The Shippers(91)

“Weren’t we all?”

“I never meant it, I mean.”

“I’m not sure if that’s better or worse.”

“Seeing you with Finn that morning—kind of put me in a mood.”

“A ‘mood’?” I glanced back. “More like a blind rage.”

“Fine. Yes. A blind rage.”

“I’ve never seen you in a blind rage.”

“Me neither.”

“Which seems kind of unfair, right?” I went on. “Nothing about that moment should have made you so mad.”

“Seeing you kiss Finn made me mad.”

“I was supposed to kiss Finn! That was the whole point of this whole plan.”

“I know.”

“So I don’t see why I’m suddenly in trouble for achieving our joint goal.”

“It was your goal, JoJo. It was never mine.”

“Clearly!” I said, speeding up.

“Can you slow down?” Cooper said. “We really need to talk.”

“I agree. That’s what I was trying to do the other morning when you jumped ship.”

“I wasn’t ready to talk then,” Cooper said.

“Are you ready now?”

“No. But I’m doing it anyway.”

Wait—hold on. What did he want to talk about? Did he want to tell me his version of Sock Night?

Because wow—holy cow—did I not want to know about that.

I felt a hiss of fear in my body. What if he told me something I couldn’t bear to know—and then I had to know it for the rest of my life?

At that thought, I didn’t just start walking faster. I started fleeing.

“Hey,” Cooper said, following me. “Where are you going?”

“You know what?” I said. “We don’t have to talk.”

“JoJo. We do.”

“I’m good,” I said, turning down a utility hallway.

“JoJo,” Cooper said, still on my heels. “What are you doing?”

“We don’t have to talk about anything, Cooper,” I said, now desperate to escape.

But Cooper had no intention of letting me do that. “Hey,” he said, reaching out and grabbing my arm, pulling us both to a stop in front of a door to some utility stairs.

I looked up into his face—that face I’d adored for so long.

I shook my head.

I didn’t want to know.

And so when Cooper took a breath and said, “JoJo, I need to confess something to you,” I did the first thing I could think of to stop him.

I said, “I didn’t sleep with Finn!”

And with that, I was out.

Before Cooper could respond, I pushed open the door to the utility stairs with a kachoonk, and I launched myself through—right past a sign that read AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. Conversation over. If I never found out about the real Sock Girl, it would be too soon.

Just inside, though, I stopped short and looked down. No wonder they didn’t want passengers in that stairwell. These were the steepest stairs I’d ever seen—like if a staircase and a ladder had a baby.

But they were also the perfect escape, I thought as I pattered down them full speed anyway: They were in an enclosed space.

Which meant Cooper definitely wouldn’t follow me.

But then Cooper followed me.

I hadn’t even reached the first landing before I heard the stairwell door kachoonk open again. And then feet tapping the steps behind me—catching up.

“This stairwell is authorized personnel only!” Cooper shouted.

Was he trying to get me on a technicality? “I authorized myself!”

“We can’t be in here!”

“So get out!”

“I can’t get out until you get out,” Cooper declared.

“How are you even following me?” I asked. “Isn’t this an enclosed space?”

“It’s not that enclosed,” Cooper said.

“What about your cleithrophobia?” I insisted, like I had a technicality of my own.

“It’s mild!”

“You always say that.”

“If I have a distraction, I’m okay.”

“What distraction do you have?”

“Uh—” Cooper said, like this should be obvious. “You just saying you didn’t sleep with Finn!”

At that, I slowed a bit. These stairs were scarily steep, anyway. I reached the landing on the next floor down and slowed to a stop.

Out of politeness, I suspect, Cooper stopped, too—and left about a half staircase between us.

“I didn’t just say I didn’t sleep with Finn,” I said, looking up at him on the stairs behind me, “I actually didn’t sleep with Finn.”

“If that’s true,” Cooper said next, watching me carefully, “why did you come out of his cabin together in the morning?”

“I slept in Finn’s cabin,” I said, “but alone.”

“Why would you sleep in Finn’s cabin?”

Was Cooper really asking me that? How dare he?

“Why did I sleep in Finn’s cabin?” I demanded. “Because ours was taken! Because I came back to our room looking for you—only to find a sock on our doorknob. A dirty sock, too. You asshole!”