Page 70 of No One But Us

Feet come thundering down thestairs.

“Campbell?” a voice shouts. “Where are you? We saw you come down thisway!”

He punches the siding. “I’ve had it,” hesays.

“Just go,” Isigh.

“No, I’ve fucking hadit.”

I follow him to the deck, where Max is throwing back beers without a care in the world with Ginny by hisside.

“Max,” Jameshisses.

Max grins. “The worker bee finally has some downtime! I never see you anymore,bro.”

James does not smile back. “Your friends need toleave.”

Max nods. “Yeah, I think they’re taking offtomorrow.”

“No, they’re taking off now. Right. Fucking.Now.”

“Dude, it’s almostmidnight.”

“Perfect,” James says. “They won’t hittraffic.”

“They’ve beendrinking.”

“Rehoboth has many fine lodgingestablishments.”

“When did you turn into such a grumpy fucker?” asks Max, rising and heading inside. “I’m going to have tobuyyou some female companionship if your dry spell keepsup.”

“Yes,” I grin at James when Max is out of sight. “We wouldn’t want your dry spell tocontinue.”

He leans close, his low voice near my ear. “My dry spell is about to end in a bigway.”

And itdoes.

Chapter 41

JAMES

The offer letter arrives.I show it to Elle and no oneelse.

“Don’t say anything,” I warn after she reads it. “Max has a big mouth, and Ginny will flipout.”

She raises a brow. “Youareplanning to tell your parents, right? Or were you thinking you should wait until NYU calls to tell them you never turnedup?”

I sigh. “Yeah, I’ll tell them. I’m waiting for the right time. I need to talk to my dad when my mom isn’t around and make sure she’s not going toflip.”

She hesitates. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but have you ever thought that maybe your mom’s reaction to things that make her unhappy is a little...manipulative?”

“Huh?”

She bites her lip. “It just seems like your mom gets everything she wants by doing thisstuff.”

I’m stunned. People who know what’s up with my mother always speak of her problem in hushed, regretful tones. Even if it’s created problems and changed our lives, no one in my family has ever oncecomplained.

“Are you saying she’s actually starving herself to death to get herway?”

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