Chapter 47
GEMMA
Then
Iwake up, the morning after what happened between Riggs and me, down by the river, and called Colt to tell him I changed my mind. That I don’t want to go to prom with him, after all.
“Gemma…” Colt say my name carefully, like he’s about to tell me something I don’t want to hear.
“I know it’s stupid,” I tell him plainly because I don’t have to explain it to him. I don’t have to tell him why I changed my mind. “I know I’m stupid, but?—”
“You’re not stupid,” Colt cuts me off with a sigh. “A little dumb maybe…”
Laughing because I know he doesn’t mean it, I suddenly wish it was Colt I was in love with. That it had been him with me, down by the river last night, because this would all be so much easier if it was. It would make sense. Hurt less.
“I’m sorry, Colt,” I say, my laughter petering out on a sigh. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know?—”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he says, cutting me off again in a tone that says he might not believe what he’s saying. “It’s okay—to be honest, I was surprised you said yes in the first place.” Clearing his throat, Colt sighs. “You know he followed us last night, right?”
“Yes.” I whisper it, almost ashamed to admit it.
“He broke up with Cheyenne,” Colt says, unwittingly confirming what Riggs told me last night. “She’s blaming you. Telling anyone who’ll listen that you’re a boyfriend stealer.”
“Riggs and I aren’t together,” I tell him. It’s the truth. I don’t know what’s happening, but I know that much. “And he didn’t ask me to go to prom with him either.”
“He just asked you not to go with me,” Colt says, reading between the lines. When I don’t deny it, he blows out a long, slow breath. “Okay. I’ll talk to you?—”
“Take Emily.”
“What?” Colt sounds nearly as surprised by what I just said as I am.
“Take Emily,” I say, repeating myself quickly. “I know she wants to go, she just won’t admit it. If you ask her?—”
“I can’t do that,” Colt chides me quietly. “You know I can’t do that, Gemma.”
“Why? Because of Cade?” I demand, suddenly angry. “In case you missed it, your brother has a girlfriend and it isn’t Emily. I seriously doubt he’d care if you took her to some stupid school dance.”
“He’d care.” Colt’s tone leaves no room for argument.
“Yeah? Well, obviously not enough,” I shoot back. When he doesn’t answer me, I keep pushing. “Okay, fine—he’d care. So, I guess that means she should just sit on a shelf and watch everyone around her have fun and live a life because Cade said so.”
“He’s my brother, Gemma,” Colt says. Again, his tone leaves no room for argument while we both ignore the obvious.
That I’d just perfectly described exactly what’s happening between Riggs and me.
That I’ve put myself on a shelf because Riggs asked me to and without even so much as a promise of more.
As a matter of fact, he made it clear that there’ll never be more.
Riggs is leaving, sooner rather than later. More isn’t something he can give me.
“It’s Cade’s fault, you know,” I tell him, shamelessly exploiting the one thing I know for sure about Colt—he is his brother’s keeper.
“Everything’s that happened with Cam and your sister is because of him.
If he’d just left Emily alone, we’d all still be friends.
None of this would be happening. Emily would be happy. She’d be?—”
“Okay.” He cuts me off, his tone momentarily hardening before he lets out a heavy sigh. “Okay, Gemma… I’ll ask her but if she says no?—”
“She won’t say no,” I tell him.
I’ll make sure of it.
Thirty minutes after I hung up with Colt, I’m sitting on my rock, down by the river when my phone rings.
“What did you do?” Emily demands without so much as a hello.
“Me?” I ask innocently. “What?—”
“Cut the shit, Gemma,” she says, stopping whatever bullshit lie I’m about to feed her. She’s mad. I know she’s mad because she just swore at me. Emily never swears. “I know it was you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, keeping up the pretense for as long as I can.
Letting out a long, slow sigh like she’s trying to collect herself, Emily starts over. “Colt Montgomery just called me and asked me to prom,” she tells me in a calm tone. “And we both know there’s no way in hell he’d do that unless he was talked into it—either by you or by?—”
“Okay, okay—it was me.” I cave because the last thing I want her to think is that Colt was put up to it but his sister. “He asked me last night but I can’t go, so I suggested he ask you instead.”
“And why can’t you go?” she asks, her tone slightly annoyed like she’s getting ready to catch me in another lie.
“Because Riggs asked me not to,” I answer her honestly.
“He was here last night and…” Shifting uncomfortably on my rock, I take a quick look around.
It’s Saturday morning—the river trail is heavily used by people walking their dogs and the occasional runner.
Finding it deserted, I turn back toward the water. “He asked me not to go.”
“Riggs Wheeler was at your house last night and asked you not to go to the prom with Colt?” Summing up what I just told her, I can practically hear the grin stretched across her face. “What else did he do?”
“Nothing.” I say it quickly. Too quickly to make it true. “I mean… he did something, but?—”
“I knew it,” she crows, sounding like a mad scientist shouting eureka! “I knew you were holding out on me. Tell me?—”
“Focus, Em,” I gripe at her. “We’re not talking about Riggs and me. We’re talking about?—”
“I’m not going to prom with Colt,” Emily says, cutting me off like it’s the dumbest thing she’s ever heard. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”
“Yes you can.” I push back, too stubborn to let this go because one of us is going to live a life.
One of us is going to have fun and dance and take silly pictures.
Make memories that will make us smile in twenty years and after the hell Cam and Sera have put her through this year, I’m determined it’s going to be her.
“Colt is a good guy. He’s a gentleman. He’d never?—”
“Of course he wouldn’t,” she says on an exasperated sigh. “I’m not even worried about that… I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
She’s right. It’s probably a horrible idea but that doesn’t make me want this for her any less.
“If you’re with Colt, Cam and Sera will leave you alone,” I reason with her. “They wouldn’t dare mess with you if you’re with him.”
She doesn’t answer me because Cam and Sera aren’t who she’s worried about and we both know it.
“Fuck Cade. He doesn’t deserve you.” It’s nothing I haven’t said already but I say it again because she needs to hear it. “He’s done nothing but ruin your life and make you miserable, since the day he moved in next door.”
“Gemma…”
“If you promise to go to prom with Colt, I’ll tell you everything that happened with Riggs last night,” I tell her, shamelessly bartering with my personal life. “Everything.”
“You’re going to tell me anyway,” she reminds me like I might have forgotten we’re best friends.
“No, I won’t,” I tell her stubbornly. “If you don’t go, I’ll take it to my grave.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” she says, even though her tone isn’t as sure as her words.
“Have you met me?” I ask, my own tone tart enough to give her pause. “My grandfather calls me Mule for a reason, remember?”
“I don’t even have a dress,” she protests weakly.
“You can wear mine,” I tell her, grinning ear to ear. “It might be a little big but it isn’t something a couple of safety pins can’t fix.”
“We’re going to safety pin a six thousand dollar, Carolina Herrera ball gown,” Emily says around a nervous laugh because she’s going to cave. She’s going to prom with Colt.
“We sure are,” I tell her, standing up to go inside so I can get ready to cross the bridge and head to her house. “And while we’re doing it, I’ll tell you everything that happened with Riggs last night.”
“It better be worth it,” she warns me, her tone playful because whether she wants to admit it or not, she’s excited.
“Trust me…” Pushing my way through the trees to Dent’s yard on the other side, I give her a laugh. “It’s worth it.”