Page 64 of Dare To Take

“That’s her argument. You’re not stupid, Eli. Why would you attach your name to it and tell everyone you’re the one responsible? And where did you get those images from?”

“I stole her cell phone, remember.” My voice is bitter.

“And left it in your locker. Elena’s right. It doesn’t add up. I was too angry and upset to think straight, but over the past two weeks … she’s convinced me you’re not the person behind it.”

“But not Arabella.” I laugh softly, but there’s no humor in the sound.

“No.” He gives a quiet sigh. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but something clearly did. I’m not a complete idiot, Son. It’s obvious that the pair of you have history, and that’s dictating how you’re both behaving with each other. Did you know each other before I married Elena? Is that why you reacted the way you did?”

“No. I reacted the way I did because you married a woman after knowing her for only a week.” I drag a hand through my hair. “Do we have to do this now? I was up early to avoid traffic. I’m tired. I just want to go upstairs, unpack and crash for a few hours.”

“I’d like for us to have dinner together tonight.”

I grab the handles on both my suitcases and move toward the stairs. “Sure. Whatever.”

***

“I spoke to Principal Warren after I dropped Arabella off,” Elena says into the silence.

The three of us are sitting around the table—Dad at the head and us either side of him at one end.

I don’t look up, pushing the food around my plate. My appetite has been minimal since Christmas, my focus elsewhere.

“He wants to see how Arabella settles back in for a couple of weeks before making a final decision on whether you will be allowed back.”

I nod. I’ve already spoken to Kellan, who told me he saw Arabella in the cemetery.

“I think, if you would just tell us what’s going on, that would help.” Her voice softens, turns cajoling. “Eli, I know you’re not behind that awful video and photograph, but you must have some idea of what’s going on. You were at school with her. What was she thinking? Arabella has never done things like that. She works hard and has always been focused on her goals. She’s a good girl. ”

The phrase makes my lips twitch. Yes, Arabella wants to be a good girl, just not in the way her mom thinks. That’s one of the things that got us into this situation in the first place.

“Eli, please don’t ignore me.”

I lift my gaze to find her looking at me through blue eyes so similar to Arabella’s it makes my stomach ache.

“Did she fall in with the wrong crowd?”

I laugh at that. “She was on the cheer squad and hung out with them, as well as the jocks. Her boyfriend is captain of the swim team.”

“But he wasn’t one of the boys in the video, was he?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Do you think they drugged her? Spiked a drink, maybe?”

“She wasn’t drugged or drunk.” Just eager to please and horny as fuck.

“You must know something!”

I’m surprised by the hitch to her voice, the tears filling her eyes. “From everything Arabella told me, when she was talking to me anyway, I didn’t think you gave much of a fuck about her.”

She flinches but collects herself quickly. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I know that. And I want to do better. I’m trying to be better. To be the mom Arabella needs.”

“I think it’s a bit late for that. She’s eighteen. Officially an adult.”

My barbed comment hits home, and her face drains of color.

“Eli,” my dad warns softly and my gaze swings to him.

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