Page 68 of My Fault
Nicholas stopped the car in front of a big house—not as big as ours, but big enough to make a person like me gawk and stare. Nick picked up his phone and dialed.
“I’m here. Come on out,” he said coldly, especially compared with the past few minutes, when he’d been more relaxed than I’d ever seen him.
“You really are a gentleman. You know that, right?”
“I don’t go for that bullshit,” he said, putting away his phone and shifting into first as he saw the door crack open. “A girl is perfectly capable of leaving her house without an escort.”
Nicholas’s date wasn’t too tall—I had a good five inches on her—and her expression was so stiff and snobby that I’d put her straight on my list of enemies. I could still remember her comment about my ex, and it made me livid.
It was funny how her eyes got bigger as she saw who was in the car. First her lips pursed, then she scowled, and by the time she got here, she was actually ugly.
She stopped in front of my window, clearly intending to say something. Too bad I didn’t feel like rolling it down so I could hear her. Nicholas groaned and touched the button on his side, lowering it against my will.
“What is this?” Anna asked, looking at us incredulously.
“A car,” I answered, laughing at her.
I felt a pinch on my thigh, and I was about to slap Nick’s hand away, but then I saw he’d appreciated my remark. He was trying to look serious, but his eyes were shining as he held back a giggle.
“Get in, Anna,” he said, and rolled my window back up.
She stared daggers into me one more time before opening the back door and getting in. She wasn’t used to being back there, and it entertained me to watch her in the rearview acting like a spoiled little girl.
Once we left the development, we finally turned onto the interstate. I was starving, and I wanted to get there as soon as possible.
No one said anything; there was just the noise of the motor and the road, and this time I was the one who turned on the radio. Then I leaned back, crossed my arms, and looked out the window. Annaseemed to have run out of her dumb, supposedly witty remarks, and Nicholas was lost in thought, apparently unconcerned with how hard it was for me to sit in the same car with the bimbo he was having sex with. I didn’t know anything about their relationship, but it couldn’t have been too serious if he’d hooked up with me all those times.
I was grateful when we reached the restaurant on the outskirts of the city on a road full of bars with noisy people milling around. I saw Jenna and Lion by the door, and when Nicholas parked, I ran off toward them.
Jenna hugged me. Lion’s response was cooler, but still, he was friendlier than Nick. I was surprised to see Mario was with him. He’d come to see me and talk at the bar where I worked several times, and I’d gotten used to that smile and those pearly-white teeth.
“If it isn’t my favorite waitress!” he said. But his smile vanished when he saw Nick and Anna come over.
They exchanged an unmistakably hostile look.
“What are you doing here?” Nicholas asked gruffly. Why did he always have to act like such an asshole?
“We just ran into him, and I told him he should come eat with us,” Jenna said, winking at me. She clearly knew nothing about the tension between them.
Before my stepbrother could start a fight right on the spot—knowing him, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the least—I shouted “Great!” and forced a smile.
There was a long line to get into the restaurant. Luckily it was nothing fancy, so I fit right in, unlike Anna in her heels and tiny dress. “Mario, you’ll be my date tonight,” I said. “I wasn’t in the mood to play third wheel anyway.” Mario seemed pleased and threw an arm over my shoulders, pulling me in close.
“Excellent!” he said and walked over to the host stand. I turned my back on Nicholas. He looked incensed.
A few minutes later, we were seated at a round table in a side room away from all the racket. I guessed the names Nicholas Leister and Jenna Tavish meant something there.
I sat between Mario and Jenna. Since Lion was next to Jenna and Anna next to Mario, that meant Nicholas was right across from me. After everyone ordered their drinks, we sat there in uncomfortable silence. With Nicholas trying to play the tough guy, it was all I could do not to tell him to fuck off. Thankfully, Jenna finally piped up.
“You know what, Anna?” Jenna grinned at me, clearly aware of Anna’s irritation as she glanced all around, trying to figure out what was going on. “Noah’s going to go to St. Marie’s. You should introduce her to Cassie, since we’ll probably all be in the same homeroom.” Ever since Jenna found out we’d be going to the same school, it was all she could talk about.
“Who’s Cassie?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going even though Anna clearly wasn’t in the mood for it.
She looked up from her cell phone with a glimmer in her dark eyes. I felt intimidated. What was she cooking up in that dumb head of hers?
“She’s my little sister,” she said, glancing over at Nick. When she caught his eye, he leaned over the table and took her hand.
“Little?” I asked, dubious. “How old are you?”
