Page 54 of Save the Last Dance
“You of all people ought to understand about keeping secrets,” Rachel hissed at Ally, her eyebrows drawn together in an angry sneer.
And yet…her eyes glittered with tears in the moonlight.
“I knew it was just a matter of time before you lorded that over me.” Ally had been doomed the moment she started scratching in a public place. The moment she’d let her emotions get the better of her.
So why are you doing it now?a voice inside her head asked.
She realized she had one wrist in a stranglehold, but she hadn’t scratched anything yet. She let go.
“Ally, come on.” Ethan tried to put a hand on her shoulder again and she wondered why he bothered. Why wasn’t he dragging Rachel away instead?
“Iwould never try to purposely embarrass someone with their secrets.” Rachel’s words were so fiercely spoken, Ally suddenly realized they must be talking about something else entirely. Rachel pitched her purse into the open convertible and wrenched open the door. “But I’ll give you a piece of advice. Those secrets will come back to bite you in the butt either way. So if I were you, I’d just tell him.”
She slammed the door hard enough to rattle the windows. Cranking the radio to a country station, she roared off into the night, giving Ally an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d been only nine when Uncle Mack’s best friend had died in a car crash, but she remembered the horror and grief that had gone through the familythe night they’d thought Uncle Mack had been the one behind the wheel.
“Why didn’t you stop her?” She turned to Ethan, confused and rattled and so hurt inside she couldn’t stand up straight anymore. She slumped down onto the hood of her car, not caring if she dented or scratched it. “What if she gets in an accident?”
“Suddenly you give a crap about Rachel?” Ethan shook his head. “What the hell has gotten into you? Youknowshe’s not my girlfriend. Didn’t I show up at your house last weekend to try and get you to go out with me?”
Was that how he saw it? Happy surprise bubbled up for a second. Until she remembered how he’d flirted with Rachel. Hadn’t he? Confused, she tried to recall his words to her that night on her front porch.
“You came over to see if I wanted to hang out.”
“What else was I supposed to say, Ally? That I want to kiss you so bad I’m in danger of failing math again because I think about you all period?”
Her brain stopped on “I want to kiss you” and wouldn’t move forward. She stared up at him in the dark parking lot, grateful there were no other cars nearby. She’d crushed on him forever. Could he really, finally, want to be with her, too? Her gaze darted to his lips and her heart beat faster.
“But—” She shook her head to clear it even though she wanted more than anything to kiss him. “What about Rachel?”
“We’re friends,” he insisted, a stubborn thrust to his chin. “That’s the truth. If you want to know more, ask her.”
How mysterious was that for an answer?
“I don’t understand.” She wavered, wishing she’d tried talking to Rachel more today instead of just assuming she was trying to steal Ethan.
“That makes two of us.” Ethan folded his arms across his chest, his shoulders more filled out than most boys her age, thanks to baling hay the old-fashioned way.
He might resent his family’s green farming techniques, but they sure gave him muscles that girls drooled over.
“What do you mean?” She forced herself to focus on their conversation and not Ethan’s swoony appeal.
“I don’t understand you, either. Rachel said your secrets will come back to bite you. What the hell did that mean?” He glared at her. “Obviously Rachel’s not the only one with something to hide. So what are you keeping from me?”
Words dried up in Ally’s throat. Damn. It. Ever since her control slipped that day in the salon, she’d known it was only a matter of time before people in her life found out. She’d developed a false sense of security when rumors hadn’t spread this week.
“It’s not about you,” she said finally, hurt welling up inside her. She shifted positions on the hood and the metal squeaked in protest.
She wished they could go back to that moment when he’d said he wanted to kiss her. Once again, she’d screwed things up. The harder she tried to be with Ethan, the more she chased him away.
“But it’s something I should know.” It wasn’t a question, exactly.
Still…she knew he was hoping that she would deny she was hiding something from him. Of course, she couldn’t.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She was going to lose Ethan before she ever had him.
“Fine. Keep your secrets.” He held his hands up in the air and took a step back. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
He stalked to his old truck, his image blurringas the tears started falling down Ally’s cheeks. Just before he reached the vehicle, he spun around. She prayed he couldn’t see her tears in the dark and resisted the instinctive urge to scrub them away.
