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I didn’t tell her. How could I? She was in a precarious state, and I needed to be careful with her. Giving too much information at once could have a negative impact. Doc said so. Telling her she probably saw something that pissed someone off would create more stress and a sense of urgency to remember.
I told the cops, though. Yeah, yeah, they don’t like Elite, and I question their usefulness, but this was Jess’s safety. I’d do anything for her.
Including lie.
You lying for her or for you?
I pushed away that rude AF thought. I had enough to deal with right now.
“You sure you’re up for this?” I asked, turning toward the girl riding shotgun and making no move to exit the Audi even though it was already parked.
Prism appeared like an intrusive thought, sticking his beanie-covered head between the front seats. “I’m starving.”
“He’s starving,” Jess echoed and smiled. But then her eyes strayed out the windshield toward the pizza joint where Elite was meeting up to celebrate her busting out of the hospital.
It took forever to get out of that place, as much as the staff loved to tell me they couldn’t wait to get me the hell out of there, they sure took their sweet time bringing her discharge papers.
I didn’t complain. Out loud anyway. Inside my head was a whole parade of impatience and insults. I kept it to myself, though. The last thing I wanted to do was make Jess feel like it was some kind of inconvenience to take care of her.
It wasn’t. I was just stir-crazy staring at the same four walls and replaying all the lies I’d told in the past three days. But now I realized my location didn’t matter. I was still filled with guilt, and now it was worse because Jess was going to be out here walking around in an environment I couldn’t control.
And don’t be getting your panties in a wad over that, okay? I didn’t mean I was trying to control her. This girl was now walking around with a blank mind, and the person who did it was out there walking around too. At least when she was in the hospital, it was easier to keep an eye on her and everyone who came around.
Easier to lie to her too.
I really didn’t appreciate the running commentary going off like random fireworks in my head. So if that could shut the hell up, that’d be great.
“I need some pepperoni,” P announced.
“Bros should be seen and not heard,” I told him, pushing his face into the back seat, then reached for Jess.
“Hey,” I called gently, slipping my hand over hers, which was lying in her lap. “If this is too much, we can get it to go and take it back to the dorm.”
Her eyes stayed on the brick building across the street. The windows were lit up, the awning over the door ruffling in the wind. The sky was twilight heading toward dark, and though it was nearing spring, the trees were still bare and the night air was still cold. The second the sun dropped, the temps did too.
“We’ve been here before?” Jess asked, eyes still taking in everything around us.
“Mm,” I hummed in agreement. “This pizza place is a hot spot for the campus and Elite. They have the best pie in town.”
“We eat at Shirley’s a lot too,” Prism piped up from the back, and Jess glanced over her shoulder at him.
“Shirley’s,” she repeated as though she were seeing if it was familiar.
P nodded. “Yeah, it’s the campus diner. Their waffles are bomb.”
“Bomb,” she echoed.
“We eat breakfast there after practice in the mornings. Sometimes we eat there for dinner.”
“We do?”
“Lately, we’ve been hitting up Pizza House a lot more, though, because they’re nut-free.”
Jess’s eyes flew away from P to me, her fingers rotating beneath mine so she could clutch my hand. “Oh, do you have an allergy?”
My stomach dropped. God, the way she got to me. Looking all wide-eyed and innocent over there. Unsure about everything… But then when she voiced her first fear, it was for me.
“You worried I have an allergy?” I asked.
