Page 84 of Nerdy or Nice
Iwas miserable.
MaybeIwould've been happy, too, if only Drake's coat hadn't been swiped in the first place.
Plus – oh, my God – I'd almost forgotten – the condom.Wherewasit?
Was that little silver packet still in Drake's hood?
Or had it fallen out somewhere along the way?
Was it lying in the front yard?Or in the neighbor's yard?Was the packet blowing around in the middle of the street?
My stomach gave a sickening twist. Probably, Drake was wearing the coat right now. If he pulled up his hood, would the packet bounce around on his head before tumbling out to heaven-knows-where.
Would his grandfather see it?
How humiliating wouldthatbe?
Abruptly, I got to my feet. "You know what Ireallywant?"
From the couch, Lexie stared up at me. "What?"
"To be left alone." Any second now, I was going to break down in tears – the ugly kind with lots of noise and sniffling.Why, oh why did Lexie have to borrow his coat?Choking down a sob, I said, "So if you're done with the drama, I'll be heading to bed."
Suddenly Lexie was standing, too. "Hey,Iwasn't the one outside in my bathrobe."
Her words found their mark, and I nearly staggered under the weight of them.She was right.But that didn't make it any better.Perversely, it only made it worse.
At something in my expression, Lexie winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
"Oh, like you're comparing me to my mom?" My jaw clenched. "Well that's rich, consideringyou'rethe one who hid his coat."
"I didn't 'hide' it. I borrowed it. You told him so yourself. You remember, right?"
As if I needed the reminder."Yeah, well maybe I was sticking up for you."
"I know," she said. "And Ireallyappreciate it, but Iama little curious." She glanced toward the cats. "What was he doing here? And with his dog, too. Like…have they been spending a lot of time in the house? With the cats, I mean?"
It sounded like an accusation, and I didn't appreciate it. "So what if they were? In case you forgot, Aunt Celia said she was fine with guests – even overnight."
"I know, but—"
"But what?" I said. "He would've left just fine ifsomeonehadn't taken his coat."
Lexie blanched. "Sorry, I didn't know it was his."
"Yeah, well you don't know a lot of things." And with that, I turned and stomped off to my bedroom, using the last remnants of my self-control to stop myself from the slamming the doortoohard.
Through blinding tears, I dove for my bed and had a good, long cry until I finally drifted off to sleep wearing the stupid bathrobe like a badge of shame.
As I tossed and turned through the rest of the night, one particular question kept haunting my thoughts and dreams.How had everything gone so terribly wrong?
Chapter 48
Gwen
With a groan, I sat up in bed and looked around. Pale morning light filtered in through the gaps in the window blinds, and a drowsy look at my cell phone told me it was just past eight o'clock.
The screen also told me something else.There were no missed calls from Drake.
