Page 66 of Jael

“Hannah’s worried about you,” he said, remembering Hannah’s request. “She asked if you could send her a text once I found you. Let her know you’re okay.”

“I told her I was fine.”

“But you’re not.”

She took her phone out of her purse in a huff and rested it on the bar. “Life is easier when no one’s worried about you.”

“Oh, yeah? How’s that been working out for you?”

She glared at him, then punched out a text to Hannah.

Next time, don’t tell Danny where I am.

“Don’t send that,” Danny said. “She’s trying to help.”

She handed him her phone. “Then you send something.”

Danny found me. He’ll make sure I get home safe.

He handed back the phone, but she didn’t take it, so he left it on the counter.

“I’m not the same dumb kid I used to be,” he said, spinning his drink on the counter.

“No? Well, I’m still as stupid as ever.”

“That’s not true.”

“And yet here I am, falling into another trap. Seems like I don’t pick the men in my life very well.”

“You haven’t had a choice.”

“I did with you.” She looked at him for a second and then back at her drink. “Do you have any idea how much I liked you back then?”

He was startled by her admission. He hated to remember how he’d treated her. But he had had his reasons. Not that there was any excuse for his behavior. “Likedme? Or the idea of me?”

“Is there a difference? We didn’t know each other well, but we knew enough.”

“Yeah, but you were the rich man’s daughter, and I was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks.”

“You say that likeIwas the one with the wrong motives. All you wanted was a trophy to show off to your friends.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. It was wrong.”

“I stewed on that for a long time. I fantasized about telling my dad what you did.”

“He would have killed me.”

“I doubt it. You were too valuable to him.”

“So were you.”

“He would have told me I got what I deserved. Then he would have given you a bonus for teaching me a lesson about my place in this world and reminded me that you weren’t to be the one by my side, no matter how I felt about you. But I’m not the bestjudge. I got it way wrong with you. I was convinced you felt the same.”

“I did.”

“That’s how you act when you like someone?”

“When you made your intentions clear, I had no idea which way was up. Until that point, I never thought I had a chance with you, so when I realized I did, I got scared and convinced myself that you were using me. I thought I’d better get at you before you could get at me.”

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