Page 68 of The Wallflower and the Running Back

“And your resume,” Claire pipes in.

“Oh, yeah. And that!” I turn to face her and hold out a fist for her to pound. She utters a faint “Boom” after we do.

Expecting to see a guilt-ridden face, I turn back to face Stella. But her mask is secure. Her eyes possibly droop more, from all the remorse echoing in her head, I’m sure. But other than that, she holds the truth close to the vest. Unable to stand it, I drop my chin and close my eyes with a breathy laugh.

“You’re so unbelievable,” I finally let out.

The weight on my shoulders lifts a touch, and I lift my head, rolling my shoulders and straightening my spine. Dalton’s feet shuffle as he works himself into a protective stance as if I’m going to take a swing at Stella.

“Really?” I glare at him.

“Don’t make a scene,” he says in a gritted whisper.

My eyes widen as I laugh again, this one punchy and loud. There wasn’t much vodka in that drink, but whatever there was hits me right now.

“Always assuming this is about you,” I say, suddenly feeling nothing but pity for my ex. “It was always studying for your LSATs. We talked about living near your law schools.”

I flash my gaze over to Stella.

“I hope to God for your sake that you have a say in things with him. If not, fix that now. Because I let him walk all over me. Clearly.” I draw a line in the air up and down the length of her body.

“Hey,” Dalton says, stepping in. The knight and shining nothing.

I hold a palm up, boxing him out of my view. Out of my life.

“You didn’t even go,” I say to her, point blank.

She sucks in her bottom lip and blinks wildly.

“Did you?” I want her to confirm it, not because I need her to but because I want her to feel any residual good in her soul go up in flames.

She finally shakes her head.

“I found out I was pregnant about a week before,” she says. That checks with my research.

“You knew how important this was to me,” I say, no longer able to hold in the ire. “I talked about it for three years. You read my application. Oh, my God! Did you copy it?”

She steps into me now.

“Of course not!” she says through gritted teeth.

Yeah, there goes that mask.

I huff out an incredulous laugh to my side and stare at the floor. We’ve got a few of the eyes in the room on us, but for the most part, nobody cares about our drama. I doubt anyone other than the handful of chem students who are interested in the abroad program this year even know who went and who didn’t.

I let the silence build, eventually the sounds of the ballroom taking over and filling in the blanks. I look back to her face, into her eyes, and shake my head in admonition.

“Shame on you,” I say, turning to walk away with Claire at my side. Before I can go, though, Stella’s hand wraps around my upper arm and I twist to look at her sideways.

“Rachel . . .” My name cracks coming out of her throat. She licks her dry lips. “I really am sorry.”

I hold her face in my frame, taking a mental picture so I can decide what to do with it later. Maybe I’ll forgive her, maybe I won’t. For now, though, I’ll leave her with the last word. Claire and I will get another drink.

24/

logan

I’m going to have a billboard.

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