Page 62 of You're So Vine
“And?”
“And … what?”
“Did you and Lee talk?”
He’s silent for a moment. Long enough for me to know he’s figuring out how to fudge the truth.
“We didn’t,” he says. “She was out, and so … we didn’t get the chance.”
I roll on my side and prop myself up on my elbow so I can look him right in the eye.
“Cam,” I say, sternly. “What are you not telling me? Because it’s absolutely obvious you’re holding something back.”
“Are you saying I’m a shitty liar?” He offers me a weak smile. I’m having none of it.
In the heat of my glare, Cam winces, rubs his thumb across his forehead like he’s got a headache.
“Shit…” He breathes out the word.
“What?” Patience be damned!
“Lee has a secret!” he almost shouts. “And I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“A secret.”
Cam’s still flustered. “It’s nothing bad. She’s fine—”
“Oh, good.”
His brown eyes are pleading, but I’m not going to be a sucker twice in one day.
“Ava, if I could tell you, I would,” he says. “But—”
“I’m an ace secret keeper,” I remind him. “You’ve seen my poker face, right?”
“Yeah.” Another weak smile. “Had me pretty convinced about the snake pit.”
“It’s still an option. Believe me.”
Cam sinks his head back onto the pillow and screws his eyes shut. Bad luck, buddy. Just because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I’ve disappeared.
When he opens them, he seems calmer. More resolved.
“Ava, if I made a promise to you, would you want me to keep it?”
An entirely reasonable question that I completely resent him asking.
“Of course,” I say. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still pissed about you making one to Lee.”
He nods slowly. “Okay…”
“Or that I’m doublypissed that you went to see her after our argument.”
He’s still nodding, like one of those plastic dogs on a car dashboard.
“Old habits,” he says, more to himself than to me. “Sometimes you’re not aware of how much of a hold they have on you until it’s too late.”
Damn. He’s right. Here I am, after all my good intentions, going full frontal again because he’s pushed my emotional buttons.
