Jake still gets a passive aggressive jab in, though. “Apparently Zoey is, too.”
I glare at him, then look at Grace. “We need to go.”
She nods, head down so she doesn’t have to meet my gaze. “Yeah, we should. My mom’s gonna kill me.”
Carter follows me to the door, grabs me around the waist, and kisses me one more time. I don’t know what to do or say, so I just offer a little smile, then haul ass out the door with Grace.
Chapter 15
“Breakfast is ready!”
I squint at the bright light coming in through Grace’s bedroom window. After I brought her home, I sent my mom a text to let her know I would be staying the night at Grace’s. I managed to get her in the house without her parents (who were already in bed, not realizing she had left the house so late) finding out she was drunk, so I didn’t want to leave her alone, just in case her body had a belated reaction to the alcohol or all the sugary punch.
I look over at her now. She’s still sleeping, so I shake her awake. Even though I know she’s okay, I still feel relieved when her eyes open and she frowns up at me. “Leave me alone.”
I figure the alcohol probably has her feeling crappy, so I don’t take offense. “Time to get up, party girl.”
She groans. “Don’t ever say party again.”
Since I have no idea how much she had to drink, I ask, “Are you hung over?”
“No, I’m just livin’ in the literal Hell of last night’s memories.” Opening her eyes and turning her gaze back to me, she says, “I am so sorry you had to come to that party because of me. I feel like I led you right into temptation, and you tried so hard to warn me.”
It’s not good for Grace to be stressed out, so I shake my head. “Everything is fine.”
“You tried to tell me Carter was scheming to get you there, and then you ended up doing… things with him.”
I don’t even want her thinking about what Carter and I did. “It’s over. It’s done. It doesn’t matter now. Don’t worry about it, Grace. Honest. I mean, never do it again, but what’s done is done.”
“Are you and Carter, like… together now?”
“No.” I push back the blankets, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing my phone off the end table. My battery is at 13% and I have to work in two hours. Fantastic.
“Did you really… do what you said last night?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it, Grace,” I tell her, clearing the notifications on my phone and opening the text my mom sent a half hour ago.
“Did you have sex with him?”
My shoulders tense, and I quickly text my mom back as I tell Grace, “No. I did not have sex with him.”
“You fell asleep upstairs,” she says in a leading way, like why would I fall asleep if I only went down on him? Valid question, I suppose.
Instead of answering her, I tell her, “Your mom said breakfast is ready, so we should probably go eat.”
Before I make it to the door, she blurts, “I kissed Jake Parsons.”
My eyes widen and I pivot to look at her. “You did what?”
Grace is grimacing, and now she hides her face in her hands. “I wasn’t in my right mind. It was when you were upstairs with Carter, I just… I don’t know what happened, he was getting me water and asking if I felt okay, and he has such pretty eyes…”
Still gaping, I say, “Pretty eyes?”
“I know, I know,” she says, hiding her face again. “I’m a harlot. I’m so sorry, Zoey. After the crap he pulled with you, that dumb nickname and everything… I am the worst friend in the world.”
I go back to the bed, taking a seat on the edge again. “When you say kissed…?”
She looks up with dread. “Like, really kissed. We made out. Body to body contact, tangled limbs, the whole nine yards.”
“Oh, my God, Grace.”
“I know! I’m sorry. It was so stupid.”
I cradle my head in my hands, the various dangers of last night becoming harder and harder to ignore. We may have both emerged a little more tarnished than when we entered, but it could have been so much worse.
I didn’t tell Grace that Jake cornered me in that classroom, she doesn’t know how I got on Carter’s radar, and I don’t know how I can tell her now. After she heard last night that I did those things with him, after she saw him kiss me and shield me from the taunts of his friends. I don’t know how to explain any of that. I don’t know how to explain Carter. Whatever it is I’ve been doing with him, though, at least I’ve known what he’s capable of. Grace doesn’t have all the information about Jake.