Page 65 of Lucky Star

Cameron laughed, and asked what we both wanted to know. “What does that mean?”

Drea leaned against the counter and sipped her coffee. “Sue heard some gossip about Alex, and instead of asking if it was true, convinced Mitchell to break up with her instead.”

Having placed the pot of coffee back on its stand, Alex rejoined us. “True.”

“What kind of gossip?” Cameron asked, falling along with the story the same why my grandma used to follow her soaps.

The two women shared a look between them but neither answered right away.

“Come on! You all have been talking about me for the last twenty-four hours. You owe us,” he teased. “I think I like you,” Drea pronounced with a smile. “You’re ruthless.”

Cameron looked fondly at me. “I ain’t got nothing on this one.”

Alex took a deep breath. “Dolly told Sue she saw me having sex in our classmate Stewart’s car.”

“Ouch.”

“Sue’s a holy roller, and Alex and Mitchell had made a pact to save themselves for marriage so seeing her precious baby boy’s girlfriend banging some other guy was enough to make her head explode.”

I dragged my eyes to Alex and she shrugged. “True.”

“The problem was, Sue wasn’t pissed that Alex had cheated on her son so much as she was that Alex was no longer pure as the driven snow. Apparently, it simply wasn’t done to associate oneself with harlots and whores.”

My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “Oh my god. She said that?”

Drea poured more coffee into her and Alex’s mugs. “She did. But that’s not even the worst of it.”

“First of all,” Alex said, picking up the thread of the conversation, “that wasn’t even me in Parker’s car. It was my older sister Jackie, but Sue didn’t care. She stood up in church the following Sunday and told everyone that I couldn’t be trusted with the boys of this town. I believe the word ‘jezebel’ was used quite a lot.”

“She didn’t!” If my eyebrows went any higher they’d be on the back of my head, and if Cameron’s jaw dropped any lower, it’d hit the floor.

Out of the side of his mouth, he whispered, “Where in the hell have you brought me? This is better than Salem.”

Salem, as in Days of Our Lives.

Yeah, he knew the names of the hosts of The View, and he had religiously followed Sami and the rest of the Brady clan for the last couple of years.

Drea cracked up. “Don’t worry, we’re not all bad. Sue and Dolly are the worst of it. Most of the churchies moved closer to Victoria a few years ago to open up a mega church down there.”

“That must have been a relief.”

Alex shrugged, but I caught the tension in her shoulders. “Not really. My boyfriend went with them.”

Cameron and I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say, while Drea stared down into her mug with a scowl. Eventually, to help break the tension, Cameron launched into our own sad story. Soon enough, Alex’s sour mood had vanished, and she, Drea, and Cameron plotted their revenge on the old gossip mongers. It was one of Alex’s missions in life, it seemed, to publicly shame the two sisters whenever she could.

I stood there quietly enjoying my coffee, and let the conversation wash over me as I tried to figure out what came next. We’d been found out, and what was worse, it had been by two of the biggest gossips this side of the Pacific. Unfortunately, they also had very particular feelings about harlots who lured righteous men from their women. Knowing this, I accepted that it was only a matter of time before word got out about us.

Mentally girding my proverbial loins, I braced myself for what was about to be a major shit storm.

* * *

My phone vibratedin my coat pocket, and when I pulled it out, I saw it was my mother calling. Catching Cameron’s eye, I silently indicated that I was going outside to take the call.

“Darling, where in the world are you?” she asked once I’d answered, having forgotten that I’d already given her this information. “But more importantly, do you know where Cameron is?”

“I’m in Canada, mother. I told you this two days ago, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right. You said something about an island, so I just assumed you were going to Hawaii. But that’s not why I’m calling,” she added airily. “I’m calling to tell you that no-good Cameron isn’t right for you, honey. He’s too handsome, and this whole movie business has gone completely to his head. First, he hooks up with his co-star, and now he’s been spotted boarding a private jet with some beautiful redhead with huge tits.”

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