Even if she doesn’t reciprocate my feelings, I’m proud of myself for finally admitting it out loud. I close my eyes, ready for sleep to take me.
Then she speaks, and my whole world flips.
“You know what, Gray? It’s a good thing I like you too.”
Chapter Thirty
“No way.” Cade’s voiceis nearly a whisper, which is unlike the rowdy guy I’ve known since childhood.
He should be getting ready for his important meeting with an agent. Instead, he’s got one dress shoe on and his white button-up hangs open, while he’s staring at me like I’m an idiot. And I probably am, because asking, “Hey, would you think I’m an idiot if I say goodbye to the plan I’ve worked so hard for because I’m worried about going against my father?” wasn’t the smartest.
“Is that what he came over here for at the beginning of the semester?” Cade asks, guilt swimming in his eyes. It’s not his fault. He tried to talk about it, but I wanted to avoid this conversation.
I glance through the window by the front door. Any minute now, Mallory will arrive to drive us to the party at my parents’ house. We haven’t talked about our confessions from last weekend, and I was hoping to do that on the drive, but I know this talk with Cade will haunt me for the rest of the night.
I walk into his bedroom, hoping it will encourage him to get ready. “Yes. I needed to think on it and figure out what to do.”
“Think on it?” he erupts. “Think about what, Kent? Giving up on the plans you made for yourself? For Nan? You were supposed to be free!”
“I know, Cade, but I’m not. He made it clear that I’m stuck. They’re already discussing my salary.”
“Fuck your salary! I don’t care about that!” His chest heaves, and I know he’s pissed. Notatme, butforme.
One perk of being best friends for so long is that I can read Cade’s mind, so when his eyes dart to his keys on the bedside table, I move between him and the door.
“Cade—” I try, but it’s too late.
With keys in hand, he pushes me aside and darts out of his room. If he gets out of this house, Cade can kiss goodbye his dreams of playing in the MLB and say hello to getting arrested for punching my dad in the face. He’s practically been begging to fight him since we were kids.
“Hitting him won’t help!” I yell at his back.
“We won’t know that until I try!” he counters, but the smugness in his voice fades when the rug he swears brings the house together ends up being his downfall. He trips over the corner and stumbles, giving me a chance to slip past him and block the doorknob before he can recover.
I hold my hands up. “Just listen, Cade.”
“Move, Kent. I’m not playing around.” He stands and smooths out his dress pants, lips pulled into a straight line. “Just because your dad is a total asshole doesn’t mean you have to play his stupid game. And now you’re going to give up, all because he said so?”
“I might have to—”
“But you’ve worked too hard!” His fist slams against the wall as regret slams against my chest. Cade is fun and agreeable. He has laugh lines at twenty-two and smiles more in one hour than I do in a day, but rightnow he’s unrecognizable.
“I’m only going to tell you one more time.Move. If you can’t tell your dad no, I will.”
I don’t budge. He will have to physically move me if he wants to get past me.
“They’re my family,” I say.
Cade scoffs, his body vibrating with rage. “Family? You’ve got to be kidding. They’re people who want to control you. Your dad only cares because it affects him. And your mom? She’s practically non-existent.”
My mother. Up until I was five, she always protected me, Keaton, and Karla from our father’s crap. Then she bought into the family image bullshit and stopped standing up for us, allowing him to say and do whatever terrible thing he wants, whenever he wants.
“I know they aren’t the best, but they’re all I have.”
Cade flinches as if I slapped him across the face. That’s the worst possible thing I could’ve said.
“All you have?” he asks, emphasizing each word.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Cade.”
