Wish You Were Her(44)

As he stuffed food into his mouth, Kerrie leaned a little nearer to Allegra.

“Jonah really isn’t a bad guy.”

“I know,” Allegra said, a touch defensive. “We just don’t … gel.”

“He’s very guarded,” Kerrie said, with the authority of a person who had known Jonah for a long time. “His dad left him and his mum for a whole second family when he was tiny. Just after he was diagnosed.” Allegra winced at this, feeling a shot of guilt burn her throat as she listened. “He takes such good care of Viv, and he used to be a lot more fun. Your dad really relies on him! George is like a mentor to him.”

This piqued Allegra’s interest, merely because her father always seemed a little distant and cold with Jonah. If they had shared a warm bond at some point, it wasn’t there now.

“He also doesn’t know or appreciate how hot he’s become in the last few years,” Kerrie added, casting a furtive glance over to the subject of their quiet conversation. Allegra did not join her in looking but her heart pounded. “And he doesn’t realize that the frostiness just makes him a bit more intimidating.”

Allegra smiled very softly. “Got a crush?”

Kerrie’s eyes flashed to Allegra’s and the latter could see her considering whether to deny it or not. “Yeah. A little bit.”

Ordinarily, Allegra would tell the other girl to “go for it.” Yet in the festival tent, surrounded by so many people but with only one person on her mind, something made her stay silent.



* * *



The after-party at Simon’s house left Jonah emptier than being stood up at Pete’s Cafe. It was full of enthusiastic book festival volunteers, most of whom were people he had gone to school with, who had suddenly, out of the blue, the summer that Allegra Brooks was in town, discovered an interest in literature.

“Jonah!” One of the volunteers called him over to a group who were gathered around the stereo. “I need you as backup.”

Kerrie was with the group, smiling at him with an unreadable question in her eyes. He gave her a tight nod and then turned to the boy who had hollered at him. “What?”

“Tell Kerrie what you told me.”

“About what?”

“About romance books.”

Jonah paled. This loud conversation had caught the attention of Allegra and Grace, who were getting up from their spots on the couch. Allegra was watching him coyly.

“I can’t remember what I said,” Jonah murmured, and it wasn’t a lie. He could barely remember this volunteer, let alone what he might have blabbed about to them during their orientation.

“I’m guessing it wasn’t very complimentary, knowing Jonah,” Kerrie said gregariously.

Jonah watched Allegra as she arched an eyebrow at that and whispered something to Grace. They began to leave the room.

“I’m coming around to them actually,” he said loudly. “Think I was probably being a bit of a snob before, to be honest. Some books are about the journey, not the destination. Just because there’s a contract between author and reader when it comes to certain genres, it doesn’t mean there can’t be invention. Or something really beautiful.”

He watched as Allegra’s shoulders tensed and she stopped walking for a moment. He felt his breath catch, but the moment passed as quickly as it had come. She moved into the hallway with Grace, and didn’t look back.

He felt his phone start to vibrate.

He excused himself gruffly and made his way to the kitchen, which was quieter than the rumpus room, a term only used by the obnoxiously rich of Lake Pristine. He answered his phone.

“Hey.”

“Hi, darling,” his mother’s voice said from the other end of the line. “You okay?”

“Fine,” he lied. “At Simon’s. You all right?”

“I’m at Auntie Shosh’s, darling. I’ve had far too much wine, I can’t drive myself home so I’m sleeping over. Will you be okay on your own tonight? Got your keys?”

He smiled, in spite of the nightmare evening. “I’m eighteen, Ma.”

“I know, I know. I can get a cab—”

“You’re fine. Say hi to Aunt Shosh.”

“I have done, darling. Be safe and have fun.”

From his spot by the kitchen door he could see Grace Lancaster and Allegra chatting on the stairs.

“I’m finally experiencing proper teen parties,” he heard Allegra tell Grace. “I want to see all of the staples. Couple making out. A fight. And some girl crying on the stairs. Right here. On this spot. Don’t even care if it’s me.”

Grace grinned and then said something too quietly for Jonah to hear. Allegra laughed and the sound caused many people to glance quickly at her. She was always being observed, whether she realized it or not. Someone at the dining room door took a sneaky picture of her on his phone and Jonah wanted to snatch the thing out of his hand.

As she and Grace ascended the stairs, he spotted Kerrie coming toward him.

“You look really nice tonight,” she told him, shouting over the extremely loud music.

“Thanks,” he answered, glancing at the stairs again. “You doing okay?”

She looked disappointed for a brief second, glancing down at herself a little self-consciously, but then she said, “All good. Want a drink?”