The Will (The Magdalene Series) (Volume 1)(81)

Amber’s face lost all its color as she stared at her friend.

“Don’t worry though. Josie totally laid him out,” boy Taylor went on to assure her.

Her pale face turned my way and it was clear from the look on it she was not assured.

I got closer, feeling my heart beating harder. “I’m so sorry, my lovely girl,” I said gently. “He was saying some awful things and I simply couldn’t help myself.”

“What’d he say?” she whispered.

Boy Taylor (and girl Taylor) huddled closer and boy Taylor shared quietly, “He called you a tease and said if you like your cherry so much, you can keep it.”

Pink tinged her cheeks at that even as she winced.

“What a dick,” girl Taylor decreed at this point and I looked to her to see her looking at Amber. “I so totally told you, Amber. He’s completely up his own ass.”

“He is, girlfriend,” boy Taylor agreed. “He thinks he’s all that when you’re all that and tonight with your face like it is you’re even more all that. And anyway no guy should trash talk a girl for anyone to hear or…freaking…ever. But he did and he’s so not worth putting up with this. Even if he was, he still wouldn’t be.”

“I believe this is true,” I told her, still going gently and she looked to me. “And I’m afraid I shared this with him and, perhaps, fibbed a bit,” I finished on an admission.

“You fibbed?” she asked, her voice weak as she accepted these rather vicious-to-a-teenaged-girl blows.

“Yes.”

“About what?”

I took a deep breath and on the exhale explained, “Well, I told him I was taking you and the Taylors to Bounce, which I didn’t know that was the concert you wanted to see in Boston. Since I know Lavon, I’ll be happy to do that if we can talk your father into letting you go.”

Her mouth dropped open and I looked to the girl Taylor.

“You may wish to share this with your parents. Lavon will gladly give me backstage passes should I ask, something I’ll be doing first thing tomorrow. Please assure your parents all travel arrangements and accommodation will be covered by me and I’ll be with you at all times.”

Her striking eyes were big and she asked, “You know Lavon Burkett?”

“Of course,” I murmured, but felt it imperative we return to the matter at hand.

To do so, I looked back to Amber.

“I must share that I also fibbed about the fact that you’re talking with Julian online. Julian is a model that Henry often works with. Of course, I can introduce you to Julian and make that fib true too, but I’m uncertain how your father will react to that so let’s get the concert issue dealt with first and then we’ll move on to Julian.”

Amber was now blinking up at me, clearly unable to process all that was coming her way, but before I could even attempt to reassure her, boy Taylor exclaimed, “Oh my gawd!”

“What?” girl Taylor asked.

We all looked to him to see he had his phone screen turned our way. On it was a picture of Julian emerging from the surf, fully wet, his well-defined body alluringly bronzed, wearing rather skimpy black bathing trunks, water dripping from a dark lock dangling from his forehead, an arresting yet mischievous smile on his face.

“Please tell me he’s really gay,” boy Taylor breathed.

“Alas, I can’t tell you that young Taylor, for he very much is not,” I replied.

“I’m in love,” girl Taylor whispered.

“You can introduce me to him?” Amber asked breathily.

My eyes moved to her and I saw my mistake so I moved instantly to control the situation.

“Let’s stay focused,” I urged. “First, your friends need to get permission to go to the concert and I need to discuss that with your father to make certain you can go. Second, you need to handle yourself tonight very carefully. I’ve no idea how Noah will react to my set down but he might take that out on you.”

I got closer and spoke quieter.

“You, my lovely girl, must act like you don’t care. You can take him or leave him. If he ignores you, bury any reaction you may have to it. You can talk to your friends about it or even…” I hesitated before offering, “me, if you would trust me enough to share your feelings. If he doesn’t ignore you, give him your time but not much of it. His words and behavior tonight proved he’s not worth it.”

Amber proved she had a one-track mind—that being the boy track—when to this she repeated with a jerk of her head in the direction of boy Taylor’s phone, “You can introduce me to him?”

“Amber, did you hear what I said?” I asked.

I watched her swallow, her eyes get bright and her words were trembling when she asked back, “He called me a tease?”

At the look on her face and the sound of her words, I felt my heart get heavy.

My poor girl.

I leaned into her and lifted a hand to her jaw.

Stroking her soft cheek with my thumb, I whispered, “Yes, my lovely girl. He was most ungentlemanly.”

“He acted like he liked me,” she whispered back.

“He likely does,” I told her. “He also has to show a certain face to his friends and feels he has to play his role as big man in a way that he can keep that role but has the mistaken and rather juvenile impression that doing that means gathering conquests and behaving very badly.”