Do I,I retort silently.Do I really?
After all, I thought I knew Gwen. I thought I could trust her.
My jaw tightens to the point of pain. My head throbs. The coffee I drank earlier rises back up my throat.
As I watch stupid Garrett Ryan touch Angel’s arm again, a heavy feeling of despair settles over me.
Maybe I was wrong about everything.
On my camera screen, Angel steps away from Garrett and says something with a smile. Then she turns to Haley and they have a quick conversation. The two of them say goodbye to Garrett and Tess and start heading back in my direction.
Suddenly feeling guilty about watching them, I shove my phone back into my pocket and work my features into a smile. No matter how I’m feeling, I won’t ruin this for Haley.
“Ronan!” Haley bounds over to me, beaming all over. “I talked to Santa. He said it’s normal to wonder if he’s real when you get older. But Santa is everywhere, he said. And he said as long as I believe in him, he’s real.”
“That’s great, Speedy,” I tell her. “I’m glad you had a nice talk with Santa.”
Looking at her sweet face, pain stabs at me.
I didn’t mean to get attached. But shit. I am. And now…
“Can we do cookies now?” Haley asks. She pulls on Angel’s arm. “The tent is right over there. Can I go over and get started?”
Angel smiles at her. “Okay, Hale. We’ll be right over. And after that, it’s time for dinner. Okay?”
“Okay!” Haley races off while calling over her shoulder, “Hurry. Before all the cookies are gone!”
Angel looks at me. “Sorry about that. We ran into Tess and her dad. They wanted to see about having a sleepover.”
“That’s fine.” My voice comes out rougher than I intended. “It’s not a problem.”
“Still, I feel bad making you wait.” Her apologetic expression shifts to a hopeful one. “But tonight?—”
“Actually,” I interrupt. “I think I’m going to have to take a rain check on that movie. I’m not really feeling that well.”
“Oh.” Disappointment moves across Angel’s face, but she quickly hides it. “That’s okay. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. Do you want to go home now?”
Seeing her disappointment makes me feel like shit. But all twisted up like this… I need some time to myself. Time to think. Time to make sense of things.
“No, that’s okay,” I reply. “We’ll do the cookies and the food trucks. I’ll just go home after that.”
Angel stares at me for a long moment. Worry darkens her gaze. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
And shit, her concern makes me feel even worse.
“Just a headache,” I lie. Except it’s not a lie, technically. My head aches, and I feel sick all over. “I’ll be fine.”
But I don’t feel fine. At all.
CHAPTER 10
ANGEL
“Crap.”
Thanks to the aggressive sweep of the duster across the coffee table, I just sent one of the ceramic coasters flying. Dropping the duster on the table, I bend down to pick up the coaster, hoping I didn’t break it.
I wouldn’t care about a coaster, normally. But these were from Haley. She made them in art club last year as her Christmas gift to me, and each of the four coasters has a slightly lopsided but carefully painted tree.
