Crushed (10 page)

Of course, he
knew the difference was that Cleo really had moved on.

He
hadn’t.

He
had spent
his
summer working full-time bus
sing tables at the country club.
He had the duty of
cleaning up after a bunch of rich snobs—
his dad being the worst of them. He
had spent a lot of time working just to keep busy. It wasn’t like
he
actually needed the money.
His
dad had been pissed about that, too. That Reece had gotten a job on his own when
he could’ve come to work for him. He could’ve started learning the ropes. Or, as far
as his mom was concerned, he didn’t need to work yet at all.

If
Reece’s
dad’s purpose in life was to make money,
he
knew
his
mom’s was to spend it. If shopping for herself was her favorite activity, buying
things for
Reece and
his
sisters and nieces
came in at a close
second.

He was spoiled. But at least he
knew enough to admit it. And after seeing how Cleo worked her bu
tt off for everything she had, he
knew enough to appreciate it.

After they had gotten outside this afternoon, and started their assignment, she’d
barely looked at him. Her bottom lip had been quivering. Her eyes had been glassy
and her
hand had looked shaky
when she’d written down his answers.
When it was his turn to question her, she
’d
answered without looking at him. Instead, she’d fidgeted with the notebook in her
lap.
Which made him feel like an ass, even though he kept trying to convince himself he
shouldn’t.

If she’d just given him answers in the first place, they wouldn’t have needed to have
that conversation. But he could tell himself that all he wanted.
After everything she had been through, he knew it took a lot to make her upset. But
there was no doubt he had upset her.
Badly
. He just didn’t get
why
.
She should be past caring.

By the end of class, he was feeling so guilty he had tried to apologize. She’d given
him a weak smile, told him he didn’t have anything to be sorry about
. Then
she waved him away and disappeared into the crowd.

His
attention was snapped back to the p
resent when the person behind him gave him a nudge. He had more or less managed to
keep Cleo out of his head most of the day. Until now. And
now
his
frustration with
her
was fueled all over again
. T
hanks to
his
most recent mind ramblings.

“
Next
?” the bank teller said. She was using a tone that made
him
sure it was not the first time she’d said it.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he moved to the counter. He slid his
paycheck and deposit s
lip forward. “I’d just like thirt
y in cash, please. The rest in savings.” 

“Are tens okay?” the
tired
looking woman asked. She glanced at the clock. The bank would be closing any minute.

“Sure,” he agreed. He
waited for he
r to click away at her keyboard. She deposited
the majority of it
before counting out his
cash.

“Thanks,” he
told her.

She motioned for him to hurry along as the next person stepped forward.

A
s he
walked toward the doo
r of the now nearly-empty bank he
was thi
nking how stupid it was that he had worked just so he
could deposit
the majority of each paycheck. He’d deposited them because he
didn’t actually
need
the money. And while he
realized that was hardl
y a problem, it annoyed him
anyway bec
ause that was the kind of mood he
was in.

His phone rang just as he
was reaching the
wall
of glass doors
. They
led out of the bank and onto the sidewalk.

It was Mia, of course.

“Hey, whe
re are you
?” she asked in what he
thought was supposed to be a seductive voice. The problem was it was the same voice
she
’d
used to ask the guy at the Corner Creamery if she could have extra cherries on her
sundae. Since then, it’d pret
ty much not had any effect on him
.

“I’m
just pulling into my driveway,” he
lied
.

“You’re lying,” she purred, or cooed, or whatever it was she was trying to do. She
said this just as
he
reached the glass doors.
He
caught a glimpse of her wh
ite convertible parked behind his
vehicle across the street.

“Hey,” he
said trying to pla
y it off like he
was joking. “Y
ou ask a ridiculous question, you get a ridiculous answer.”

She glanced up and saw him
. S
o she disconnected and slid out of the car.

Any sane guy would be all over her
, he thought to him
self. Mia was a mini blond bombshell. She was tiny but curvy. He
r hair was never out of place. He
had never seen her without a full coating of
make-up. Her body…well, yeah, he
realized again, any sane guy would be all over her.

Apparently
, he
decided,
I’m not sane.
I’m out of my mind with missing Cleo.

Of course, the problem with Mia was that she knew this about herself. And not only
did she know it, she expected everyone else to not only
know
it, but to
appreciate
it.

