“Cam?” A fresh wave of horror washed over me. “Don’t tell her about the ... other part.”
My teeth chattered as we stepped into the parking lot.
Arden squeezed my shoulder. “We’re almost there.”
“But the dance ... you don’t want to leave. And Pittaya?”
“Lydia can catch up with him later. Or he can suck it up. I don’t really care.”
When we reached her car, Arden opened the back door, closing it behind me before hurrying around to the driver’s side. She glanced at me in the rearview mirror as she fiddled with the temperature controls. Terry and Lydia arrived a few minutes later, handing us our coats as they climbed inside. They looked from me to Arden, waiting for a cue. I turned my face to the window.
As we left the lighted parking lot, the air seemed to grow heavier, weighing me down. What was I doing? It was like I’d stumbled into an alternate life where everything I did was backwards and wrong.
Arden angled a vent so the hot air hit me full in the face. “Are you warm enough?”
I nodded, though in truth I was flushed and perspiring. Could regret make you sweat?
Lydia twisted in her seat to look at me. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Arden flicked on her turn signal with more than necessary force. “I bet he found out it was your fault Terry wouldn’t go out with him, so he decided to target you next. Men are theworst. They shouldn’t even be allowed out of the house.”
Had it really been an elaborate revenge plot? Everything in me rebelled at the thought. “No,” I whispered. Even to me, it sounded weak.
A light rain had begun to fall, mixed with sleet; Arden switched on the wipers. “You don’t have to make excuses for him,” she said. “That’s how they get away with all their crap. ‘Oh, he didn’t mean it. He’s just so busy and important, and you’re too silly to understand thepressure, wait quietly and maybe he’ll remember that you exist if he has an extra five minutes to spare!’”
She was breathing heavily when she finished. Lydia stared at her, eyes narrowed, before speaking. “Pull over.”
“What?” Arden checked her mirrors. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to argue with you while you’re driving.”
Frowning, Arden steered the car to an empty stretch of curb a few blocks from my house. As soon as she was parked, she turned to Lydia. “Why would you argue withme?I’m not the bad guy. I think we all know who that is. Starts with anA, ends with anX.” She made a slashing motion with her finger.
“Are you sure? Because it sounded like you were talking about Miles just now.”
“All guys are the same,” Arden retorted. “Ask Mary.”
Lydia shook her head. “This has always been about Miles, and you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your obsession with getting everyone coupled up, because romance is so great! Dating, dating, dating, guys, guys, guys.” Lydia fluttered her fingers. “No wonder Mary fell for Alex’s BS. What if we hadn’t found her in time, and something even worse happened, just because you didn’t want to deal with the fact that your relationship was over!”
“Excuse me? What have I been doing for the last two days?”
“It’s been going on a lot longer than that.” Lydia set her jaw. “You didn’t want to admit it, because you couldn’t stand the idea of not having a boyfriend. What could be worse than being single!”
“That’s not why—”
“And now you’re miserable, and you wasted two years of your life, and for what?”
“I didn’t waste my life.” Arden’s voice quavered. “We were happy for a really long time.”
“Until you weren’t, which you refused to acknowledge, so instead you created this big distraction.” Lydia circled a hand in the air, taking in the four of us. “Way to model healthy lifestyle choices.”
A choking sound emerged from Arden’s throat. “Thanks for the judgment. I really needed that tonight.”
“I’m just saying, did you ever stop to ask yourself ifyoustill wanted to be with Miles, instead of putting up with his crap? Maybe you should have dumpedhim.”
