Elite (Empire High, #2)(10)

“How did that go?”

He smiled. “Good. She saw you at the funeral. She said you were pretty.”

I wasn’t sure why, but I was expecting a bigger reaction than that. I couldn’t be someone that his parents approved of. But then something hit me. He’d told her after the news broke. He told her after everyone believed I was related to the Pruitts. I suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.

“But we mostly talked about how we can get you out of staying with the Pruitts,” he continued.

“Wait. Aren’t your parents friends with them?”

“No, not really. They used to be in business together, but then they had a falling out.”

Interesting. “Is your mom the only person that knows about us?” I was happy he finally told someone. But it made me a little sick to my stomach that he only fessed up after he realized I was related to a monster. A rich monster, but still. And I was happy that Matt wanted to ditch class with me this morning. But I wasn’t an idiot. He’d given Kennedy the note to give to me so we wouldn’t be seen together. And we were in the middle of central park because no one at school was allowed to know I was seeing him. All of it was twisted. And it resulted in my stomach twisting into knots. I was his girlfriend right here right now, but I wouldn’t be at school later today. He’d keep his love for me hidden.

“I told Rob too. Technically he borrowed James’ car yesterday so we could find you. And that combined with the fact that he overheard our conversation on the phone…I didn’t have much of a choice.”

He didn’t sound mad. But he also seemed to purposefully avoid the word love again. I was worried I knew why. It felt like my heart was beating too fast. I didn’t want him to take it back just because I was a Pruitt. I didn’t want anything to change. But everything already had. I’d given him a condition for being my boyfriend – to not break my heart. Maybe he had a condition too – we’d be in a relationship only if I could get away from the Pruitts. “Did you tell Rob why you’re keeping our relationship a secret?”

He lowered his eyebrows as he looked down at me. “You know I can’t.”

Honestly, I didn’t. That was the whole problem. I knew there was some secret that Isabella was holding over his head. I knew it would hurt James if it came out. But that was all I knew. “Didn’t Rob ask why?”

“I think he just assumed it was because of…you know. Our economic differences.”

Economic differences? Something about the way he tried to make it sound fancy pissed me off. It was almost as if he was confirming why he finally told his mother about me. Because maybe we weren’t so economically different now. “You mean because I’m poor and you’re rich?” I took a step back from him. “You let him think that you’re embarrassed to be with me?”

“That’s not…”

“That is what you did. And that is what he thinks. Of course that’s what he thinks.”

“Hey.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into his chest. “I just need a bit more time. But I promise I’ll figure it out, okay?” He cupped the side of my face with his hand. “I could never be embarrassed of you. I love you.”

I couldn’t exactly stay mad at him when he said that. I had worried he wasn’t going to say it ever again. But there it was. “I love this hotdog,” I said and took another bite to stall. He’d told his mom so he could get me out of this mess with Mr. Pruitt. And he’d already told me our relationship had to be a secret for now. Nothing had changed really. Except my living arrangements and possibly my last name.

He laughed. “Anything else you love?”

“This view.” I gestured to the water. His stupid perfect face and perfect smile were tipping the scales back in his favor.

“Is that all?”

I smiled up at him. “No.” I bit my lower lip, pretending to think. But there was nothing to think about. I’d still love him even if we had to hide from the world for a few more days. Or weeks. God, hopefully not months. I stared into his chocolaty brown eyes. “Oh right. I’m pretty sure I love you too.”

He leaned down and kissed me.

And I knew I could never stay mad at him when I craved his lips this much. I was pretty sure the taste of cinnamon on his lips somehow soothed my soul. And I needed more. I gripped the back of his neck.

He groaned into my mouth and pulled away far too soon. “As much as I want to keep doing that right now, I have one more stop on our adventure before we need to go back to school. I have a test third period that I can’t miss.” He grabbed my hand before I could respond and we started running through Central Park.

***

We did need a car to get to our second destination. So he hailed a taxi. He didn’t ask me to close my eyes this time. And as we made one turn after the next, I knew exactly where we were going.

When the taxi pulled up in front of the cemetery, I was already having a hard time keeping a straight face.

He knew how important it was for me to say goodbye. He knew how much missing the second half of the funeral weighed on me. He was already fixing everything.

I tried to hold it together as Matt opened the taxi door for me. And as he held my hand, winding me through the tombstones until we got to a patch of fresh dirt. And as I forced myself to not fall to my knees.