Page 40 of Trusting Blake
“She can’t speak right now,” Tori answers on her behalf, stepping forward, as chill as ever, “but I know what she’s dying to ask, so I’ll ask for her: Could she maybe have a photo taken with you?”
“Tori!” Savannah hisses, mortified. “Shut up!”
But Dad lets out a polite, friendly laugh. He gets this all the time. “Sure,” he says, and advances toward Savannah.
Hands shaking, she passes her phone to Tori. Dad is way taller than her, so he hunches forward and puts his arm around her shoulders. He grins, and for a moment it’s easy to forget that he lives a life full of secrets and tension. Of lies. Like everyone else, I used to believe Dad was a movie star enjoying all the benefits of the high life without any particular problems.
As I watch him pose next to Savannah, putting her at her ease while Tori snaps a photo of the pair of them, my throat feels dry. I’m guilty of putting Dad on a pedestal too.Of coursehe’s going to make his own mistakes in life. Right now, they seem so much more shocking because I always expected him to be perfect.
“Well, you girls have fun,” he says as he breaks away from a near-swooning Savannah. “Nice to meet you. But Mila has to stick around the ranch, so please don’t encourage her to leave.”
“We won’t, sir,” Savannah promises, and Tori scoffs. I’m also trying not to laugh. Savannah is adorable, an overexcited puppy desperate for approval, just like Bailey. It’s hard not to love her.
“Marnie, I need you for a sec, please,” Dad says. He slips his hand into Mom’s and together they leave the room as though they’re a flawless, happy couple.
“I’m totally trembling!” Savannah says once my parents are out of earshot. She holds up her hands to show the tremor in them, and then she grabs her phone back from Tori to check out the photo of Dad and her.
Tori gives me a strange look. “So, what’s going on with your parents? They seem. . . together.”
“I’m as confused as you are,” I say with a sigh. “I know they’re working on stuff, and they keep talking about when we all go back home, so. . . I guess things might be okay again at some point, but I’ve stopped speculating for now.”
“Oh, I forgot about that,” Savannah admits, tucking her phone away as she calms down and tunes into the conversation.
“Forgot about what?”
“That you’ll eventually go home,” she says, and the way she seems genuinely disheartened by this realization tugs at my heart. I’m pretty sure Savannah and I would have grown up as best friends all through middle school and high school if I hadn’t moved away. “What about Blake?”
I sit down on the couch and throw myself back against the cushions, sighing. “We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I’m sure we can make it work. I’ll just visit more often, so I’ll get to see you guys too!”
“No! You can’t leave,” Tori protests, dramatically throwing her hands up in the air as she adds, “Lacey Dixon will swoop in and steal your man the second you’re out of those gates and across the state border, girl.”
“She’s already trying,” I grumble. “In plain sight.” I pick at a frayed edge on one of the cushions and glance at Savannah. “His mom seems to be a real advocate for her.”
Savannah sighs and settles on the couch opposite. “Yeah, my aunt LeAnne has always loved Lacey. After all, she’s the perfect girl-next-door. Plus, her parents are close family friends, so she wasn’t impressed when Blake dumped Lacey over Christmas break.”
I sit up so fast it actually hurts my abs. “Wait. Theydated? I thought you guys said he wasn’t interested in her.”
Tori shoots Savannah daggers. “Nice one, Savannah.”
It’s back again, that awful feeling of my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach. Back at the bonfire a few weeks ago when I first laid eyes on Lacey, Tori gave me the impression that Lacey was interested in Blake but not vice versa, but if they actuallydated. . . And yet Blake always tells me they’re just friends. Now Lacey’s discreet little advances toward Blake seem so much more malicious. And he calls her by a nickname. . .Lace. . .which feels a whole lot more significant than it did before.
“Oops,” Savannah squeaks, chewing her lip. “But it is kinda better that you know, Mila. Honestly, it’s no big deal. They were only official for a month or two, and I’m pretty sure Blake just gave in to her after she pursued him the whole year.”
“Ooookay,change of subject!” Tori announces. She claps her hands together and positions herself in the center of the living room, her gaze moving rapidly back and forth between Savannah and me. “Did you guys see the news this morning? Mila, you didn’t tell us Blake practiced his boxing skills on a photographer.”
“Because I still haven’t gotten my phone back,” I groan, tossing the cushion I was picking at to the side. The headline from this morning flashes through my mind, accompanied by that unflattering picture of Blake turning aggressive. “But yeah. His mom won’t be pleased about that.”
I’m worried about him. We haven’t talked since Ruben picked me up from his house yesterday, but I imagine there has been a big fallout in the Avery home this morning. LeAnne is strict even if Blake is on his best behavior, so this stunt of his – justified or not – won’t go down well. But I’m also wondering how the dinner with Lacey went. When was he going to mention to me that she’s his ex?
“Myles talked to Blake an hour ago,” Savannah says. “He’s dropping Bailey off at our place soon and then going out of town.”
My body stiffens. “He’s leaving?”
“Yeah. He’s going to Memphis.”
“Memphis?” I repeat, jumping up from the couch. Goddamn, why did my dad have to confiscate my phone? I need to talk with Blake now more than ever. “For how long?”
Savannah shrugs, unsure and a little uneasy.
