“Babe,” Renee says. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have Gwen on the line. She’s crying, and she won’t talk to anyone but you.”
A muscle clenches in Callan’s jaw as I lower my legs and he pulls out. “Give me a sec,” I call out, hurrying to fix my clothes while Callan yanks his shorts back up.
I open the door with a flourish and grab my cell, uncaring what I must look like after that thorough fucking. “Gwen. What’s wrong?”
“Azzie, I need you.” She sobs hysterically.
“Where are you?” I glance up at Callan as he watches me. Renee is propped against the wall outside, also listening.
“I got arrested.”
My eyes pop wide, and Callan straightens up.
“What? Why?”
“For shoplifting.” Her cries accelerate, and I wait for her to calm down. “Can you come get me?” she pleads.
I wonder where the fuck Scott is that he can’t come rescue her, but if my bestie needs me, I’m there. “Of course. Tell me where you are.”
42
ASTRID
“Istill say Gwen should’ve come,” Renee proclaims as we make our way across the fairground after the Hocus Pocus magic show. Today is the first day of the Vermont State Fair, and we’ve been here since three. The guys checked out the monster trucks while we checked out the live shark exhibition. We’ve gone on some rides and stuffed our faces with corn dogs, fried dough, and Roxie’s infamous French fries.
“I agree. It’s not like anyone would know her here, but I get why she didn’t want to.”
Gwen was charged with shoplifting several items of clothing and makeup from a Burly department store. As it was a first offense and the value of the goods was under nine hundred dollars, she will get off without a conviction so long as she successfully completes a diversion program. She has already paid a fine, and she’s in the middle of a theft awareness class and community service. When it’s all completed, which should be by early next year, the case will be dismissed, and she’ll have a clean record.
Dad hired Peter Stevens to handle Gwen’s case, and they attended a meeting at Bennington Turo with her. She wasterrified she’d lose her scholarship and her place, but given the circumstances, the college is supporting her, but she has lost twenty percent of her scholarship, and it’s all conditional on her successful completion of the diversion program and her keeping her nose clean in the future.
Unfortunately, her arrest and day in court were covered by the local media, and everyone in Ryemont knows what she did. While some were sympathetic, given what she’s gone through this year, there are plenty who have shunned her, and she’s faced ridicule and cruel comments around town.
She lost her job at the resort, and if I hadn’t already quit, I would have quit then in solidarity. Isn’t a person allowed to make a mistake? What she did was wrong, and she was stealing long before she was caught, but she realizes it now. She broke down and confessed everything to me, and she’s definitely learned her lesson. She assures me she’s never going to do it again. There should be no need, as she has the money Mara left her, and she plans to pick up a part-time job when we start college.
Scott stood by her, as did all her friends, but she’s retreated even further into herself, and nothing any of us said could get her to come with us today.
“Penny for them,” Callan says, tightening his arm around my shoulders as we head toward the Ferris wheel.
“I was just thinking about Gwen.”
His silence speaks volumes. Callan was good to her the day she was arrested, driving me out to Burly to pick her up and letting her cry all over both of us. He didn’t say anything when I was spending a lot of my time with her, and he listened attentively when I spoke about the situation. But it’s the things he’s not saying that tell me all I need to know. He doesn’t like her, and it makes me sad because they’re both important to me.
“She’s with Scott. She’s fine,” he says in a neutral tone as we join the line for wristband holders behind our friends.
I purposely switch the subject to lighten the mood. “Are you still mad at Freja and me?” I fight a grin.
His shoulders visibly relax. “Never.” He tickles my side, and I giggle, trying to escape his clutches, but his arm is like a cage around my body, keeping me close. “I just didn’t realize my girlfriend was so devious.”
“To be fair, it was mostly Freja. She started it.”
“I fear for the male population when she starts dating. She’ll have boys wrapped around her little finger, and they won’t even know it.”
“You’re still the best boyfriend in the world, according to her. Not sure anyone can top you in her eyes.”
“All he’ll have to do is buy her cupcakes every Friday, and he’ll steal the title from me.” He tweaks my nose. “Still can’t believe I fell for it. I’m such a sucker.”
“Joe did buy her candy one time, so it was just a slight exaggeration of the truth.”
