“Look, I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Nothing. It’s not your problem. It’s mine. It’s always been mine.”
Shane hesitates. “It must be hard to have a mom who’s so …” He searches for the word.
“Promiscuous? Trashy? Scandalous?” I’ve heard all the labels, many times over, back when I didn’t know what they meant. I remember running home from the grocery store after one altercation between Mom and a scorned wife and looking up the word whore in the dictionary. I couldn’t understand what my mother could have done to make that woman so angry.
He grimaces. “I was going to say ‘sexual.’”
“She’ll sleep with anyone. What is wrong with men? Where’s the appeal in that?”
“She actually gets around a lot less than you think. It’s mainly for show.”
I cringe. “How is that better? How would you feel if that was your mother in there?” I stab the air with a pointed finger, aimed at the bar, my voice shaky.
“I’d lose my shit,” he admits.
“See? So why is it okay because it’s Dottie Reed?” Why are my school peers entertaining her shamelessness, and right in front of me?
“Because she’s sexy and she’s not any of our moms?” He winces, as if he knows that’s a weak excuse. “I don’t know. There’s something about her.”
“Yeah, no morals and a serious dependency on alcohol.”
“Maybe.” He shrugs. “But it’s the way she carries herself, with confidence and no regrets. And she makes men feel good about themselves.” An apologetic smile takes over his face. “A lot of guys find that attractive.”
I’ve seen her in action. She’s a master of stroking male egos, though, truth be told, it doesn’t seem to take much to turn them into her lapdogs. But the way Shane is talking about my mother right now … My stomach drops with the horror. “Oh my God! Please tell me you haven’t slept with her—”
“No.” He shakes his head furtively and follows it with a soft chuckle. “I swear, I never even entertained the idea.”
The wave of relief that hits me is overwhelming. It’s quickly shadowed by the fact that Shane made dinner plans with his coworker, and he and I both damn well know it’s not platonic. He’s attracted to Susie.
The knot in my throat swells.
“What do you want from me, Scarlet? I’m not a mind reader.” Shane steps forward, closing the distance between us. “You said you just wanted to be friends. You know, because you’re Cody’s teacher and we’re neighbors.”
“Yeah. I know what I said.” He doesn’t have to remind me.
“Did you mean it, though? Because that reaction back in there? That says something completely different.” His brow furrows. “I’m trying to respect your boundaries, but they’re a moving target.”
“I just drank too much,” I lie, replaying the evening. Was he flirting with me? Or was he just being himself and I was reading more into it? Was I reading what I wanted into it? Nothing is clear to me at the moment. “Date whoever you want.” I back away. “Makes no difference to me.”
“Yeah, right. You’ll just give me the cold shoulder and screw my friends when you find out? Is that how it’s going to be from now on?” He shakes his head, and I see his annoyance growing in his features again. “Am I supposed to not see anyone until you get over yourself?”
“Get over myself?” My jaw drops as I glare up at him. “You’ve been all over me and yet, here we are! The second an opportunity to get laid shows up, you jump on it.”
“She asked me! And it’s just dinner,” he bellows.
“Come on, Shane. It’s never just dinner, not with you.” I shake my head. “Don’t worry, I get it. I won’t put out for you, so you’ve moved on.” A mirthless laugh escapes me. “It’s literally high school all over again, except this time I wasn’t dumb enough to buy any of the bullshit that came out of your mouth. Thank God.”
“You think that’s why I ended things back then? Because I wanted to get laid?” His voice is laced with grim humor. “That’s not why.”
“Oh, no, wait. You’re right,” I sneer. “It was because you cared too much about me and you were worried things would get too serious, too fast. I think that’s the crap line you fed me, right? And not twenty-four hours later, I see you with your tongue so far down Penelope’s throat, I’m surprised she didn’t choke on it. You two had already hooked up before we ended things, didn’t you?”
He has the decency to avert his gaze.
“Exactly. Don’t you dare stand here and tell me I’m wrong about you. Believe me, I wanted to be.” I turn to leave.
“You weren’t easy, Scarlet.”
I snort. Unbelievable. “Yeah, I think we’ve established that you’re a giant asshole. You’re only reinforcing it.”