Page 35 of Castle's Cards

“Really?” His eyes sparkle as he shoots up out of the chair.

He follows me to the car, praising my taste in vehicles as we approach. When we get in he turns to me.

“This issocool. I can’t believe my girlfriend’s step-dad is Carter Castle!”

“I’m not married to Addy. But you might not have a girlfriend for much longer if you keep up that behavior.”

I gesture for him to put his address in the GPS. He obliges before looking at me and frowning.

“What do you mean?”

“You totally threw her to the wolves back there! Addy didn’t even know aboutyou. Now she just found out that Izzy’s been lying to her about a lot more than just being with you.”

“I wasn’t trying to get her in trouble. Izzy told me that she told Addy everything. I didn’t think she would mind me saying any of that stuff.”

Maybe Izzy isn’t as open and honest with anyone as she seems to be. It’s disappointing to come to this realization, but I know it’s not really any of my business. That’s between Addy and her little sister. I don’t have a role in any of this except to take Izzy’s clueless boyfriend home.

“So what do you like about Izzy?” I ask.

“She’s really cool. The coolest girl I’ve ever met. You know she races horses?”

“I did know that. She’s really good.”

“She’s awesome. Her riding videos are great. She’s hilarious, too. She’s pretty, obviously. Or maybe you don’t think about that, but everyone at school knows she is.” Nate shrugs. “She’s ridiculously smart, too. Easily the smartest person I’ve ever met, which is why I find it weird she doesn’t want to go to college.”

I nearly stop the car, I’m so surprised. Does Addy know that Izzy doesn’t plan to go to college?

No. I know she doesn’t. She’s mentioned more than once Izzy going to college, wondering how to pay for it, where she’ll go, if she’ll stay local. I don’t know what to do with this information now that I have it. It feels unfair to keep it from Addy, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel like this is something that needs to come directly from Izzy.

How can I be sure that Izzy is going to tell her? Obviously she’d have to at some point, since her not going to college would be a dead give-away. But Addy definitely deserves to know sooner rather than later.

“Did she say why she doesn’t want to go?”

“All she says is that she doesn’t need it. But it’s not like she has a career plan, so how would she know if she needs it or not?”

That’s a good point.

“Maybe she wants to ride horses. I guess you wouldn’t need a degree for that,” I point out. The thought bounces around my mind even more. It’s the only thing that makes sense, although I can’t imagine her making a profitable career of it.

Even if she wanted to be a jockey, which I doubt is her goal, she’s a little too tall to be one of the extremely well paid ones. She’s almost as tall as Addy, and Addy’s already pretty tall for a woman.

“That’s my house,” Nate points. I pull up outside the door and smile at him.

“It was nice meeting you, Nate.”

“You, too. Actually, do you think we could exchange numbers? I have so many questions about the tech industry that I would prefer answered by someone with experience instead of my guidance counselor.”

I hesitate. I’m not sure I want this kid blowing up my phone 24/7.

“How about I give you my email? That way I can answer questions with links and information that you can read up on, too.”

Nate nods, agreeing. I give him my email before he steps out of the car and jogs up to this house. It’s far nicer than the small apartment that Izzy and Addy live in.

Speaking of, should I go back to the apartment? Or go home and let Addy tell me when she’s ready to talk.

Probably the latter. I shoot off a quick text, letting Addy know to call me whenever she’s done talking to Izzy and that I’m heading back to my house.

Then I drop my phone in the cup holder and head home.

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