“He doesn’t care about me, not really. I think he cares about you and the fact I’m hanging out with you, the mayor’s son.” She folded arms over her fluffy coat. “I haven’t told him about our fake relationship, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d heard something like your mom.”

In this town, I wouldn’t be surprised either. I sighed.

December frowned. “Needless to say, he was pushing me to go out the door tonight. I just wished he’d care about me. Like actually care.”

That last bit I barely heard. She whispered it, and I turned my head on the seat again, just watching her. There was so much trauma between us both, hurt inflicted by both our fathers. I’d learned to deal with mine head on after dear old Dad shipped me away to boarding school. That’s just how things were in my world and this crazy-ass town, but I hated she had to deal with her own shit. Things were so much worse for her. She’d lost her sister, which made me hate what we’d been doing together even more. Every day we continued the ruse of our relationship, it made her relive the hurt of her sister and the reasons behind it. It was one of the biggest regrets I had for even suggesting the whole plan of a fake relationship to her in the first place.

Well, one of a few.

Thinking about some new information I’d received today, I stared at December. I had made a lot of selfish decisions when it came to her. I’d put myself and revenge first, but all that got me was this. A girl and a fake relationship.

My chest caved. “Maybe he does care,” I said, being honest. “You never know until you let him.”

Her dark lashes flashed up, her head shaking. “I don’t have time for it. Time for him.”

And I guess that would be up to her, but I still thought she should try. We didn’t all have fathers that actually cared, ones whose care wasn’t tied to ambition or motive. My dad may have expressed interest in me now, but he never had before. Not until I’d done what he wanted and how. I folded my arms. “I get what you’re saying. And what you choose to do is entirely up to you. When it comes to my dad, I know what I’m getting. I know he’s an elitist snob who only gives a shit if it suits him, so if some reason out of the blue he gave any inclination or even an iota of thought about me that came with zero ties or personal objectives… If he showed he actually cared and gave effort to show that care?” I laughed. “I’d be thanking my lucky stars for a chance to do something with that.”

I let all that slip out, and I knew the moment I captured that dark gaze of hers, her irises so big and bright like the stars above. They were a light in this town that wasn’t deserved, not by anyone. Even me.

The glow of it far too hot, I faced away, tapping my steering wheel.

“I have an idea.” I started up the car, my Mercedes humming. “Strap in. Neither of us want to go home, so let’s do part two of this night.”

“Part two?” she asked, and though she questioned me, she sat up, belting in. “I was barely able to get through part one.”

Something I was about to correct now. The both of us strapped in, I used the rearview camera to back down the driveway. In the street, I placed the car in drive, then pulled away. I promised her a night of no faking.

Especially since this was most likely our last night.

Twenty-Four

December

&nb

sp; Ramses had been way too secretive, but for whatever reason, that made me more excited than scared. It put me at ease in a way it shouldn’t when everything in my life was all over the place. The stuff with his dad seriously hadn’t been that bad. Compared to the other crap I’d been dealing with in my life, it’d been a breath of fresh air and a night gratefully away from my own home and under my dad’s eye. Ramses allowed me to escape tonight, and that continued when we drove out into the boonies. I didn’t really recognize the route or anything else with all the farmland and it being so dark, but when we pulled toward a familiar building in the night, I sat up.

I recognized Maywood Heights Community Recreation Center well. I worked there for all of a minute. It’d been another one of my dad’s heavy-handed maneuvers he made when I first arrived here. He had me so hard under his thumb initially, got me a job I didn’t want to do and under people I didn’t want to be under. LJ had been my manager of all people, worked me to the bone, and for whatever reason, Ramses was pulling us into the parking lot.

The wide lot was basically empty, a far cry from the days I worked there. People were coming in and out of the place like someone cried fire it’d been so busy. Parking right up front, Ramses turned off his car, then got out his cell phone.

“What are we doing?” I asked, this guy being so secretive. He merely grinned before putting away his phone. Going outside, he opened my door for me, and I eyed him.

He rolled his. “Just go with me on this, ’Zona. I promised you a night off from our double life, so will you let me give it?”

Still unsure, I sat there for a moment. I think the only reason I got out in the end was because he was outside with no coat on, still in his sweater and dress pants. He probably thought he was just going to drop me off real quick and then come home. I got out. “Okay. I’m out, so what’s going on? Why are we here?”

He grinned again, closing the door before guiding me to follow him. He pushed hands into his pockets during his strides. “A guy in there owes me one. I’m going to collect, and you are going to reap the spoils of those benefits.”

Ramses was seriously talking like a mob boss right now, but I guess I trusted him. I had to take two steps for every one of his, and when we got to the doors, they were surprisingly unlocked. I assumed the place was closed with the lot so empty, and escaping the chill, I realized they were starting to close down for the night. People in familiar red uniform shirts were sweeping, cleaning up, and passing them, I grabbed Ramses’ arm. “The guy who owes you isn’t LJ, is it?”

Like stated, I’d worked here and worked with him for a time. I highly doubted with how things had gone with Royal he’d want to see me, and shaking his head of rogue curls, Ramses stared down at me.

“No, and come on, ’Zona. You wanna ruin the surprise?” He flashed his big ole eyes at me with a pout, seriously looking like Hershey on her best cutesy days.

Lifting my eyes to the heavens, I let him take me into the crystal palace that was the community rec center. Like all things in this town it was flashy and exuberantly grandiose. It had a couple levels, and though I’d cleaned most of it during my time there, I hadn’t been to where Ramses was taking me. He opened a door, and crisp air made me happy I still wore my coat. His surprise turned out to be the ice-skating rink, and when we went over to the wall, no one was out on the ice. Only a clear, flawless sheet was out there now, ready for the next set of skaters, and I looked at Ramses.

“An ice rink?” I questioned, eyeing him. “This is your surprise?”

Tags: Eden O'Neill Court High Romance
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