”
This takes him by surprise. Conflicting emotions flicker across his face as he thinks about my request. An incredulous laugh slips out before I can stop it. I bite my bottom lip to quell it, but it’s no use. Turning my head, I look out the window and let it out.
“What’s so funny?”
“You are.”
“Why?” Jason demands.
I look over to find him smiling. Mentally, I sigh at the beauty of it before answering,
“Because you guys want so much from me and yet—” I throw my hands up, “—it’s like pulling teeth getting anything from you. All I know about you is what I’ve searched online and what you told me in the library that one day. Other than the Trip stuff, it was all super vague.”
Jason smirks. “Trip mentioned that you’ve been stalking us. I just want you to know I find that incredibly hot and not creepy at all.”
“Why do you have to make this weird?”
This time, it’s Jason’s turn to laugh. The sound is without malice or bitterness and it’s fabulous. The grin that stretches across my face is solely from the enjoyment of his amusement. When it dies down, I’m a little disappointed. He looks over at me, and for a second, we share a moment that I’m afraid I might over analyze later. I force myself to look away.
“So, how was your day?” I push.
“It was shit. I got my first essay back, and I got a C.Me. A fucking C?” he huffs. “I’ll be disputing it. Then I heard that my dad got kicked by a horse, so he’ll be out of commission for a few days. His employer is an asshole about his employees taking off so that means my mom will pull more shifts to cover my dad’s, and I’ll have to come out and pitch in even more time than I already have so she’s not overwhelmed taking care of himandthe animals.”
I frown. “Is your dad ok?”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine, but he can’t take a beating like he used to.” Jason sighs as he leans back in his seat. “I can’t wait until they can go back home where they can retire and relax.”
Given our brief conversation in the library a week or so ago, I know how stressed he is about his parents and their work-life balance. Apparently, nothing has changed since we last talked.
“How old are they? Is that in the near future?” I try to pull up images of his parents from memory.
“No. As of right now, they’re locked in for life.”
The shift in his tone, turning from wistful to downright venomous, causes the hair on my neck to rise. Shadows that I’ve never seen before cloud his face.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because Garry Gipson is an asshole who will abuse his power and wealth while destroying the lives of everyone around him.”
Woah. I blink in surprise. “Garry Gipson? As in—”
“Grant’s dad,” he confirms with a nod. “He’s literally Satan.”
I’m not sure what to say to that. There’s nothing online that even hints at any dark side of Garry Gipson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the rich old man in town has some nefarious secrets and can be an ass behind closed doors.
“Why do you say that?”
Jason scowls. “Grant will kill me if I tell you anything more.”
“He doesn’t like you talking ill of his dad?”
Jason snorts in derision. “No, Grant hates him more than any of us. But we grew up together, and the things we know about Garry aren’t public knowledge. Garry Gipson is meticulous about keeping his image squeaky clean, so no one knows what a true bastard he is. If he finds out that we’ve been bad mouthing him to anyone, we could be in some serious shit. He quietly owns half of Texas, so trying to hide anything from him, even our resentment, is a huge undertaking.”
