“Don’t be rude,” Kennedy said and lifted up her own sugarcake. “She’s had kind of a rough few days if you haven’t noticed.”
“Right.” Cupcake nodded, but he still looked weirdly concerned about me downing a second dessert.
Screw you too, Cupcake. I picked up a third just to annoy him.
“Ignore him,” Felix said. “You look amazing.”
It was sweet of him to say when his friend had just called me fat. But all I could think about was that it was also very awkward. Because I could feel Miller staring at me.
I turned toward his piercing gaze. “Miller, don’t you want any?” I asked. I hated that he just stood there watching us. Couldn’t he just sit down and join us instead?
He didn’t budge from his spot on the wall, so I brought one over to him.
“They’re really good,” I said and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” He took it from me. “Who’s that little jackass?”
I didn’t need him to clarify who he was talking about. “Cupcake. He’s Kennedy’s boyfriend.”
“Want me to take care of him?”
“What does that even mean?”
Miller brushed a crumb off the lapel of his suit jacket. “You don’t need to know the specifics.”
Was this the kind of stuff that the Pruitts paid their security detail extra for? I didn’t need to hear anything else. I could tell by Miller’s tone that it was something sinister. “That’s definitely not necessary.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
I could take care of myself. I didn’t need him to do whatever it was he was referring to. And why was that Miller’s first reaction? Seriously, what line of work was Mr. Pruitt in?
I retreated back to the couch. Miller was the only person in the Pruitt’s apartment that I thought was nice. But nice people didn’t offer to “take care” of things in that tone.
“Are you feeling okay?” Cupcake asked. “You look a little pale.”
“So now I’m fat and sickly?” The words just spilled out of me like I had no filter.
“What? No. That’s not…” his voice trailed off. “I was just asking,” he said a little quieter.
And for some reason I started laughing. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. My stomach, which as far as I was concerned was very flat, hurt with laughter.
Cupcake started laughing too, probably just relieved that Miller wasn’t going to kick his ass, and then everyone started laughing.
“I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week,” I said and grabbed another sugarcake. “Cupcake, these really are great.”
“Thanks,” he said when he finally caught his breath. “I made them myself. It’s a new recipe with a secret ingredient.”
“What’s the secret?” Kennedy asked. “Love?”
He smiled and nudged her with his shoulder.
It was the first time that I actually thought they were cute together. I polished off my third sugarcake and sunk into the couch. I’d had that kind of love with Matt. And I threw it all away because he was being blackmailed by Isabella and refused to acknowledge my presence in public. That was oddly specific and conclusive. And despite that, all I wanted to do was text him. I looked down at my new phone. It was a bad idea. But I did know his number by heart…
What was I even doing texting Matt? I shook my head. Thinking about Matt. I was most definitely not texting him. Which was good because there was a guy that actually cared about me sitting next to me. He had my back. He cared about me. And he wasn’t embarrassed of me. Even when I did stuff my face with three sugarcakes.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to wear to homecoming?” Felix asked. “I want to make sure my tie matches your dress.”
Homecoming. Crap balls. I’d told both Felix and Matt that I’d go with them. But seeing as Matt and I were over and he was never allowed to be with me in public in the first place…he was out of the race. Which was good. Because telling one of them that I overbooked would have been very uncomfortable. So really, the breakup saved me. Yup. “I don’t know yet. As soon as I do, I’ll make sure to tell you.”
“I’ve found a few dresses online that I thought you might want to see,” Kennedy said. “But I guess you can kind of buy whatever dress you want now, right?”
I didn’t want to talk about this. I wanted to forget about the Pruitts, not picture myself in one of the stupid dresses Diane Cartwright had fitted me for. They probably all showed my midriff and Cupcake would just make fun of me all night. “Do you guys want to watch a movie or something?” I asked. It was a lame segue, but I prayed that it would work.