“Didn’t do?”
But Kathryn pretended to not have heard me, taking a sip of her margarita.
“Elizabeth, who are you looking for?”
“Well, I went on a second date with this guy who had gone to school with Tara at Rice. You know someone named Thomas Williamson?”
I shook my head. I did, actually. But Kathryn was annoying me enough that I didn’t want to partake right now. I needed a minute or two to cool down.
No. I needed a minute or two to think about what Kathryn had said. Something that Brock had not done? What did that mean?
I thought about everything that he’d said or hinted at in the previous two weeks. He repeatedly said I didn’t really want to know him. He said doing so would lead to heartache. OK… but how could he judge how I’d feel? Had he… had he refused to stand up for that ex? Had he dumped her without warning?
It would have been nice to have had some fucking answers.
“Tara?”
“What?” I snapped.
“Woah, that margarita has not kicked in,” Kathryn said.
“What hasn’t kicked in is you telling me what you know,” I said. “Instead of trying to play coy, you could tell me what you were hinting at with Brock and his friends earlier.”
“You can talk to them yourself.”
Elizabeth nodded behind me.
The pit in my stomach formed before my head had even swiveled halfway around. The sight made the sinking even deeper.
Sure enough, Brock was there. He had his hands in his pockets and what looked like a guilty smile on his face. He hesitated to come to me, like his feet wanted to but his mind stopped him.
Seconds later, the rest of his crew emerged.
Connor, the mean one. Zack, the smart one. Mason, the quiet and tough one. Garrett, the playboy.
And Steele.
I cut off my smile, fearing how Steele would react if he saw it, and turned back to Kathryn and Elizabeth.
“Tonight just got a lot more interesting,” Kathryn said.
“As long as they don’t touch me,” Elizabeth said.
“It won’t be so bad,” I said, but my mind disagreed. “I can’t even imagine that this will be that much of an issue. They’ll come say hi, and then they’ll… they’ll leave us alone.”
Elizabeth looked at me like I’d tried to convince her the sky was purple. I hadn’t done such a great job of convincing myself.
“You mean to tell me that your ex has suddenly shaved his beard, knowing full well you would be here, he’s surrounded by his boys, and you think nothing will happen?” Elizabeth said. “Do you know anything about boys? Or was Rice that boring?”
“I think we should have some fun,” Kathryn said. “Let’s go talk to them and see where the night goes. I’ll start by grabbing Brock.”
“Ew, no. Steele’s the only…”
I knew Elizabeth was cutting herself off because she worried how I’d think about her talking about Steele. I’d heard her say enough things by now that I wondered if she had an agenda she didn’t want me to know about.
There was only one other reason she could have cut herself off.
“Tara.”
