Chapter 24
LAUREN
“You’ll never guess who I saw on campus today.”
Mom’s tone was bright, as usual, and I had to hide a smile. She worked at the university I’d gone to as one of the guidance counselors.
I was really grateful that it was a new job. After she’d gone into remission, she’d decided that she was tired of the same old, same old, and had retrained as a counselor.
Having her there on campus would have been way too much when I was still a student, but now it gave me pleasure knowing she was doing something she loved with people who were lucky to have her helping them out.
“Who did you see?” I asked absentmindedly as I shucked some late peas from her garden.
“Jed Harrison.”
I stiffened at the mention of that jerk’s name. He’d never acted on his threat to tell everyone we knew I was a tease, but I’d spent my last year avoiding him where possible. I hadn’t liked the way he looked at me.
The bastard.
“What was he doing back here?” I asked. I wasn’t really curious, but she’d told me for a reason.
The further that schmuck was away from me, the better.
I still blushed to think about how foolish I’d been that night. A few months of kickboxing classes didn’t make me an expert in self-defense, and I’d put myself into a shitty situation just to try and
figure out what the fuck was going on with my head.
I was lucky. I knew that.
There had been rumors about Jed that had floated around that final year. Like the girls had finally felt brave enough to open up about what he’d been into because they were due to leave soon.
One girl claimed he’d spiked her drink, another said he was rough in bed.
Those accusations had never been proven, but I’d seen the fury in his eyes when I’d rejected him. I’d had a lucky escape.
“He was there to open a new hall. His family donated a huge chunk to the college.”
I snorted. “For tax purposes, not out of the kindness of their hearts.”
Her eyes sparkled in amusement as she reached for one of the peas I’d shelled and popped it in her mouth. “It could be both, Lauren,” she chided, but I knew from her expression she believed that as much as I did.
I wrinkled my nose when she picked up another pea. “If you keep on eating them, we’re not going to have enough left for dinner.”
She slapped her own hand. “True. I’ll stop.” She cut me a look. “You never did like Jed, did you?”
“Nope.” I frowned. “Is that why you told me? You wanted to know if I wanted to see him before he leaves town?”
My mom nodded. “I had a feeling you didn’t like him, but you never outright said anything and considering your dad went on and on about his skills on the football field, I figured you had plenty of opportunity to mouth off about him.”
I shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. The last thing I wanted to reveal to her was how stupid I’d been after Cooper had left and she’d had her diagnosis.
Those had been some of the worst moments of my life. Even thinking about them was too much for me to handle some days. Although, I’d admit, it was easier to think of them now Cooper was back in my world.
“Lauren?” she asked softly.
I shot her a look. “What?”
She sighed. “Nothing.”