Page 116 of Everything Has Changed
“Oh my God. Is your father blackmailing you? What could he even have on you?”
I don’t say anything, just let her work it out in her head. I see the moment it dawns on her. The moment she pieces it together.
“Me,” she whispers. “I’m the blackmail, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, Gwen. You are.”
Her mouth drops open, then she slams it shut as she looks out to the lake. “I don’t understand. How can I be used as leverage?”
“Your cafe, Gwen. He threatened to find any way to get it shut down. As soon as he caught wind that there was something going onbetween us, he used it. And I know I should have stopped whatever was growing between us as soon as he did. And I tried, I really did. But, dammit, I fell for you long before I realized what was going on. I was already falling in l–-”
She jumps up from her seat, the checkered blanket falling to the ground at her feet. “No!” She shouts. Her finger pointed right at me as she took a step back. The green of her eyes are vibrant as they cut into me. “You do not get to finish that sentence.”
I clench my jaw, feeling the emotion taking over my body, ready to shout the words so she knows how I feel about her. But I know it’s not the time. She’s right. I don’t get to say that right now. Probably ever.
I watch as she paces the edge of the water. Her hands raked through her long hair. I can almost see her processing this information in real time by the waves of emotion on her face. She turns slowly back to me.
“So, let me make sure I have this right. You knew this,” she waves her finger between us, “would go nowhere.”
It’s my turn to jump up, my feet immediately taking me to where I belong. Directly in her orbit. The small step she takes away from me hurts, but I understand as I stay firmly planted facing her.
“No! I had hoped that I could fix this. And I can. I just need time.”
She swipes at a tear that drops from her lashes. “To do what, exactly? Take your place as mayor? Because I have to assume until that happens, you will continue to play puppet as long as your dad pulls the strings. So, February? That’s if you get to cut the cords as soon you take office. But if my gut is telling me correctly right now, there’s no way your father will let go so easily. Am I right?”
“I don’t know yet. But Gwen–-”
She holds up a hand to stop me. “No, let me work through this so we can both see how this will play out. Because to me, it looks like either way I will have to sit back and watch you play house withCamila. After I already fell—” She sucks in a breath, stopping the words from falling out.
“Already what, baby? Tell me.” I beg her to tell me. To say the words I need to hear.
She shakes her head, and another tear falls. This time she lets it; leaving the trail of it glistening in the moonlight. “No. This isn’t fair. Why didn’t you just come to me about this? We could have done something, anything other than leaving me in the dark until it was too late.”
“It’s not too late. I am still trying to fix everything. There’s so much more to this whole situation than just us right now.”
“Right, like my livelihood being threatened.” She leans her head back for a second before leveling me with another stare. “And Camila is getting exactly what I want yet again.”
“What does that mean? Again?”
Gwen places her hands on her face and groans. “I always wondered if you knew.”
“Knew what?”
Placing her hands on her hips, she gives a sad smile. “Do you remember my graduation? The year after yours.”
I think back to all those years. “I think so. I came back after my freshman year of college. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Did you know I had a crush on you in high school?”
I take a step back. “No, you didn’t.”
She nods. “I did. Not that you ever noticed me. At least not until Biology my junior year.”
My lips part in surprise. “I noticed you,” I admit.
Her smile is small and sad. “Not in the way I wanted you to. You noticed me as your teammate’s kid sister. But when I walked into class on that first day of second semester and you were there, I thought thatmaybe I had a chance. Especially since you and Camila had broken up yet again.” Her chuckle is humorless as she continues. “The daydreams of a teenage girl, I guess.”
Warmth spreads in my chest at the memories of the two of us building a friendship at the science table my final year.
