“From the looks of it, you were talking,” she said pointedly. “But what did you learn about her?”
I opened my mouth to protest but shut it as a rush of embarrassment swept over me before I could stop it. Crap. She had a point. Rose had kept turning the conversation back to me, and I’d been all too happy to be the center of her attention.
“Fine,” I snapped, already turning away. “I’ll try to get to know the vast depths that make up Rose Parson.”
Simone ignored my sarcasm. “Good. Then I’ll leave you to it.”
She disappeared and I was back to wandering the woods in search of my date. Nope. Nothing humiliating about this. Nothing at all.
Freakin’ Rose.
I heard her voice before I caught sight of her. She was closer to the house then I’d thought, and I only heard her when I’d started to head back to the party.
“I heard you the first time,” she hissed.
I froze at the tone of her voice. I’d never once heard her like this, so…unpleasant. So…unhappy. So…emotional.
“I said fine,” she snapped, her voice a little too high.
Yup. There is was. There was no denying it. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
“I don’t need the details, thanks. I got it. You want me out of the house, I’m gone. I won’t come home tonight.”
I stopped again, but this time I was close enough to see her. She was leaning against a tree trunk again, but this time she wasn’t posing. She was slumped over, one hand covering her eyes as she said something softly that I didn’t catch.
My heart lurched at the sight of her like this. So…human. Fragile. Vulnerable.
Crap.
When my heart started up again, it was racing too fast and Simone’s voice was loud in my head, phrases jumbled but the meaning clear. Everyone has their stuff…she’s not as tough as you think… Don’t hurt someone for the sake of stereo equipment….
Freakin’…crap.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rose’s voice was a little louder as she straightened and for a half second I thought she was talking to me.
Holy freakin’ crap.
Was Simone right?
Was I wrong?
But Rose didn’t see me. She looked off in the direction of the party. “Yeah. Fine. See you in the morning.” She took her phone away from her ear and I realized I had to move. I had to say something. I couldn’t keep standing there like a creeper in the shadows…
But then it happened.
She…cried.
At least, I was pretty sure she was crying. She covered her face with her hands and her shoulders moved, a little sound escaped…
And I was a statue.
I was a freakin’ deer in headlights.
I was a statue of Bambi in oncoming traffic.
Then two things seemed to happen at once. She sniffed and straightened, and I moved. I wasn’t even sure what I’d been intending to do, but I couldn’t just stand there and watch a girl cry.
Not any girl.
But especially not this girl.
My heart felt like it was taking a beating at the sight of Rose crying.
I froze again when she looked my way.
I couldn’t see her eyes in the darkness, but I could see her body tense. “Who’s there?” She leaned forward at the same time I took another step toward her. “Oh, it’s you.” Her exhale wasn’t exactly a sigh of delight.
I stilled again. I wasn’t sure ‘Oh, it’s you’ could ever really sound like a warm welcome, and in this particular instance there was no denying the fact that she was…not pleased to see me.
“Are you, uh…you okay?”
She made a little noise of disdain as she turned back toward the party again. “Yeah, fine. I’m great. I’ll see ya later.”
“Rose, wait.”
She stopped.
She waited.
And I…had no idea what to say.
11
Rose
I was so not in the mood for this.
I hadn’t been in the mood to play the role of fun, flirty Rose all night, and now?
I lifted a hand to my temple without thinking.
Now I just couldn’t.
Besides, the poor schmuck looked shell-shocked at the sight of me crying. To be fair, I hadn’t been crying for real. It wasn’t like some sob-fest over here. I’d just given into a momentary need for physical relief. It was an expunging of tension, that was all.
I was over it now.
I was fine.
Totally fine.
Or at least, I would be once I found Hannah and told her I needed a ride home. And oh yeah…a place to crash.
“Where are you going?” Jax called after me as I turned to go when he’d failed to speak.
Really, did he expect me to wait around all night for him to form a coherent sentence? Nope. No way. Besides, I was sick of hearing him speak. I’d played him like a banjo for the better part of the night, and I should have been reveling in my success…
But I wasn’t.
The thrill of being the better actor had died a quick and merciless death after I’d heard him and Simone talking.
I knew he didn’t have much respect for me, but…no heart? Really?
That was a little harsh, no?
Just like that I’d realized that Hannah had been right. As usual. My practical, no-drama friend had been so right. I was never going to win this game he was playing. It was a race to see who could hurt who more. Who could get less hurt.
It was a stupid, petty game.
And he called me shallow. I’m the self-absorbed one? Did he know how hilarious that was to hear after he’d basically performed a one-man show tonight telling me about his band?
Ugh.
Men.
“Rose, where are you going?” He was by my side now as I trampled through leaves and underbrush. His hand on my arm made me pause. “Are you okay?”
I shouldn’t have looked up.
Without heels, he was a little taller than me, and right now he was hovering. He was arching a bit so he formed this wall between me and
