Page 89 of Unspoken Truths

“I can’t drive, so it would be a waste,” I explain. “He offered, but I told him not to bother.”

“Did you tell him why you didn’t want a car?” Ignacio drawls.

“Ah, no, why?” I ask, concentrating on the descent. These steps seem to get more narrow as they curve here.

“He would have offered to teach you or hired someone to do it,” he says. “Rachelle, you drive me fucking crazy. Why didn’t you tell him?”

“It didn’t seem important,” I say honestly. “Most schools have a driving class, but?—”

“Carlysle Prep doesn’t,” Lili finishes. “It’s a skill that not everyone learns honestly. A good quarter of the high school have drivers because that’s how they’ve always gotten to school. If you want to learn, you have to speak up. I think one of my dad’s men has a beat up truck you can practice on.”

“I wouldn’t want to learn how to drive in a nice car,” I agree with a shudder. “I could be a terrible beginner driver.”

“No one is good at it the first time,” Ignacio says with a chuckle as we arrive at the bottom of the tower.

My lips twitch because he could be talking about anything, and Lili grabs my hand as she walks next to me. If she looks at me I will lose it.

“Mmhmm,” I say, sounding odd.

He’s actually being nice, I don’t need this conversation turning into anything else. Thankfully, I manage to take a breath, swallowing the inappropriate laughter about Ignacio possibly not being good during sex. “Driving is something I should learn, I guess. It just isn’t high on my list of priorities.”

“I’ll make sure it moves up on that list,” Lili says with a secret smile. She knows exactly where my mind was earlier.

Arriving at the dark room, I open the door and see my photos are exactly where I left them. Stepping inside, I check them to ensure they’re perfect, smiling excitedly when I see that the images are sharp.

“You made duplicates,” Lili observes, standing next to me. “They’re different though. He looks like he’s exploding out of the water.”

“I enlarged it a little so it would look like that,” I explain.

“Where are you going with those?” Ignacio asks, gazing at me in confusion.

“At the meet, I met someone named Calvin,” I say. “He asked if he could get color copies.”

“Calvin is Jared’s butler. He goes to every meet,” Ignacio adds.

I’m sure I’m missing some context because his gaze is guarded, but I just want to drop these off.

“So I’m taking you to Jared’s house?” Lili confirms.

“Ah, yes. I just want to drop these off and go,” I confirm.

“I’m following you,” Ignacio grunts as I walk back out into the hallway toward the parking lot. “Jared’s probably at practice, though.”

“Still?” Lili asks, brows drawing down.

“Yeah, that’s always my reaction too,” he grunts.

Ignacio is true to his word as he follows us in his car to Jared’s house, and I sigh as I gaze out the window.

“This is a dumb idea,” I murmur. “I’m not even doing this for Jared, but because Calvin asked me.”

“I remember him vaguely when I used to come over when I was younger. It was only once or twice, but Calvin was always nice enough,” Lili remembers.

Driving up to the gate, Lili pushes down the window and hits the button. She doesn’t have a chance to say anything before the doors begin to open, and I twist around in my seat to see that Ignacio is still following us. Maybe Calvin sees his car?

Fingers twisting in my lap, I continue to worry that this was a dumb idea. I’ve been trying so hard to find things that make me happy, maybe I focused on the wrong thing.

“Do you want me to go to the door with you?” Lili asks once she pulls up the driveway.

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