Page 38 of Enchanted to Meet You

“He’s a piece of crap,” Rhys said flatly.

I blinked, turning my head to stare at him in the dim light of the dashboard. “What?”

“Your dad.” His expression completely unreadable and his green eyes fixed on mine. “He’s a spineless piece of crap. You don’t have to look for a silver lining, and you don’t have to try to make sense of it. What he did was pathetic.”

There was no pity in his voice. There was no cautious, delicate sympathy like the kind my friends at ballet gave me whenever my parents came up. It was just a cold, blunt observation, stated like a fact of nature. A weird, breathy laugh escaped me—a sound that was half-relief, half-disbelief.

“Yeah,” I muttered, wiping a stray tear off my cheek with the oversized sleeve of his jacket before it could fall. “Yeah, he really is.”

Rhys didn’t try to hug me, and he didn’t offer any cheesy promises. He just leaned back against his headrest, looking out at the valley lights.

“If he ever tries to approach you,” Rhys said, his voice dropping an octave, “or if he comes anywhere near you... tell me. I’ll make sure he leaves you alone.”

I looked at him for a second, taking in his sharp profile in the dim light. I didn’t feel some sudden spark or realization that he was secretly a good guy under his arrogant exterior. He was still Rhys Montgomery—irritating, overly confident, and the bane of my brother’s existence. But right now, in this stupid SUV, he was also surprisingly useful. He was a buffer between me and the rest of the world, and for tonight, that was more than enough.

“Thank you,” I whispered, pulling the oversized jacket tighter around my shoulders. “For getting me out of there.”

“Don’t mention it,” Rhys said, reaching out to turn the key in the ignition. The engine purred back to life, filling the cab with warm air. “Seriously. If Landon finds out I have a soft spot for family drama, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

A tiny, reluctant smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Your secret’s safe with me, Montgomery.”

“Good.” He shifted into drive and backed the truck out of the gravel turn-off. “Now let’s get you home.”

As the car started the slow drive down the winding mountain road, I leaned my head back against the seat, watching the trees pass by in the dark. I didn’t like Rhys, and I certainly wasn’t catching feelings for him. But as I buried my chin into the soft collar of his varsity jacket, I had to admit: having him on my side wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

twelve

“Sebastian, if I have to ask you to take that ball outside one more time,” Mum started with her half-hearted threat.

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll pop it and I’ll never see it again. I got it.” Sebastian said, though he made no movement to take the ball he was tossing from hand to hand outside.

“Actually, I was going to say no dessert tonight.”

I’d never seen Sebastian fly out of his seat and discard a soccer ball so quickly. It was like a flash of lightning, the ball there and gone in a matter of seconds.

“I didn’t even tell you what dessert was,” Mum said.

“You obviously didn’t have to,” Lavender said.

“Well, the ball is gone now so you can tell me.”

I laughed as I got up and started piling the dishes to carry back to the kitchen. I stacked the pile of mismatched bowls (we’d had matching sets once upon a time, but Sebastian liked to play soccer in the kitchen and, well, that didn’t always end well), and had just dumped them to the sink when my phone started buzzing in my back pocket. I pulled it out, figuring it was Clementine or Nora, then blinked in surprise when I saw That Guy across the phone screen, along with the red and gold abstract piece I’d used for his contact photo so it wasn’t blank.

It was the second time he’d ever called me and it still felt just as weird.

I briefly considered letting the call time out then realized this could be some sort of fake dating emergency—was Kelcey watching to see if I would pick up his call immediately? Was he around other people who wanted him to prove his girlfriend was real?—and I immediately swiped to answer.

“You’re calling me during dinner,” I said, retreating toward the stairs before anyone could ask who I was talking to. I would lie, of course, but it was better to retreat if possible. I kept the phone pressed hard against my ear so nothing on his end would carry. “This better be an emergency.”

“Depends on your definition of emergency.” His voice had an edge to it I hadn’t heard before, tight and a little breathless, like he was talking through gritted teeth.

I frowned. “Are you okay?”

“I need you to come over.”

I’d been headed upstairs but I paused at the front door, eyeing my shoes. I didn’t want to set the precedent for Rhys that he could call me whenever he wanted and I would just show up, but at the same time, I’d never heard this tone of voice from him.

“Why?” I asked. My tone was probably a little more suspicious than the situation called for, but I couldn’t help it.