Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(110)

photo shoot.

“I’m on lunch break.” Hands causally tucked in his slacks, he nodded his head at the door. “Care to join me?”

Seeing that I had just enough time to squeeze in lunch before class, I nodded and grabbed my bag off the table. Anna frowned at me, but didn’t say anything in front of Denny. I mentally reminded myself to ask her to not say anything about this to Griffin. I wasn’t sure how often they communicated, but I didn’t need that particular D-Bag mouthing off to Kellan about Denny. I would tell Kellan, when the time was right, and in a way that wouldn’t be hurtful to him. I was sure Griffin wouldn’t be so tactful.

Thinking of Griffin reminded me of Kellan’s odd text, a text that he’d said was from him, but I pushed the thought away as Denny led me to his company car. Kellan may have fibbed, or maybe not. Maybe Griffin had gotten a new number that Anna didn’t know about, or maybe he was sending gross pictures from Matt’s phone. That seemed plausible.

Just as I was feeling better about the strange text, Denny stopped us in front of his sleek, two-door sports car. It looked like one of those cars that they always show doing 360s in the commercials, like real people drove that way.

I let out a low whistle as Denny popped the passenger’s side open.

“Now I see why you don’t need your Honda back,” I muttered, sliding in to the creamy, leather seats.

Denny softly laughed as he got into his side. “Yeah, it’s not bad.” He started it, revving the engine. Giving me a crooked grin, he shrugged.

“There are some perks to being in charge.”





307


I laughed at his expression as he drove us along the roller coaster steep hills, happy that he was thriving too. At least I hadn’t damaged the men in my life so badly that they’d never recover from it.

My bag rang as we headed out to a café that Denny liked when he’d been here before. I reached in and grabbed it, wondering if it was Anna, about to give me a mouthful for heading out with Denny. I stared at the screen and hesitated, just for a second. Denny eyed me curiously as I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, gorgeous…guess where I woke up today?” I smiled as Kellan’s sultry voice met my ear. “I have no idea.” And I really didn’t, I’d lost track of his exact location ages ago.

Kellan chuckled and I glanced over at Denny, his eyes back to the road. It gave me a weird sort of guilt to be back in a situation that was eerily similar to last year. Different though, since Denny and I weren’t doing anything inappropriate.

“Kansas…know what’s in Kansas?”

I leaned back in my seat and shook my head. “No.”

“Nothing,” he dryly said. “Miles and miles of nothing.” I laughed at his answer and he sighed. “God, I’ve missed your laugh. It’s just not the same over the phone, you know.”

Closing my eyes, I twirled a lock of hair around my finger, imagining that it was his. “I know…I’ve missed you, too.” I heard Denny shift beside me, but I kept my eyes closed, biting my lip as a little more guilt flooded me.

Just as I was thinking of ways to tell Kellan that Denny was back, Kellan asked, “So, what have you been up to lately?” 308



I opened my eyes and tensed, wondering if someone had told him already. “Uh…just work and school. Did I tell you I started my new quarter last month? I have a poetry class now.” I rolled my eyes, hating that I’d chosen the most trivial fact to tell him.

By his reaction, though, you’d have thought I’d just told him I’d won the lottery. “Really? I like poetry…it’s a lot like lyric writing. Less cursing though.”

He chuckled again and I relaxed. If he knew about Denny, he probably wouldn’t be joking. I glanced over at Denny studiously studying his driving, maybe uncomfortable, maybe just giving me privacy, I wasn’t sure. As I watched him, Kellan added, “So what are you up to today?” I flushed, not wanting to lie, but not ready to tell him. “Nothing really…”

He sighed softly. “Well, I’ve just got endless driving in front of me…please tell me your life is more interesting than that. One of us needs a good story to tell.”

I smiled, knowing his current life was much more interesting than most people would ever experience, even if it did involve endless driving. Biting my lip, I studied Denny again. “Well…I’m on my way to have lunch with a friend.”

Denny looked over at me, raising a dark eyebrow and frowning slightly. I knew he wanted me to expand on that to Kellan, but I couldn’t yet, not over the phone. I felt like this conversation needed to be done in person.

Kellan brightly said, “Good, it’s good that you’re getting out, having a life.”

I looked straight ahead and twisted my lips. “Of course I still have a life. Do you think my world revolves around you?” I said it in an obviously teasing way, but Kellan paused a moment before answering. “No, no I don’t think that at all.” His voice was quiet, 309



introspective, and I again wondered if he knew something. Maybe I should tell him over the phone anyway…

“You alright?” I asked quietly.

He inhaled a deep breath, taking a very long time before answering.