Page 46 of The Prom King & The Ice Queen

“I’m not going to tell on her,” I say to Vince. Because seriously, did everyone think I’m the biggest jerk on the planet?

He nods like he believes me, and I feel some of my defensive anger slip.

“All I asked for was a thank you, you know?”

No. They don’t know. How could they? But they seem to get that I don’t really require answers, so they just nod.

“But she’s all cold and hard and…and it’s like…no matter what I say or do, I keep ending up the bad guy.”

I wince at the memory of Savannah’s look of relief when Isla showed up. The way she’d been backing away from me like I was Jason with a chainsaw right before that.

“I don’t get what I did wrong,” I say.

Another silence falls, and I realize…it’s peaceful out here. Cold, but kinda nice. I get why they come out here to avoid the craziness inside.

I half expect Addie to say something comforting or reassuring, but the silence is broken by Vince instead. “Not you.”

I stare at him. Not. You. That’s what my oh-so-eloquent uncle has to offer. “What?”

Addie and I both look to him and he shrugs, wiping grease from his fries off on his tattered jeans. “People acting tough…it’s usually a front. They’re trying to hide something.”

My brows come down as I think of Savannah and her haughty attitude. “Yeah, okay,” I drawl. “But I’m not—”

“And when people are nice to them,” he continues, flashing a quick glance toward Addie, “and it freaks them out…”

I have no doubt that he’s talking about himself here. And how freaked he was when he found himself falling for Addie, the super sweetheart.

“It means that they’re scared,” he continues. “Not that you’re the bad guy.”

I stare at him for a long moment and he doesn’t look away.

I think…I think my big bad uncle is actually trying to help me here.

And I think maybe…it’s working.

“So, you think she’s afraid of something?”

He grunts with a nod. “Of you.”

For a minute I wonder if he knows who I’m talking about. For a half a second I wonder if he’s one of those silent sages who are secretly full of wisdom.

The second passes and I shake my head. Vince isn’t some wise monk, but he does have more experience with girls. At least, real exchanges with a girl who isn’t just looking to hookup to say that she did.

What he has with Addie is real, and for the first time in my life, I am jealous of another guy.

I want that. I want someone to look at me and get me, like Addie gets Vince. And I want to be that someone for someone else.

Oh, who am I trying to kid?

I want to be that for Savannah. As crazy as it sounds, seeing this new side of her has made the girl I thought I couldn’t stand become the one girl I find…intriguing.

More than intriguing.

My mind fills with images of her being all protective of Willow and Callie, or her voice cracking when she sang, or her gentleness with the kids at that party, and of the way she held her chin high after I saw the depressing reality that is her home life.

I think I might really genuinely like Savannah. Or I would…you know, if she actually let me get to know her.

“Why would she be scared of me?” I ask.

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