Page 48 of The Rebel
“Ahhh,” Valencia sighed, much like she did the first time she sat in my truck, obviously feeling the warmth beneath her. “That’s so nice.”
Oliver nodded and they smiled at each other. “It was my idea,” he suddenly spouted. “I wanted to go sledding.”
Valencia shook her head and immediately disputed it. “No, it was my idea.”
“No, it was me,” Ollie said, swiveling to face me. “You know I wanted to go sledding, Jade.”
“No, it was me,” Valencia contradicted. “I suggested it.”
I shook my head sadly, latching on to their little game. “Oh, I get it. Both of you are willing to take the blame so the other won’t get into trouble.”
“You won’t tell Mom, will you?” Ollie said, edging on a panic attack. “She might ground me and I’ve got Molly’s birthday party next weekend.”
“Well, who’s fault would that be?” I asked with smug sarcasm.
“Jade,” Valencia uttered my name in a desperate plea, swinging around so that her face was mere inches from mine. She eyeballed me so closely that I felt like I was being examined by an eye doctor. “It really was my fault,” she breathed. “I, I...” She paused, faltering momentarily as she swallowed and chewed on her lower lip. “Itwas mewho suggested it. You know Ollie wouldn’t do something like that.”
I was falling...I’d fallen...totally trapped, captivated by her dark eyes, her remorse, her luscious lips...and her willingness to defend Oliver, to protect him.
Valencia Reid was radiant, magnificent, amazing, beauty personified...and I wanted to kiss her, wanted her soft, sweet, kissable lips against mine.
“Pleassssse, Jade.” Oliver’s whine jolted me from whatever I’d been doing—namely, staring into Valencia’s eyes, at her face, lost in her presence like she was the only person in the universe. “Pleassssse don’t tell Mom.”
I slumped back against the seat and took a breath, senses reeling, in a daze. Valencia spun back around to face the front. My heart thumped at a million miles an hour, but I needed to snap back to reality.
“Have you warmed up a little?” I asked, but didn’t wait for anyone’s response. “Let’s get home.” I reverted back to my commander-in-chief role. “Valencia, I’ll follow you to your house and then you can ride with us.”
“Yep,” she said timidly, leaping out of the car like she couldn’t get away fast enough.
“Jade, you won’t tell Mom?” Ollie asked again.
I waited for Valencia to get into her car before climbing into the driver’s seat, unable to answer Ollie’s question. I genuinely didn’t want him to get grounded, and Valencia had accepted all blame, but I also didn’t want to lie to Mom. Mom would notice Ollie’s wet clothes.
I followed Valencia’s car closely, idling in her driveway as she parked in the garage. She didn’t dawdle, running to the truck and getting in the back seat.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Okay,” I said, releasing the air from my lungs with a heavy exhale, my brain aching from the predicament. “What I’ll do is tell Mom we all went sledding at Oak Brook, okay?”
Ollie sighed in relief and clutched at my arm. “Yeah, thanks Jade. You’re the best. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You have to promise not to pull another stunt like that. You know Mom’s rules, Ollie,” I said, exuding authority again. But I’d weakened, succumbed, was guilty of a cover up.
Ollie nodded. “I know, I won’t. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Valencia said. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to get Ollie into trouble.”
“Or for both of you to get hyperthermia,” I said.
“Hypo!” Ollie corrected.
“That’s what I said,” I muttered.
I ordered Ollie to go straight to the shower and get ready for bed. Valencia said goodnight to him and slipped into her room and closed the door before I could say anything to her. Not that I knew what to say. I was kinda relieved, not knowing how to explain about looking into her eyes like some intense psycho. No wonder she’d retreated.
I waited in the living room watching a highlights show of last week’s Premier League games. I’d already rehearsed a bunch of internal monologues, going over the different scenarios of Mom’s likely reactions. I didn’t like lying to Mom, but I reminded myself she was the one who said Valencia was adjusting to this new situation without her parents. I could put the Valencia twist on it, but in a good way—wanting to include her in some fun activities to make her feel at home. Mom would be all for that.
And I was right. Mom’s scowl softened when I explained how Valencia loved sledding and though she wasn’t 100% on board with it on a school night, she was happy that we were helping her settle in. It also helped that their trivia team had come first and Mom claimed it was knowing that Ouagadougou was the capital of Burkina Faso was what got them over the line. I didn’t even know where Burkina Faso was, but Mom outright shamed me,mentioning a player who had been in my beloved Manchester City team.
