Lenora is at work, and Robert is at school, which means Margo is alone.
My phone rings halfway to her house. One glance at the caller ID, and I frown.
“Yes?”
“What a lovely greeting, nephew. Are you not in school?”
I shake my head. “Had to run an errand.”
My uncle is silent. “We heard about your old friend’s unfortunate incident.”
Now I’m quiet. How the hell did my uncle hear about Margo? I’ve taken care not to mention her.
He chuckles. “Relax. We’re not doing anything… yet.”
“Aunt called Amberly, didn’t she?” It all snaps together. Loose pieces that suddenly make sense. “Which means she didn’t leave town.”
“I really don’t appreciate you threatening people, Caleb. I thought you learned to be better than that.”
To maneuver better.
Yes, I thought I had, too.
Margo has me all twisted around.
“What can I do for you, Uncle?”
“Stop by the house after your… errand. And keep it between us.”
“Got it.” I hang up on him. He’s not the most sociable person. I’m surprised he didn’t hang up on me first.
I sit in the driveway for a second, then get out and walk into Margo’s house.
It’s interesting how the Jenkinses have made her feel so at home, but she’s unwilling to call it that. She’s gotten used to moving around so much, she seems to have forgot what stability looks like.
Maybe she never had it to begin with.
She’s asleep on the couch, curled on her side. I close the door quietly and kick off my shoes, then go and kneel next to her.
There’s a furrow in her brow. Her lips are pinched.
Even though she’s sleeping—I can tell she isn’t having a good dream.
I smooth back her hair and smile as she exhales.
“I’ll keep you safe,” I tell her.
I don’t know if I’m telling the truth or not.
My feelings are all mixed up.
When I look at her, I see… her. But I see our past, too. Every fucking moment reminds me of the day she ruined our lives. One confession.
I begged her not to, but she did it anyway.
She whimpers in her sleep.
I loosen my grip in her dark hair, smoothing it out again. I should go, but I can’t stop touching her.
She blinks and focuses on my face. The smile that spreads across her lips rips my heart out. Even so, tears spill down her cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” I swipe the tears away, but they keep falling.
I almost tell her that Ian’s been taken care of, but I don’t want her to stress about it. As he said: it was never about her. It was me.
“How did you know to search for me?” she asks.
“Someone sent me a text.”
“A picture,” she says.
I meet her gaze again. “Yes.”
“Who?”
I shake my head. “Don’t, Margo.”
“Who texted you, Caleb?” She reaches out and grabs my wrists.
“A blocked number,” I finally say. It’s not the truth, per se. I only have an idea of who sent it. Why they’d block their number to send it to me… It makes sense.
There are traitors at Emery-Rose.
Her face falls. She collects herself in record time, pushing up onto her elbow. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
I grunt. “Maybe I just wanted to see you.”
She pats the space next to her, but I shake my head. I stand and pick her up—her and the blankets draped over her. I sit, keeping her on my lap. She runs her hand over my chest, tucking her face into my neck.
I kiss the top of her head.
It’s sappy. I feel impossibly guilty, even as my abs tighten and my dick hardens in my pants.
Margo and I aren’t destined for a happy ending, even if we both want to pretend otherwise. Our destiny is to crash and burn.
31
Wednesday afternoon is my first outing.
It’s been a week of nothing but staying home, trying not to move. Riley and Caleb visit, but they have other obligations. School, for one. I’ve been doing my due diligence on the homework, keeping up with my classmates even while I’m away. It staves off some of the boredom.
Now, I’m free.
Tomorrow I’ll return to school—a daunting idea that I refuse to think about.
Riley and Lenora frame me in as we walk toward the dress shop in the mall. This particular store carries special, one-of-a-kind dresses. Some are unusual, but there are diamonds in the rough.
That’s what Lenora said, anyway.
We walk in, and I immediately start to doubt her. The first six dresses that catch my attention are horrible: bright colors and ruffles, gaping holes in the sides, velvet and shoulder pads.
“Don’t judge,” Lenora admonishes, touching my shoulder. “We’ll find a gem.”
I told them that Caleb had picked out a mask for me, but I didn’t know what sort of dress I wanted. Lenora had swooned at that—literally, she thought it was adorable and charming of him. I’m not sure how he got on her good side so easily.
And Riley… she got a mischievous gleam in her eyes. When I questioned her in the car, she merely shrugged. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy. But I’ll let you know if you’re going in the wrong direction.”
I grit my teeth and went with it.
Dress shopping is weird. We spread out around the store. I run my hands across fabrics I have no right to be touching. Some are soft, some are shimmery.
When I was a kid, at the age where my parents could’ve dressed me in whatever cute outfits they wanted, it was overalls and sneakers. I ran, skinned my knees, played pee-wee baseball with the boys at eight. Minus the one time I forced Caleb to play dress-up with me…
I pause in the corner of the room, my hand on my chest. It’s overwhelming. If only my parents could see me now: Shopping to go to a ball with a boy. And not just any boy—Caleb Asher.
“Find anything?” Lenora asks behind me.
I turn around, blinking rapidly.
She must see the expression on my face, something like panic and dread, because her smile drops. She steps closer. “What’s wrong?”
“I just…” I swallow. “I never saw myself doing this.”
She nods. “You didn’t have much opportunity before this?”
“No boys paid attention to me,” I say. “It was like they were all afraid to touch the foster kid.” I tried not to let it bother me. But sometimes, your only friends are the ones you’re in the trenches with.
Riley comes over, oblivious to our conversation. She has a few dresses draped over her arms and a wide smile. “Listen, I grabbed a few for you and some for me because half the fun is trying them… Are you okay?”
I wipe at my face. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Lenora smiles. “Let’s see the dresses!”
Riley holds up the first one. It’s pale blue, tight-fitting past the hips, and then it flares. Silk with lace covering it, it’s…
“You could try it on,” Lenora says, nudging me.
“What else?”
Riley laughs. “This one is my favorite.” She doesn’t lift it up, though. She just shoves it into my arms and propels me toward the dressing room. “Trust me.”