Amusement glinted in his dark eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I guess I’d have to explain myself. “You know. You have a big ego.” I quirked my lips at him with a shrug, desperately trying to play it cool, although inside I was anything but. Attempting to joke around with anyone popular was so far out of my comfort zone, I didn’t even know why I was trying.
He stared at me in silence for a moment.
Then he gave me his signature blinding smile, and my heart skipped a beat. “That ain’t the only thing that’s big about me, baby.”
Now I was at maximum embarrassment levels. I fled into the safety of the costume racks, hearing his amused laugh behind me.
Fuck my life.
10
After waiting on the front steps for twenty minutes, I finally concluded that Carter had already left. I didn’t know why I’d expected him to wait for me after everything that had happened after the weekend. By this point, the student car park was empty, and the only people left were the cleaning staff. Scrolling through my phone, I debated between calling Lena or booking an Uber. It was a five-mile walk home, and part of the route was on a busy main road with no safe path to walk along, so that wasn’t an option. My thumb hovered over Lena’s name. Why was it so difficult to ask for help?
“I heard someone needed a lift.” A huge, matte-black SUV pulled up at the school entrance gates. An older guy with tousled, dirty-blond hair and a huge grin was in the driver’s seat, his inked arm casually resting on the window frame. As I stared at him, suddenly tongue-tied, his grin widened and he pushed his sunglasses up on the top of his head, revealing bright blue eyes that were sparkling with amusement. “Hey, Lena. I think your friend here’s been struck dumb by my good looks.”
“Fuck off,” I heard from inside the car, and then Lena was leaning around him to give me a smile. “Ignore my brother. He…gets a lot of female attention, so he automatically assumes everyone wants him.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, get in. We’ll take you home.”
“I didn’t know you’d be with someone when I called you. I can get an Uber.” I grimaced as I realised I was probably interrupting their plans.
“You’re not getting an Uber. Get in.” Lena gestured to the door, and with a sigh, I climbed into the car, collapsing against the cool leather seats. Lena turned to face me. “Raine, meet my brother, Cassius. Cass, this is Raine. My friend, not one of your groupies.”
Cassius laughed and winked at me in the rear-view mirror, and I felt my cheeks heat.
“Hi,” I managed.
He threw me another wink, before he started the engine and smoothly manoeuvred away from the school. After I’d given him directions, I sat back again, blowing out a heavy breath.
“You want to tell me why you were stranded at school? Wasn’t Carter supposed to be taking you home?” Lena kept facing forwards, which I was thankful for because I found it easier to reply.
“I haven’t been totally truthful about what happened at Fright Night. I…I messed up.” To my horror, my voice wobbled, and tears filled my eyes. Cassius glanced at me in the rear-view mirror again, his aviators hiding his eyes, but the smile disappeared from his face. He murmured something in a low voice to Lena, and she nodded before twisting to face me.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I nodded, biting my lip to try and hide the trembling. Fuck. This whole thing had hit me harder than I thought.
“Okay. Hang on for a minute, Cass is going to take us somewhere we can talk. He’ll leave us, unless you want him to stay?”
“It might be good to get a guy’s input,” I found myself whispering, before I even knew what I was saying. Why not add to my humiliation? Although, it could be a good thing. Lena’s older brother was popular, hot, and experienced with girls. Maybe he could give me some advice from a man’s point of view. Maybe.
Lena gave me a reassuring smile and a single nod, before turning back to face the windscreen, and I closed my eyes, concentrating on my breaths to steady my nerves.
Exiting the car, I took a deep breath of the fresh sea air, then followed Lena and Cassius down to the beach alongside the pier. We took a seat on the large rocks that butted up against the sea wall. The waves lapped at the shore, Chaceley Rock with its abandoned lighthouse stood silhouetted on the horizon, and boats heading back from a day’s fishing dotted the water. Seagulls circled overhead, and as the sun moved lower, I sighed, a little of the day’s stress disappearing.
“Tell us what happened.” Lena touched my arm.
I let the entire story pour out, purging it from my system. I told them everything, not holding back. Tears fell as I spoke, but it felt so good to get it all out. By the time I came to a stop, the tears were running down my cheeks and my throat was raw, but I felt free.
“Let’s wipe those tears away, babe.” Cassius gently smoothed his thumbs across my cheeks, then squeezed my arm gently. I found myself relaxing. There was something about him, about both of the Drummond siblings. There was no judgement from either of them, just concern and acceptance.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t straight with you.” I turned my gaze to Lena. “The whole thing…I just felt so…” Trailing off, unable to articulate my feelings, I shrugged helplessly.
“First of all, do you like Carter?” Lena studied me closely.
“Yes,” I admitted, my voice small. “Stupid, right?”
“We want who we want.” Cassius gave me a shrug as if to say, what can you do?