Page 59 of Hide and Keep

“They haven’t figured out much about me,” she mutters.

“Do you drink the lemonade around them?”

“Only when I have to.” She looks up at me suddenly. “Ready?”

“Where are we going?”

“Shopping.”

“What’s wrong with your shoes?”

“What’swrongwith them? Nothing iswrongwith them. They’re off the runway, chosen straight from this year’s summer collection.”

Crue grimaces, making me realize I’ve done it again, acted likethem, this time not on purpose but out of pure instinct.

“They hurt my feet,” I admit in a softer tone.

“I believe it. They hurt me just looking at them. Did you bring another pair to change into or do we need to stop by the manor first?”

I shake my head and gently set both high heels behind the driver’s seat. “I’ll put them on when we get to the store. I just don’t want to wear them any longer than I have to.”

My bodyguard continues to stare at me like I have three heads, and with an arrogant claim like the one I just spewed, I’m sure I sound like I do.

They are fantastic shoes though…even if I do hate them.

“If they hurt your feet so bad, can’t you just wear shoes without heels?”

“No?” Like, hello.

“Why not?”

“The aesthetic.”

“Yours?” He looks me up and down, his expression bordering on…mocking? “What about it?”

“Flats would clash.”

“But they would make you more comfortable.”

“Comfort isn’t the objective.” It’sneverthe objective.

“Do you wear heels when you’re cheering?”

A chuckle tickles my lips. “No.”

Crue starts up his Bronco and pulls out of the parking lot.

“When exactlyischeerleading season?” he asks after I give him directions.

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“Mostly what team you’re on, but for a lot of people, cheer is year-round.”

“Obviously you cheer for Littoral…”

“What makes it obvious?”

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