“He touched you. You told him to stop, and he didn’t.”
I kept quiet.
“Is that right?”
“Yes. Have you considered law school? I’m thinking you’d excel at cross examination, and you can fall back on that when you’re too old for construction work.”
“Stop being cute,” he muttered, then refocused on me like something struck him.
“What?” I asked.
“Ines lives with you, so she had to know how Porter judged you, and she damn sure knew you two were over. Why in the hell would she have him in her car with you… also in that car?”
I twisted my hands up. “That was what the drama was about. I didn’t know Porter was even going to the music festival until we went to pick up Brantley from his place early this morning. Porter was inside Brantley’s apartment. Brantley opened the door to us, and Porter wandered out with him, which means those two had arranged it so he’d be there and they could spring it on us that Porter was coming along.”
Rafferty stared at me. “Ines knew nothing about that shit?”
“No.”
“But obviously, she still let him in the car.”
I tipped my head to the side just a fraction. “Initially, she saw it my way. That the ambush wasn’t cool and Porter needed to drive himself if he wasn’t going to sell his ticket.”
“That’s logical,” Rafferty muttered.
I nodded. “Yeah, but Brantley’s very eco-conscious—”
“So are you. Hell, so is anyone who understands science,” Rafferty muttered.
“Anyway, he pointed out how ridiculous it was for us to drive two cars to Atlanta, and even if Porter drove separately, he’d still be sitting right next to me in the stadium. And when I protested more, he pulled Ines away and he sweet-talked her into letting Porter ride along.”
Rafferty locked eyes with me again. “I know you’ve been rooming with her for over a year now, so you obviously dig Ines. But, that’s a bitch move.”
My eyes slid to the side because to my way of thinking that wasn’t the bitch move he thought it was.
“Now what aren’t you telling me?”
I shook my head. “She’s in critical condition, Tee. I don’t want to speak ill of her right now, but to me that’s nothing.”
He gave my hand a squeeze. “Lex. You gotta tell me everything.”
I swallowed. “So, since she wasn’t seeing logic any more by making Porter drive separate, I told them to go without me. I’d stay home. She accused me of being a drama-queen, which hurt more than it should have because when I broke things off with Porter, Ines was there. He accused me of misinterpreting his words. Ines butted in and was the first to point out he was gaslighting me. Strange that she basically did the same thing to me when I didn’t want to give into her boyfriend’s plans.” I sighed. “Sorry, I got off track, but Brantley and Porter piled right on with her that I was being too dramatic. Nobody appreciated me suggesting Porter take a Greyhound to Atlanta because it would have been too last-minute. There was still some time for me to try to sell my ticket online. I really should have done that. None of this shit would have happened.”
He let go of my hand and slid his hand into my hair. “Dammit, Lex. You can’t think like that.Sheshould have had your back. That fuck-wit should have fuckin’ known better and soldhisticket. Christ. I’m glad I didn’t know this earlier. Moment I saw that guy today, I wanted to punch him in the fuckin’ face. Now I wish I would have.”
After the horrible events that morning, part of me wished he would have, too. Hearing his sincere tone, a pleasant warm sensation drifted through my belly. I ignored that.
“Anyway, to methatwas the bitch move. I’d suggested as long as Brantley and Porter sat in the back, it might be fine. Brantley whined about how with his height he needed all the legroom he could get. That’s another way he was being extra. She gave into him and made me feel bad about not wanting to be cooped up in a car with Porter for seven or eight hours.”
“She did?”
My head wobbled. “Brantley had everything to do with that. Seems Ines shared with him what had happened. Brantley pointed out that we’d broken up. There wasn’t any reason Porter was going to try to win me back.”
“What a motherfucker.”
“Yeah, and then came the guilt about how we were already running late before this and I was only making it worse with the drama… if we hit traffic we’d miss the opening act and Ines was excited about all of the performers scheduled for this afternoon and tonight - not just the headliner.”
Rafferty’s face was inches from mine. He parted his lips and shook his head twice. “And you wanted to stick around the hospital for her? After all that bullshit?”
