Page 64 of Rebel Secrets
My brain pinged with all sorts of new information and questions.Then I looked around the room.Hockey stuff all over the built-in bookshelves on the other side of the room.A desk covered with pucks, some of them wrapped in tape.Hockey jerseys in acrylic boxes on the walls, some with the name Lawrence and some with Jedi.Jedi was Rebel’s nickname with the Devils.Hockey sticks in a little teepee shape in the corner.
“Oh.This is your room.”
“Used to be, yeah.”
“Oh.”I swallowed hard, my mind churning.But I had one question I needed answered right now.“How drunk were you last night?”
I heard him sigh out a hard breath.“Not that drunk.”
My heart started to pound, and I bit my bottom lip until it hurt.“What does that mean?”
His gaze pinned me in place.“It means I remember everything.It also means I knew exactly what I was doing last night.”
My mouth dropped open before I could stop it.“Oh.”
I dropped his gaze because I couldn’t hold it.
“Yeah.Oh.”A little of his sarcasm crept back into his tone, making me feel a little better surprisingly.“So… How drunk wereyou?Didyouknow what you were doing last night?”
He was giving me an exit strategy, a chance to pretend I’d had no idea what had happened so I could slink out of here and never look back.
Did I want to take it?
Maybe?
Coward.
Yeah, but I also knew we weren’t going to have a meaningful conversation about this right now.I couldn’t stop wondering if he had matching marks down his back.
With an effort, I forced myself to look directly at him so he knew I meant my words.“Yes, I knew.”
After a couple of more seconds, I had to drop my gaze or ask him to turn around so I could check his back.Instead, I pointed to a door on the wall to the right of the entrance.
“Is there a bathroom through that door?”
He didn’t bother to look where I was pointing.“Yeah.”
“Can I…?”
“Yeah.I’ll…ah…let me find you something to wear.”
“Oh shit.My bag’s in one of the guest rooms.”
“I’ll go get it.”
Ridiculous panic bubbled up.“What if someone sees you?”
He looked like he wanted to say something in response to that, something I wouldn’t like, but then he thought better of it.I don’t know if I’d wanted him to actually fight me about it or what.
“I don’t think anyone else is up yet.My parents’ room is on the first floor now, and I haven’t heard anyone walking around.Rain gave you the empty room next to her old room, but I’m pretty sure she and Brian aren’t going to notice if I go in there to get your stuff.Neither of them are going to be up this early.”
I took a second before nodding, not knowing what else to do.I didn’t want to do a walk of shame down the hall and risk getting caught.At least if Rebel got caught, he’d have an excuse for coming out of his room.
Although, maybe I should just make a run for it, if the room wasn’t that far.My bladder made the final decision.I really needed to pee.
I nodded.“Okay.”
He shrugged.“Okay.”
