After running away, I assumed I’d never see him again. Yet here we are. Of all the schools, he had to be in mine.
Out of nowhere, emptiness churns inside my gut as hot tears slide down my cheeks. Sniffing, I sit up and wipe my face. I need to talk to someone. Anyone.
I reach for my phone and check my messages.
There’s one from Blake and, as usual, one from my mother.
I dial Blake first.
“Finally, she returns my call,” says a sexy, feminine voice with the right amount of gravel.
“Fuck off,” I say playfully. “There was never a good time. You know what it’s like for me at home.”
“I know. Hence all my calls. I was worried you’d turn Sloane on me if I didn’t keep reminding you of where you came from.”
“That wouldn’t happen.” I snort at her words.
“It had better not. So, tell me, how is Rich Prick Boarding School, and are there any fuckable sports teachers?”
“Blake,” I chide. “I didn’t come home for that.” I chew at my lower lip as soon as the words come out of my mouth. I am here for that. It’s the only reason my stepfather allowed me to have this job. As long as I find a suitable husband who would want me before I’m thirty, one from a respectable family with the right amount of clout and wealth to support his election campaign, then Darren won’t arrange one for me. Fooling around won’t do me any favors. Small town news travels fast.
“How boring,” Blake intones. “Do you need me to come down there and remind you how to have a good time?”
“I’m fine,” I say to my best friend. Even though I’m not.
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
She sighs. “Fine. But don’t forget, there was a reason you left, Bella. You of all people should know what control he has over you.”
“I’m not living with him anymore. The school—they gave me my own apartment.”
“So, if I was to come over there, I’d have my own room?”
I look around the one bed, one living room slash kitchen maisonette and laugh. “You can have the sofa. I’ll even stitch a pillow with your name on it.”
“I can’t believe you still do that.”
“My mother makes me cross-stitch and crochet with her every holiday,” I remind her with a sigh. “She thinks it makes us look posh so she can fit in with Darren’s swinger friends at his golf club.”
“Gross. Your family is weird.”
I roll my eyes. “Tell me about it.”
“Hang on…Shit!” There’s a crash and a pause while I listen to Blake yelling at someone and then banging around. I glance at my watch. It’s morning in LA. She’s probably making Jake breakfast. “Sorry, Jake’s yelling at me to make him coffee, and I just dropped a frying pan. He’s a moody fucker in the mornings. Okay, I’m back with you. What did you want to talk about?”
“Do I have to have a reason?”
“You have no money, and this call is international. You wouldn’t ring me if there wasn’t. Is Darren being a tight git, again?”
“Darren is fine.” I shake my head, unsure how to bring the whole mess up. Finally, I let out a breath. “Look, do you remember that guy I met the night of my twenty-fifth?”
“Hmmm, Romeo or Ronan or something. Totally hot. Blew your mind. Yeah, of course, I remember him. He was the whole reason you ran away to LA. You were totally in love with him.”
I recoil at the story I told her. If only that was it. Love, I can deal with. Love is easy compared to what I went through.
“I wasn’t totally in love with him.” Was I?