He smiles. “I didn’t mention sex. I said I planned a picnic for you and wanted privacy.”
“Is this the picnic?” I ask, holding up the cupcakes.
“It’s all I had time to get. I remember you saying how much you loved cupcakes.”
“Can I have one?”
“Help yourself.” He reaches behind him for a sack and hands it to me. “I brought you some soda. It should still be cold.”
“Thanks.” I take a bottle from the sack. “And flowers?”
“I was trying to be romantic, but like I said, I didn’t have much time.”
“And you skipped practice? Aren’t you going to get in trouble?”
“I told Coach I wasn’t feeling well, which is true.” He turns my face to his. “I didn’t sleep last night. I just kept thinking I screwed up. That it’s over between us.”
“It wasn’t over. We just had a fight.”
“Which we haven’t had before. And you hung up on me and didn’t call back. Or text me.”
“I was waiting for you to do it. When I didn’t hear from you I thought you were telling me it’s over.”
“Let’s agree not to do that again. Even if we’re fighting, we still stay in contact.”
“I agree.”
He opens the cupcake box and takes one out, handing it to me. “They’re chocolate.”
“Can I eat more than one?” I say, biting into it. “I’ve been seriously chocolate deprived since moving here.”
“They’re yours. You can eat them all if you want.”
I smile. “Two is enough. Maybe I’ll give one to Shayla. Hey, how’d you get her to do this? You guys aren’t exactly friends.”
“She’s the only person I could think of who could get you here.”
“Did you pay her?”
“I tried to, but she wouldn’t take my money. Instead, she said I had to convince her to do it.”
I laugh. “She said you gave her a long speech.”
“I did. And I told her my plan. When I was done I didn’t think she’d do it, but she did.”
Setting my cupcake down, I turn to face him. “We don’t have much time left so tell me what’s going on with Kristen.”
He blows out a breath. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Nobody. Not even Shayla.”
“I know. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Even later, when this is all over, if someone asks, you can’t say anything.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“Daphne Reynolds, Kristen’s mom, isn’t as rich as people think. After all her divorces, she’s worth less than half of what she was worth when Kristen was a baby. If she keeps this up, Kristen’s going to be left with nothing.”
“So this is about money? Making sure Kristen stays rich?”
