Page 40 of Feral Touch
“Not…all the way. Just a little bit.”
“Tell me. Now.” There was anticipation in her eyes. “Let me live vicariously through you.”
“I’m not telling you all the sordid details!” That was way too embarrassing, plus it was my own private business. I felt bad talking about Ren like that, even though we would probably never see each other again.
“Was it good, at least?”
“Yeah. It was really good.”
“He didn't just throw you out in the cold afterwards? He was a gentleman?”
“He was.” I'd been the one to storm off. Ren wasn't some playboy who used girls and discarded them. That was one thing I didn't have to worry about.
No. Instead, he was an entitled rich kid who thought money could get him anything he wanted.
None of my inner angst deterred Natalie.
“It's all so exciting.” She sighed in exaggerated delight, pressing her hands against her chest. "There’s just something about rock stars that makes me swoon like a thirteen-year-old girl, you know?”
“Nat, that’s probably the last thing a guy wants to hear before he has sex with you.”
She quirked a sardonic grin. “It’s not like I’ll ever be in the position to say it.”
A small thought niggled in the back of my head. What would happen if my friends met the other guys from Feral Silence? Would any of them be interested in someone like Natalie? She certainly seemed to have a thing for Morris. Was he single?
I shook my head inwardly. It would never happen. Ren and I were done. There would never be a chance for our friends to meet.
The thought made me oddly sad. Without realizing it, I’d secretly been thinking about what my future might look like with Ren—our two friend groups intermingling, going on double dates, meeting each other’s parents.
That thought made me pause. I supposed we had already met each other’s parents. He had certainly met mine. I tried to think back, tried to remember anything I could about Ren’s mother and father.
I had the vaguest recollection of a woman with a smooth, aristocratic face and a man with salt-and-pepper hair wearing a stern expression. I’d only seen them once or twice. I tried as hard as I could to remember, but that was it.
Now that I thought about it, I didn’t think I’d ever seen them pick Ren up after music lessons. They’d certainly never come to any of his recitals. When our music school held open classes so parents could observe, they had never shown up.
I thought back to the first few days after I’d met Ren, when I’d been trying to reconcile the man I’d met with the boy I’d known.
It wasn’t until his parents starting calling around that we realized Ren had been missing for two weeks.
It took his parents more than fourteen days to realize he was gone.
My heart squeezed in my chest. How could I have forgotten that? Back when Ren disappeared, I’d wondered why it took his parents so long to notice. What kind of mom and dad didn’t realize their child was missing fortwo whole weeks?
Ren’s parents bought him an expensive car for his sixteenth birthday. He had the best violin money could buy. He always wore brand name clothing, always had the latest electronics and gadgets.
And yet his parents didn’t notice he was missing for fourteen days.
“Nat, did your parents ever go to your recitals when you were a kid?”
She looked slightly confused at the change in subject, but still huffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding? They never shut up about them. They invited every distant relative, every neighbor, every coworker. You would have thought I was some sort of musical prodigy the way they went on and on.”
My parents had never been wealthy, but they always made sure to be a part of my life. They were always there for me, always supporting me. From the way they lavished gifts on him, I’d always assumed Ren’s parents were the same.
I thought back to the words I’d shouted at him.
You can’t just buy people off, Ren.
Temsah was astonished when I turned down the scholarship offer. I told him to give it to someone else who met the criteria. He asked why, but I simply said it was a personal choice.
