Page 20 of The Prom King & The Ice Queen

I’d prefer her sharp, angry tone to this one.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately.”

“Don’t you?” I shoot back.

I didn’t even mean to respond, but now it’s out there.

She levels me with a glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

My laugh is sheer disbelief. “It means, you’re the only one who’s jazzed about finding out Grandpa had an affair, okay? And you can’t just expect me to be on board with that.”

Her expression falls. “Oh sweetie, I know that hurt you. And I get it. I do. You had a very different relationship with my parents than I did. You always got to see them as…well, as they wanted to be seen.”

I shift from one foot to the other. I know what’s coming. She rarely talks about it, but I know she had a strained relationship with my grandparents growing up. First when she was a teen, and then when they flipped out over her being young, single…and pregnant.

“Did you know?” I ask. I hate having to put this in words. “Did you know that Grandpa cheated on Grandma?”

She winces. “I wouldn’t say I knew.” She bites her lip as she searches for the right words. “But I always knew that they weren’t as happy as they let people believe. I remember their darker times over the years when they would go weeks without speaking. So…” She blows out a long exhale. “I guess I had my suspicions.”

I nod and look away. I’m so freakin’ tired of being the ignorant, pathetic child in this family. First when I found out about my real dad, and then when Vince came along…

I scrub a hand over my eyes. “I looked up to him.”

My mom’s arms come around me and she sighs.

Of course she understands all that I mean by that. I’ve never gotten along well with my stepdad. In some ways, it was sort of a relief to find out he wasn’t my biological father. It explained a lot of his resentment and animosity toward me, which he covers up well with the proud dad routine he pulls out for public occasions.

I’ve always felt it, though. But I could handle it because I had my Grandpa. He was the role model I’d needed, the father figure my stepdad never could be. I thought he was everything a man should be—honorable and trustworthy.

So yeah, finding out he cheated wasn’t exactly my finest hour.

“Look, Leo,” my mom says, and judging by her tone I know that the ‘sympathetic mother’ portion of this evening has come to an end. “I know you’re going through a lot right now, but that’s no excuse to take it out on Vince—”

“I’m not,” I interject. At her baleful look, I add, “Anymore.”

She rolls her eyes. Okay, I deserve that.

I take a deep breath. “I kept him from getting into trouble, didn’t I?”

She arches her brows. “You expect me to be happy that you stole your grandmother’s jewelry just to set him up?”

I open my mouth.

I shut it just as quickly.

Crap. I sorta forgot that was what I’d insinuated. No, actually, I’d outright told her that was why I’d taken the ring.

I wince under my mom’s withering, expectant stare.

“I didn’t mean that,” I say. “I never meant for Vince to get in trouble.”

But then I wish I hadn’t opened my mouth at all because now she’s giving me a different kind of expectant stare. “Then why did you take it?”

I didn’t!

But of course I can’t say that. Ugh, I really didn’t think this through.There’s no way I can explain why I’d taken the blame. Well, Mom,I’d seen Savannah looking all pale and frightened and—

I exhale sharply.

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