“Is this a game? Did Marc Denby put you up to this? Should I expect him and his friends to appear any moment and—”
“Ever heard of keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”
“You know, being high aside, I can’t get a read on you.”
“Maybe that’s the way I like it.”
“I think you should take me home.”
We’d been out here too long. School was over and Celeste had been blowing up my cell phone. I’d given her the CliffsNotes version of what happened, and she’d promised a) not to kill Max with her bare hands and b) to cover for me with Michael and Sabrina if they got home early from work.
I didn’t think anyone would appreciate me turning up at the house as high as a kite.
“I’m gonna need time to sober up,” he said, cranking his window down.
“Actually, before you take me home, can we get something to eat? I’m starving.”
“The lady wants food, the lady shall get food.” He swished a hand in the air. “But first, we must hydrate.” Snagging the bottle of water out of the central console, Nate uncapped it and downed the thing in one.
“Why’d you really bring me out here today?” I blurted out, the fresh air already counteracting the THC in my system.
“Because Maguire…” His eyes narrowed at me. “You looked like you could use a friend, and we all need one of those sometimes.”
“I… really don’t know what to say to that.” I cranked my own window open and inhaled a deep breath of fresh air.
“Feeling okay?”
“This was a bad idea.”
“Ouch.”
“You tried to feel me up at that mixer in the summer… I stabbed you with a fork.”
“I haven’t forgotten. But listen, I was drunk. I’m an asshole when I’m drunk. Actually, I’m an asshole most of the time, it’s easier that way,” he said cryptically.
I studied him through glazed eyes. He was like all the other rich entitled pricks at DA, but there was something in his eyes I hadn’t noticed before. Something that looked like sadness.
His cell phone started blaring and he cussed under his breath. “We need to go.”
“But I thought you said you need to sober up first.”
“I do. But I also need to be somewhere. We’ll have to take a rain check on dinner.”
“Oh, it wasn’t… yeah, okay.”
This was weird.
He was acting weird.
And it occurred to me that maybe there was more to Nate Miller than I first thought.