Page 32 of All In Good Time

“Whoa, what?” Becca blanched, caught off guard at the sudden jump in assumptions. Here she was trying to figure out how to explain this whole thing to Marty, and meanwhile, he’s come to the conclusion that going into the same house together meant screwing. Granted, that was a very reasonable assumption in regard to Derek Stokes. “I am not screwing him.”

“Then why the hell did he go into your house?”

“I—” God, it sounded so silly. “I invited him in for spaghetti.”

His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. “You made dinner for that prick?”

“He gave me a ride home because it was cold. It was the least I could do.”

“Where the hell were you coming from with him?”

Now he was starting to piss her off. Sure, rumors floated around Derek like hungry little fish—greedy for their next bite. That’s why she’d wanted to keep her distance from him at school in the first place, to prevent that sort of attention. Despite that, Marty was sounding awfully accusatory.

“Excuse me for not wanting to walk a mile home in below-freezing temperatures. And since when does a boy going into my house mean I’m screwing him? Need I remind you that you’ve been in my home hundreds of times and not once have we done anything.”

Marty’s face dropped, and he stuttered in surprise. “I didn’t—it’s just—he’s—”

They arrived at school at the perfect time, pulling slowly into the parking lot.

“I get you hate each other,” Becca continued. “I get that you don’t like me being friends with him, I get it. But you don’t get to go around accusing me of stuff like that. It’s messed up.”

She opened the door as soon as the car stopped in his spot and slammed it behind her, leaving him alone in the car that wasn’t even in park yet.

There was a war inside of her. Part of her hated herself for being friends with someone Marty considered an enemy. The other part of her couldn’t forget those images of Derek in the dark, needing someone to turn to. Or the way he took her side against Brent—something that had taken Marty years to do when he was in that circle of friends.

No, Derek wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t horrible either.

Unfortunately for her, others had heard the rumor too. The attention wasn’t more than just a few side eyes or whispers until she got to Mrs. Bernard’s class and had to deal with Elaine’s cold shoulder. There went any chance of getting her help. The entirety of the project now lay on Becca alone.

After that, she was inclined to just skip out the rest of the day. An internal debate about that happened in the open door of her locker as she switched her history books for science.

“Trouble in paradise?” Derek leaned his back against her neighbor’s locker. This was the closest encounter they had had in public since that day with Brent and April. She’d made it very clear to him, while slurping up spaghetti, that she preferred to not have attention on her. He didn’t understand the sentiment, but he respected it and agreed they’d keep it low-key.

Now that their friendship was compromised, he didn’t care about pretending anymore.

“Not my best day.”

“You should’ve seen Parr in gym.” He whistled low and tilted his head. “Off his game. Whatever you said to him before storming out of his shit-box of a car must have struck a nerve.”

His words hit a soft chord in her heart and filled her with regret. She’d been harsh with Marty, and even though he wasn’t the best either, she couldn’t blame all his assumptions.

“Please tell me you didn’t make it worse.”

“Relax, I didn’t even say anything to him. I even let him make a few baskets.” He smirked.

She sighed in relief. “Just leave him alone, will you? I know you guys don’t get along, but believe it or not, he’s my best friend.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. But know I rarely make exceptions.”

“Well, then, thanks for making one for me.” The bell rang, and Becca groaned. “God, I’m sick of this day already.”

Derek smirked and leaned forward, a stray curl fell into his face. “Why don’t we get out of here then? I’m thinking you’re gonna need a ride anyway.” His head jerked to the side, motioning toward the nearest exit.

Oh, nowthatwas tempting. He dangled the idea in front of her by pulling out his keys and swinging them for her to see.

“What about Mal?”

He laughed. “She is more than capable of walking home.” He drew closer, his voice lowering to a murmur as the last of the students filed into their classes. “Come on. You know you want to.”

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