Page 52 of Fourth Wheel
“He does not.”
“Come home with metomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” I agree, kissing her one more time before I carefully shift her to the side and swing open the liquor cage door to find what Teddy needs. “Now get back out there and eat your tots before the guys notice we’ve both been gone for way too long.”
“You better be worth the wait, Dempsey Haas,” she whispers in my ear before walking down the dimly lit hall.
Chapter 24
Maddie
Isitinfrontof my vanity and add more waves to my hair with my curl wand, smiling at how silly it is to do my hair for tonight. If everything goes according to plan, this mop will look like a lion’s mane by the time Dempsey and I are done with each other.
“You’re really going all out tonight,” Paige chirps from my bed as she mindlessly flips through a magazine. “Who are you going out with again?”
We spent the day together, lounging in the pool while she licked her wounds from her latest Kyle encounter. She had sex with him at Andrew Adley’s party—and hasn’t heard from him since.
Typical.
But also convenient for me. If Kyle’s on her shit list, she’s far less likely to suggest we hang out with him and Travis anytime soon. I’d be thrilled if we didn’t see them again this summer. Especially after the way Travis ditched me at the party.
I make eye contact with my best friend through the vanity mirror and smile. “You don’t know him,” I answer, because technically she doesn’t.
“So it’s a mystery man,” she pushes.
She’s got themanpart right.
Somehow I went from playing a game of cat and mouse with Dempsey Haas to wanting to prove to him just how cooperative and compliant I can be. I like it when he calls me baby girl and princess. I fucking loved it when he called me his naughty girl last night.
I can’t hide my smile as I think about having him all to myself. We haven’t been in a position where we could justbe. There won’t be any sneaking around or holding back tonight. No stolen kisses, late night rendezvous, or lustful stares. I get him to myself. And I’m more than ready to have all of him.
“You are grinning like a fool!” Paige throws a pillow at my head, but I see it coming and shoot out an arm to catch it. Thanks, LAX skills.
“Maybe a little,” I admit, turning back to the vanity and selecting my favorite strawberry fizz lip gloss.
“Does your mystery man know about your heroic efforts last weekend?” she teases.
I roll my eyes at the reminder. The onslaught of new photos and videos from Adley’s party has slowed—I’m pretty sure I’ve seen everything that’s been uploaded at this point. That hasn’t stopped the flurry of texts, emails, and DMs from people making sure I’ve seen each one, though.
Idiots. Of course I’ve seen them. I was tagged in all the posts. I fucking lived the whole experience. The only saving grace is that neither Fielding nor Dempsey has social media, so no one’s been able to connect them to the incident.
Paige knows a version of what happened last weekend. But we haven’t talked about it much. I’ve brought Kyle up often to divert her attention. I’d prefer to drop the whole thing: the more we talk about it, the more I have to skirt around the truth.
“Probably,” I hedge. “I’m going out with someone from school. He goes to Cal, too, but he lives about thirty minutes from here.”
I feel bad about the blatant lie. But I really don’t want her snooping around.
“It’s someone from around here? That’s awesome!”
Shit. Of course she’s excited that I’m going out with someone local. I scramble for a response to curb her enthusiasm.
“He wants to stay out in California for grad school, too,” I lie. Again.
Her smile drops, and she sighs as I turn back to spray my hair and add another layer of lip gloss. I’d rather manage her expectations now than give her false hope that I willeverbe a permanent resident of Hampton, Ohio again.
California. Timbuktu. I want to live literally anywhere but here. I just don’t have it in me to dash her dreams tonight.
I adjust my T-shirt and smooth down the front of my high-waisted jeans before pulling open the door of The Oak.
