Reluctantly, I let her go. While she’s away, I step into a conversation with Paris and Puck about today’s game. It’s easy to lose track of time with those guys. I’m laughing about a joke Paris told us when suddenly, someone yanks my arm, turning me around.
“Charlie?” I frown, noticing her furious expression. “What’s going on?”
“What the hell, Troy! I can’t believe you would take Ben bungee jumping behind my back!”
“Calm down. Why are you yelling at me? He had a great time.”
“Really? You call this a great time?” She shoves her phone in my face. I have to step back and pry the device from her hand to see what she’s trying to show me.
It’s a video of Ben jumping. Someone caught the whole thing, including when he lost control of his bladder. And then later, there’s a shot of him in wet pants. I can’t hear what the person who shot the video is saying, but the name of the video makes it clear that it’s nothing kind: Watch this idiot pee in his pants while bungee jumping. HILARIOUS. If the headline wasn’t bad enough, the comments that follow are vile and disgusting. It makes me see red.
Charlie yanks the phone from my hand and strides away.
“Where are you going?” I follow her.
“Leave me alone, Troy.”
She bumps into someone coming in and bounces back. Fate would have it that Brooke is the one who collided with Charlie.
“Hey, where’s the fire?” she asks with an uncomfortable smile on her face.
Charlie glances at her and, before I can do anything, shoves Brooke so hard that she trips on her high heels and falls down.
“What the hell!”
I’d stop to help her up, but Charlie is already out in the hallway. I can’t let her leave in that berserk state.
“Sorry, Brooke,” I yell as I run after Charlie.
Charlie took the stairs down and is already one floor below when I catch up with her. I grab her arm, making her stop.
“Babe, please. Don’t be like that.”
She yanks free from my hold. “Don’t be like that? Troy, do you have any idea what this video will do to Ben when he sees it?”
“You don’t know if he will.”
“Oh my God, Troy. Wake up. Of course he will. Do you know how I came across this disgusting footage? Some guys were watching it and laughing like hyenas.” Angry tears roll down her cheeks, making me feel even worse than I already do.
“I’m sorry, okay? Ben was the one who suggested bungee jumping. We couldn’t have known that would happen.”
“I could have! It’s not the first time. Damn it, Troy! And how did you even get the operators to let him jump? He’s a minor.”
“He said he got your parents’ permission.”
“That’s bullshit. They wouldn’t have done that.” She throws her hands up in the air. “Ugh! I can’t talk to you right now. I have to go home.”
“I’ll take you.”
She raises her hand, halting me. “No. I’m too angry. It’s better if you leave me alone.”
I get into her personal space. “No, I’m not going to back down, Charlie. You’re acting completely irrational. You don’t need to talk to me, but I’m taking you home, and that’s final.”
She shoots daggers from her eyes, and from the way she’s clamping her jaw hard and flaring her nostrils, I know she wants to lash out again. But thankfully, she simply whirls around and continues her trajectory down the stairs.
The five-minute drive feels like an eternity. We’re seething in silence, and that will only make the resentment fester. I can’t believe she lost it like that because of the video. Yeah, it’s bad, but she could have talked to me without causing Armageddon.
She’s out of the car as soon as it stops. I stay put and let her march up to the front door and disappear inside without following. I’m too fucking angry, and if I go in, God knows what’s going to happen. I don’t want to make things worse.
I need to cool off, but sitting in the car alone won’t do, so I turn the engine on again and take off.
As I drive without direction, I wonder how you can love someone so much and hate the things they do.
43
CHARLIE
I’m shaking with fury as I take the steps two at a time. I wanted to punch all those guys who were laughing, watching Ben’s video. But when I saw Troy in the footage, all my ire was redirected at him. How could he put Ben in that situation and not tell me about it? I’m so mad, I could scream.
He doesn’t follow me in the house. Smart. I can’t talk to him while I’m so consumed with rage. I hear his car peel away from the curb as soon as I bang the door shut. Once in my room, I pack an overnight bag. I can’t stay here. I have to make sure Ben is okay. And when did he and Troy become friends who hang out? Ben never told me about it, and I talk to him every day.
I should change, but I’m afraid Troy will come back, so I just hurry down the stairs and then out the door. Behind the steering wheel, I have to take a couple deep breaths to calm down. I’m glad I didn’t have time to drink more than beer at the party, and the anger has burned off all the alcohol from my system.
Traffic is madness. It usually is on Saturday, made worse thanks to Halloween. It takes me forty-five minutes to finally reach the highway to Littleton. My phone rings, and the car dashboard shows it’s Troy calling. I guess he’s home. Guilt pierces my chest. Now that I’m a bit calmer, I can see that I never gave him a chance to explain. My short-fused temper got the best of me. Shit. I even shoved Brooke, unprovoked. What a mess.
I let the call go to voice mail. I’m not ready to talk to him yet, and I probably shouldn’t while I’m driving. A new song comes on the radio, “Stay the Night” by Zedd and Hayley Williams. It hits me right in the feels. Are Troy and I meant to break?
Tears gather in my eyes, turning my vision blurry. I lean sideways, reaching for the glove compartment. I feel around for the tissue package I have in there somewhere, not daring to take my eyes off the road.
“For fuck’s sake, where is it?”
A blaring horn makes me straighten in my seat, and the last thing I see is blinding lights fast approaching.
TROY
Charlie didn’t answer the phone. That was hours ago. I’ve parked my ass on the couch and have been pounding one beer after another. Where the hell is she? I would have called Ben if it wasn’t so late. Most likely, she went to Littleton.
I still can’t believe her reaction. I get she’s protective of Ben. I’m protective of Jane too. But she didn’t give me the chance to explain. She went total psycho in the blink of an eye. I’d already known she was short-tempered—our beginning is proof of that—but hell, I hadn’t expected her to do a one-eighty on me like that.
I’m about to call it a night when my phone rings. My heart skips a beat. Despite the fact that I’m mad at Charlie, the yearning hasn’t gone away. I dive for the phone, afraid the call will go to voice mail.
“Charlie, babe, ar—”
“Troy, it’s Blake.”
My blood runs cold. What the hell?