Better Have Heart (Harrison Campus 2)

“Wow.” He trailed his fingertips against the side of the car. “This is amazing. What is it?”

“A 1964 Austin Healey 3000 MK III.” And his favorite possession. “My grandfather bought it for me at an auction we went to on my eighteenth birthday.”

“Your birthday?” Isaiah’s impressed expression slithered away. “Gotcha.”

“Did you want to drive?” Darren offered in a stupid, panicked attempt to bring back Isaiah’s grin.

Why had Darren thought showing off a fifty-thousand-dollar birthday gift would land well? Like a lead balloon was more like it.

“Better not. Can’t afford a single scratch on this thing.”

Darren grabbed the keys from the holder. “I’d never make you pay for . . . Come on, can we go for a drive?”

Isaiah frowned at him.

“Please come with me?”

Isaiah looked away, but opened the door. Darren slid behind the wheel and, once they were belted in, put the car in gear and slowly nudged them out of the shed. Had it been a bit warmer, he’d have suggesting removing the top, but the weather and Isaiah’s suddenly frosty demeanor made it best to leave it up.

He drove along roads that he’d known his whole childhood. Nothing had really changed—a new sign here, a different mailbox there—but it felt alien.

Isaiah stared out his window, and Darren left him alone.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at their destination.

“Valley Forge?” Isaiah glanced at him after they passed the welcome sign.

Darren nodded, but didn’t trust himself to speak just yet. He wanted to park first.

Isaiah sighed. “What’s the purpose of this drive?”

“Can it wait until we get where we’re going?”

“I just want to know what we’re doing.”

Darren angled toward the side of the road.

“What are you doing?”

Darren pulled over and slowed to a halt. “I don’t want to drive if we’re going to argue.”

“Who said we’re arguing?”

Darren delivered Isaiah a look, and at least Isaiah had the grace to wince at his lie.

What to say?

How to say it?

Darren rubbed his thumbs over the steering wheel. “I’m sorry for being a tool. This car is my favorite thing I own and I wanted to show you. Stupid oaf that I am, I didn’t think how it might come across. When I realized what a dick move it was I didn’t know what to do, so I asked if you wanted to drive. It wasn’t meant to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Darren searched Isaiah’s face. His cheeks were gently flushed, and he struggled to maintain eye contact.

“I don’t want to tiptoe around, though. I’m not ashamed of my parents or my family, and I’m not going to apologize for being rich. I’m also not trying to rub your nose in it. If it seems I’m flaunting something, I’m sorry. I’m really not trying to do that. I’m just . . . I guess I’m not doing anything except being who I am. I’m seeing I’m not the most sensitive person, and I’m sorry.”

There it was. It either fixed things, or ruined them beyond repair. Whichever, at least he’d addressed it. Hopefully Isaiah accepted it, but he didn’t count on it. Maybe some divides were too wide.

Isaiah

What did he say to that?

Darren hadn’t been a tool. Not in the slightest. If he were honest, Isaiah had tried to be offended, hoping it would turn him off Darren. Instead the guy did the decent thing and apologized for something he needn’t.

Worse, Darren had shared something special and Isaiah had tossed it back at him like a grenade. He hadn’t wanted to, but given he didn’t fit the requirements Darren’s mother set out, it seemed a mistake to get too close.

But this sucked. Darren had shared things with Isaiah he probably hadn’t with anyone else. Who else had been to his home to see the practice room, his music choices, his car? From what he’d said, no one. And the one person he took a chance on kicked him with both feet for no real reason.

Isaiah swallowed, unable to stand how sad Darren looked. “I’m sorry. I . . . you didn’t do anything wrong, Darren. This was all me.”

“No, I could have . . . should have been more sensitive to—”

“Nope.” His gaze locked with Darren’s. “Let me own this one, okay? I’ve got this fight or flight mentality where rich kids are concerned. I overreacted. You shouldn’t apologize for your family, just as I won’t for mine. I guess it’s a bit of a double standard. I want you to respect my situation, but you need to hide yours. That’s not right.”

Darren looked whipsawed. “I, um . . . don’t know what to say, other than I appreciate that.”

Caught in the moment, Isaiah almost blurted out how sorry he was for forcing Darren to compete for this scholarship. But he wasn’t sorry. His only regret was Darren got hurt by the complaint.

“I shouldn’t treat you like the rest of the campus tools. You know, like the one who harassed the shit outta Jack.”