Page 35 of No One But Us

I nod. “Thanks for reminding me to lock thedoor.”

I grab a T-shirt from his drawer and enter the bathroom. To my infinite surprise, it’s actually clean, and he has nice stuff in the shower, although most of it appears swiped from an upscale hotel. I take my time, hoping that if I’m in there long enough, Ginny will have unlocked the door so I can go tosleep.

The lights are off in the bedroom when Iemerge.

“You can stay,” saysMax.

It’s dark, but I can hear the smirk in his voice, accompanied by a female giggle, which alerts me that he is notalone.

“Pass,” I groan, walking to the door. “Havefun.”

I open the door and swing into Allison. Her face is so smugly triumphant I begin to think she mustwantme to hither.

“No one is safe around you, are they?” she crows. “Just like yourmom.”

I stare at her. “What the hell are you talkingabout?”

“I know your type, Elle. You make a point of stealing what isn’tyours.”

I head to the back deck, rage burning its way through my chest. I hate her for saying it, for comparing me to my mother. And I also hate that in a small way it’s true. I’d steal James from her in a heartbeat if Icould.

James is there when I get outside. I sit, taking a curious sideways glance over at him. He looks worn—the stubble, the circles under his eyes. He never did shower. He still looks like shit. Granted, he looks like gorgeous shit that I would do very, very bad things to given the chance, but for him…it’s not his bestlook.

“What’s up with you?” I ask. “Your girlfriend’s here, but you look like someone just shot yourdog.”

He shrugs and looks over at me. His face, in the moonlight, looks both young and old. Resolved and torn. “I broke up with her. In May. She asked me to wait, to not make any rash decisions because she thinks this is just me freaking out. And my parents gave her a fucking internship at their firm, so I thought it would make it weird for everyone involved if I ended things while she’s still there. But then I broke up with her again last week. That’s why she’s here, even if she’s claiming it’s for Ginny. I don’t even want to be in the same room withher.”

I’m so thrilled I could burst into a song-and-dance number right here on thedeck.

“I used to be more like Ginny,” he continues. “I knew exactly what I wanted and how I was going to get there, and if I had doubts, I just ignored them and plowed through. I’m not sure what it says about me that I can’t seem to do thatanymore.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best way to go about things anyway,” I tell him. “I mean, look at Ginny. She’s ignoring some pretty clear signals that she wants something other than Alex, because she’s telling herself that in the grand scheme, he’s what will make her happy. But if her experience with him is entirely composed of things that don’t make her happy now, how could that be true? She’s so devoted to the outcome that she won’t allow herself to questionit.”

He meets my eye then, and it’s just like the time we spoke about law school. The time he said I was dangerous. He looks at me as if he’s surprised to find me here at all, as if he’s suddenly seeing me for the first time. In a goodway.

“You’re so young, but sometimes I listen to you, and it feels like you’re the one who’s older. You say things that I’ve thought when I’m at my best, at my clearest, but you say them with so much certainty that I believe them coming fromyou.”

“That’s my newscaster voice.” I smile. “I’ve been trained since birth to deliver complete bullshit withauthority.”

“You could still do that, you know,” he says. “People willforget.”

“I don’t know.” I sigh. “A part of me still wants it, and another part thinks that no matter what I accomplish, people are always going to think of me as the intern who slept with Edward Ferris. Twenty years from now, there will continue to be some doubt about whether I truly earned the position I’min.”

“There’d have been doubt anyway,” he says gently. “Look who your dad is. Or was. There was always going to be some question of whether you’d gotten where you were because of yourself or because of him. There probably isn’t a single female on TV who hasn’t had someone suggest, or think, that she used her looks to get where sheis.”

“I suppose,” I say. “It’s not just that, though. The way they covered it all up, the way they made me the guilty party when they knew I wasn’t. Even the way they initially tried to cover up my father’s affair… It’s just kind of repugnant. I don’t know that I want to be a part ofthat.”

He reaches out and rests his hand on my arm. “You won’t be, because that’s not the kind of person youare.”

Before I can ask what he means, the sliding door opens. His hand falls away quickly, but not quicklyenough.

Allison stands there, arms folded across her chest. “Am I interrupting?” she askscoolly.

“No,” I reply, standing to leave. I allow myself one look back at him, and our eyes meet for a single moment. I’m not sure which of us looks more unhappy as I goinside.

Chapter 22

JAMES

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