“Where are we headed?” I blurt out awkwardly. “Dena has been blowing up my phone with texts about this planning meeting.”
“Is that what this is, a planning meeting?”
“I guess not,” I chuckle nervously. “Not when she’s planned every single thing exactly as she and Kyle want. I just want to assure her that we’ve run through the schedule and that the two of us are on the same page.”
“Mmm, okay.”
“You never answered me.”
“About?”
“Where we’re going?”
“Oh, I thought we’d take a class with a local chef who walks us through the whole dinner prep, then we cook, and we eat.”
“Cool,” I say, impressed that someone with unlimited resources like Brick would even bother to cook his own meal. “Where?”
“A private kitchen in Chase Springs.”
Chase Springs is the next township over where a lot of wealthy people live. There is a town center where there are several restaurants, upscale boutiques, and offices. If we’re having dinner in a private kitchen, I imagine it cost Brick a fortune to reserve the place as well as the chef’s time. It only reminds me of how little I’ve accomplished in my life and how empty my bank account is.
“That sounds expensive for just a meeting. I may need you to spot me until next week.”
“It’s my treat.”
“I’ll pay you back. I’m good for it.”
“This was my idea, so it’s my treat.”
“What made you come up with a cooking class?” I ask after a moment.
“I thought it would be a great way to solidify our new partnership. I remember how you always liked to cook. You were making grilled cheeses for after-school snacks while the rest of us were eating fruit roll-ups.”
I smile to myself. It was easy to forget that while I was busy hating Brick; he was always in my house. Of course he knows me.
A sudden text notification goes off, signaling that Elijah is making yet another attempt to talk his way out of the hole he’s dug himself in and Brick notices.
“You okay?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Before we head in for dinner, why don’t you tell me what happened so I don’t think the worst, and then we make a pact not to talk about it for the rest of the night.”
I turn off my phone, slip it inside my crossbody purse, and decide to tell Brick everything.
Why not?
I’ve got nothing to lose and no one else to tell.
“It all started with an anonymous audio text I received last night featuring Elijah and some girl he clearly had been intimate with.”
“Is Elijah from the neighborhood?”
I cock my head to side and give Brick a suspicious look.
“Where he’s from doesn’t matter. What are you going to knock on his door and say hi?”
“Maybe.”