He
waited
for a passing car to go by so he
could cross the street. Mia smiled and waved as she leaned against her car.
She looked truly happy to see him.

He
was suddenly d
renched in a feeling of guilt. He decided then and there he
needed to put more effo
rt in putting the past behind him. Maybe he
just needed to be more open to giving Mia a chance. Adam hated her, no doubt about
that
. S
o did Lauren. She was one of
the most self-absorbed people he’d ever met. But what he
realize
d right then, was so was he. He’d been so wrapped up in himself that he
’d never really been fair to her.

“
I don’t want to fight any more,” Mia told
him
. “But you never should’ve been talking with Cleo.”

“I know.” She was right. And
he
didn’t want to argue either. “I’m sorry,”
he
said. Again.

“
Any chance you’re free right now?
”
she
asked as she wrapped herself around
him.

He
tried to
shove a smile onto his
face. “Sure. What do you want to do?”

“My parents are working late. They’ll be gone for a few more hours,” she said. The
inflection of her tone made it obvious where she was going with that.

Her parents owned the largest real estate agency in town. They put in a fair amount
of late nights as they catered to their clients. Seemed lots of people didn’t want
to take time off work to look for houses
. S
o Mia’s parents worked late to accommodate them.

“Perfect,” he
told her.

When she leaned i
n for a kiss, he
didn’t stop her. E
ven though they
were standing in the middle of a downtown street.

“Follow me,” she said.

As
he got into his
vehicle, letting Mia p
ull out onto the street first, he told himself that he
was go
ing to stop being such an ass. He
was
going to start giving Mia his full attention. Maybe if he
tried harder to make her happy, maybe she would be. Maybe she’d be less difficult.

His
resolve la
sted less than five
minutes and he found him
self thinking about Cleo again.

“I am so screwed,” he
announced to
his
empty truck.

Spring
, sophomore year…

He
had his
bra
ces on longer than anyone else he
knew
. By the end of sophomore year he
was still doing fol
low up check-ups to make sure his
retain
er was doing its job at night. He would grumble to his
mom about it all
of the time but later, he
decided maybe it was fate.

He
was coming back from an orthodontist appointment tha
t morning. He
had been runn
ing down the sidewalk because they
were getting a pr
etty heavy spring shower. When he
hit the wide steps that led into the school someone came flying out of the door.
She
would’ve barreled right into him
as she bounded down the short
staircase. He
managed to
dodge out of the way so that she only sideswiped him
. Still, the momentum from the crash nearly threw her
to her knees. By some miracle he managed to get his
arms around her before she tumbled to the ground.

His
voice got clogged in
his
throat the minute
he
got her back on her feet and realized it was Cleo Bennet.

And that she was sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” he
asked, instantly regretting it. Her eyes were miserable and h
er face was doused with tears. He shook his head at his
stupidity. “Sorry, stupid question.”

“S-sorry,” she managed to squeeze out. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her
middle, like she was hoping maybe that would hold her sobs inside
.

How she had managed to come back to school after only a week, how she sat in class
looking so stoic,
he
couldn’t imagine. But she wasn’t stoic now.

Stoic. What an inappropriate word for a sixteen year
old girl. But it was fitting. He knew, because he had a few classes with her. He
was embarrassed to admit that he
was one of the curious people that openly gawked a
t her after she had come back. He
’d watched her, her pale face with big, dark crescents under her eyes looking completely
empty and numb. Until that moment, when she burst from the doors looking like it had
all crashed down on her again. 

He had
never, before or since, seen someone as pitiful and vulnerable as she
was in that moment. She stole his
heart then and there. The moment she uttered an apology she took off running again.

He
didn’t have to think about it. He
simply ran after her, easily catching her.

“Cleo, stop!” he said as he
grabbed
a hold of
her elbow, trying to slow her down. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know,” she choked out around tears she was trying to stop.

He
didn’t even know her then. Not really.

“You shouldn’t drive like this, you’re too upse
t,” he told her. He
hadn’t realized at the time
that
she didn’t have a car. She wasn’t headed anywhere in particular, just trying to get
away.

She shook her head and then she burst into tears again.

He hesitantly put his
arms around her, wondering if it was the right thin
g to do. She grabbed hold of him
and her whole body s
hook with sobs. Looking back, he thought
she just neede
d someone. A
nyone really, and he
just happened to be there.