Page 10 of The Amazing Alpha Tau Fratmas Experience
I didn’t know what Scout had going on or why he was lying about it, but there was no point in avoiding the conversation now—whatever it turned out to be—and we both knew it. I’d caught him dead to rights.
I closed the bedroom door so we wouldn’t be disturbed and said, “Spill.”
Scout picked up a necktie and folded it into a tidy square, then unfolded it, then folded it again while I waited. His expression was as haughty as always, but the flush in his cheeks told me he was rattled. He finally set the necktie into his suitcase and said, “I’m going to DC instead of Vienna.”
I hummed. “Ah, yes, DC. So magical at Christmas.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m goingafterChristmas. For three weeks. I’ll be working for Justice McDaniel while one of his staffers is on leave.” He picked up the tie again. Folded it again. Unfolded it.
I kept my voice even, though all the while my brain was spinning. “For the Supreme Court? That’s a hell of an opportunity.”
“That’s what my father said,” Scout said. “When he told me.” He pressed his mouth into a thin line and shot me a look. “It’s not a big deal or anything, though.”
Well, he was wrong about that, but I let it go.
“Okay, so what’s the deal with Christmas?” I asked.
“That’s when we celebrate the birth of Christ, Trey,” he told me. “Savior of all mankind.”
“Smart-ass. What’s the deal, specifically, with you and this Christmas?”
Scout dropped his gaze to his suitcase and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “I’ll be here.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Didn’t quite catch that, baby.”
He scowled. “I said I’ll be here. It’s fine.” He shrugged. “I have to be in DC on the twenty-eighth, so I’ll drive up then.”
I was dating a fucking idiot.
But before I could open my mouth and tell him that, he said, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
He gave a half-hearted sneer. “I don’t want some pity invitation to your family’s Christmas, okay? I’mfine.”
I was dating an idiot and a liar, but I knew better than to push him. You pushed Scout, and he built so many walls around him in a millisecond that you could spend your lifetime trying to break through them and never get close to him again. Scout hated thinking he was in debt to anyone—especially emotionally—and he hated accepting help. Which was ironic considering how secretly generous he was. But with Scout, it was a case of being able to dish it out but not being able to take it.
So I let it go, at least for now.
“So an internship at the Supreme Court. Wow, that’s sure something.”
Scout narrowed his gaze, like he was searching for sarcasm. He wouldn’t find it. He shrugged again. “It’s whatever.” Then he huffed out a breath, and his indifference shattered. “It’sbullshit. It’ll just be coffee orders and picking up dry cleaning, and somehow it’s worth something? And the stupid thing is, Iknowit’s worth something. It shouldn’t be, but it is. And the only reason I got offered it is because my father knows Justice McDaniel.”
I hummed and nodded.
Scout’s scowl deepened. “It’s stupid, and it’s not evenfair. It’s not like I need any more advantages handed to me.”
“It’s cute how you think you need to explain to me that society isn’t fair, baby,” I said, unable to hide my smile. “Is that why you kept it a secret? In case my poor disadvantaged self got bent all out of shape that it wasn’t me?”
“You’re a better student than me, and you’ll be a better lawyer than me!” He flushed all the way to the roots of his blond hair.
He wasn’t wrong. And that wasn’t me bragging.
“Scout, get over here,” I said.
He glared at me.
“Scout.”
