Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
And that hesitation? That fleeting moment where my mind wavered? It feels like a betrayal.
I want to shake it off, pretend it never happened, but it lingers like a stain I can’t scrub away. Jason is sitting in a holding cell right now, scared, alone, probably wondering if I truly believe he’s innocent.
I press my hands against my temples, trying to will the guilt away, but it doesn’t budge. I know he’s innocent. I know it.
I tent my fingers in front of my nose, take another deep breath. “Tabitha, I can’t make you believe me. And I’m sorry I lied at first. Of course Ralph didn’t want to see me about school stuff. He could’ve asked anybody about school stuff. Eli, for one, who is much more of an academic than I am, and he was there earlier. So I’m sorry. Sorry I lied. I lied because the truth was disgusting and I didn’t want to repeat it. But it is the truth. He wanted me to screw him.”
She bites her lip. “Damn. He must have it bad for you.”
“I don’t know.” I frown. “I honestly don’t get that vibe from him.”
“He tried to kiss you at your place. You told me.”
“He did. And it shocked the heck out of me because I didn’t get that vibe from him, like I said.”
She scrunches her forehead. “What do you mean that vibe?”
“You know.” I lay a hand over my heart. “When you feel something for someone, and you have that feeling they feel something back. Or if you don’t feel something for someone, but you get that vibe from them that they feel more for you than you want them to.”
She frowns. “I’m notoriously bad at telling when someone likes me. For example, you keep telling me Eli likes me, and I don’t get that vibe at all.”
I sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. My cousin Ava always says I’m intuitive.”
“Your cousin Ava?”
“Did I tell you about her? I can’t remember. She’s a baker, lives at home in Snow Creek. Doesn’t take any of our family’s money.”
She widens her eyes. “What? Why would she do that?”
“She’s the only one of us who doesn’t. We all respect her for it, but we also kind of think she’s nuts.” I sigh. “Anyway, she’s very intuitive. Reads tarot cards all the time. Not that I really believe in that stuff, but it’s amazing how accurate she actually is. She says the cards don’t actually tell the future. It’s more that they allow you to realign your way of thinking, which requires some good intuition. And she always said I had a lot of that. Maybe I do. Because I do usually get a vibe when someone’s interested in me, whether I return the feeling or not.” I cross my arms. “And I’m good at telling when a guy is a creep, too. Got that the first time I ever laid eyes on Ralph.”
“I wish I had some of that intuition,” she says. “I seriously get nothing from Eli, and I thought I was kind of getting something from Ralph. But maybe that’s just because I was attracted to him.” She shakes her head. “I’ve kind of always had a thing for older guys. My best friend in college, Toby, had a daddy complex, but that’s ridiculous for me, because I have a great relationship with my dad.”
“Trust me, I totally get the vibe from Eli toward you. I really like him. As a friend, of course.”
“I don’t know… I’m kind of partial to blond men.”
Jason is dark-haired. Most of my family is dark-haired. The only exceptions are my father, my brother Henry, and my cousins Dale and Donny—all blond. And none of them have any actual Steel blood.
Though I didn’t mean for this conversation to become about Tabitha’s love interest, I’m glad it’s taken a turn. The less time I have to talk about Ralph and what he asked of me, the better.
“There’s nothing wrong with a preference, Tabitha,” I say, offering her a smile. “We all have them.”
She nods, pushing a strand of her dirty-blond hair behind her ear. “I guess so. It just feels so weird, you know? Like I’m choosing a guy based on his hair color.”
“Hey, we’re all a bit shallow, right?” I pat her on the shoulder. “We like what we like.”
She lets out a chuckle, and for the first time today, I feel some of the tension ease.
Despite the joking, my mind still hovers on Jason alone in his cell.
“I need to get going,” I tell Tabitha. “I’ve cut classes yesterday and today. I need to check the school website to see what I missed and get caught up.”
“Yeah, okay. You want to get a drink later?”
A drink? I could use several, but I have to be available for Jason. Mr. Haywood has probably contacted him by now, but more than likely he won’t be arraigned until tomorrow.