So Many Boys (The Naughty List #2)(58)

“I love you.” He kept saying it, as if it made everything else go away. As if it exonerated him. Or Mary.

I narrowed my eyes, thinking of her. Thinking of how her sneaking behind my back made her the ultimate snake. How she tried to ruin the Smitten Kittens for me. She was the fake SOS. If she could ruin my (sort of) relationship, she could ruin SOS.

“I’ll do anything, Tess. Please.”

On the corner, I saw a sedan turn onto the street. It was a sensible car. Something reliable. It slowed down just as it passed under a streetlight and I saw him. Immediately I smiled in relief, and suddenly I could breathe again. It was Joel.

Without a word to Aiden, I ran past him, my sandals slapping against my heels. I ran right into the road and put up my hands to stop the car. Joel braked violently and peered out of his windshield until he realized it was me.

He leaned his head out the driver’s-side window. “Holy hell, Tessa. Are you trying to get killed?”

I laughed then, shaking my head. I was so relieved to see him that I didn’t care that he almost ran me over. I was ready to go home.

“Tessa?” I heard Aiden call from the lawn behind me, but I didn’t turn. I couldn’t look at him right now. There was no such thing as Aiden.

“I need a ride, Joel,” I said, rubbing absently at my low back. “I just really need a ride home right now.”

Joel looked past me toward Aiden in the grass. He understood. “Get in.”

I exhaled and started walking around the car. But before I climbed in, I looked back once at Aiden. He raised his chin to me.

“I won’t give up, Tess,” he called, his voice thick. “I’ll make this up to you.”

I blinked heavily, unwilling to listen, then yanked open the door to Joel’s car.

“Looks like I missed a great party,” Joel said as we drove toward my house. “I mean, ex-boyfriends on the lawn and cheerleaders running out into the streets. Sounds like a hoot.”

“It was definitely unforgettable.”

“Things involving you usually are.”

My face warmed, and I looked sideways at him as he drove through the darkened streets. He was smiling, staring out the windshield. There were light splatters of rain on the glass as it started to drizzle, and Joel clicked on the wipers and turned up the heat. We didn’t listen to the radio.

“I didn’t know you were coming to the party,” I said after a while of car silence. “Kira didn’t mention it.”

He looked sideways at me. “Uh…why would she?”

I scrunched my face, not sure what he meant. I opened my mouth to answer just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn’t know who it was, and there was no way I was going to look now. I turned to gaze out the window at the passing streetlights.

“So what did he want?” Joel asked, flicking on the turn signal and merging onto the highway.

“Aiden? To talk to me,” I murmured. “To explain himself.” My stomach turned as I thought about the pain on his face. The embarrassment.

“Did he explain himself?”

I didn’t want to answer because I didn’t want to believe it myself. And even though Aiden was the only person I’d ever slept with…he couldn’t say the same. I might get sick.

I rolled down the window and let the wet air hit my face, probably wrecking my makeup and hair, but at this point, it didn’t matter. Tonight changed everything.

“Our friendship is a problem for Kira,” Joel said suddenly, his voice low. I opened my eyes in the air. Slowly I brought my head back in the car and rolled up the window.

“I know,” I answered, looking down into my lap.

“But…” He paused and exhaled. “I don’t want to stop being your friend, Tess.” He glanced over at me. “I have a lot of fun with you.” He smiled. “Even when your hair is sticking up in all directions and you have makeup smeared under your eyes.”

I laughed, reaching up to smooth back the hair poking out on the sides. Then I swiped my fingers under my lids and sniffled. “Better?”

“Much.”

I cleared my throat as Joel turned onto my street and pulled up to the curb in front of my house. When he stopped, he cut the engine. The streetlight above us illuminated the car so that I could see pretty clearly. I could see his hazel eyes.

“It was an unsolvable problem,” he said as he exhaled, like he’d been waiting to tell me that.

I furrowed my brow, looking over at him. “I…” I wanted to tell him that Kira was out of control, that she was acting possessive and mean. “Joel, I’m not sure I’m the one to give you advice,” I said instead.

He laughed. “That’s probably true.”

We sat together in his car, parked in the street and listening as the rain tapped on the windshield. I let the night wash over me. The copy-Kitten exposing the couples. How they stayed together. How Aiden had come for me.

“Aiden slept with someone else.” I paused. “Would you forgive him?” I asked Joel, my head resting against the back of the seat as I watched the water pool and run down the driver’s-side window.

Joel crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”

I blinked quickly. I wished the rain would stop. It was completely depressing.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.