Page 55 of Queen Rose

Nate

Idrive aimlessly, licking my wounds. Arguing with myself. Being mad, then sad all at once. And it was a stupid idea to drive around because it’s not like I’m going to figure out how to fix things with Mom or Aria before I run out of gas. Up ahead, there’s a park with a bunch of kiddie playground equipment that I bring Becca and Brandon to all the time. It’s dark, but the place is well-lit, and I figure I’ll go sit on one of the benches and try to think things through.

The minute I sit down, though, I hear shouts coming from the direction of the football field where a lot of high school kids play tag football on the weekends. Sure enough, Aria’s friends are jogging this way.

They’re waving as they approach, the entire group sweaty and exhausted. Xander leads the pack, followed by Micah, Beau, and Griffin.

I lift a hand to acknowledge them, but damn, I really don’t want to get into it with any of them. And I don’t know if I should be sharing with them. Fuck. I have no idea what the relationship protocol is for shit like this.

“Hey. How’s it going?” Xander stops in front of the bench, tossing a football between his two hands, eyeing me.

“It’s going, I guess.” My eyes shift away from them, looking over at the swings.

Beau flops down next to me. “Uh, everything okay? You look like someone pissed in your Froot Loops.”

My lips twitch a little at his humor, but I murmur low, “Not really.”

Griffin crosses his arms in front of him, studying me, “Is it your mom?”

I blow out a breath. “It has to do with her, yes. What is this, an interrogation?”

Micah folds his big body onto the grass in front of the bench, sprawling his long legs everywhere before gritting out, “Not an interrogation. Just friends offering support. Is she okay? Can we help somehow?”

“You guys aren’t going to let this go, huh?” I shake my head, only seeing one way forward. “Look. You know how I lost my scholarship and now I’m not going to college?” They nod, so I continue. “Aria told my mom.” I wait a beat. “To be fair, she didn’t blurt it out or anything, but she slipped and asked if I’d found a job for this summer.”

Beau nods, his lips forming an O. “I hear you. If you were going to be playing football, you probably wouldn’t want to do that. Not a long-term job, anyway.”

“Right.” I press my lips together tightly. It’s obvious they’re waiting on me, so I let it all out. “I made a fucking mistake. But she had no right to tell my mother. The woman is dying. I didn’t want her to know.” I lean forward, head in my hands.

Xander sits down on my other side, setting the football in the grass, and rests his elbows on his knees. He side-eyes me. “You can’t honestly think Aria did that maliciously. I mean, what was she doing at your house in the first place?”

I hate it when I’m wrong. He’s right. Fuck. Deep down, I know she didn’t mean it. I clear my throat. “She was playing games with my brother and sister. She brought them hot dogs—the good kind, too. Goddammit.”

“Moretto’s?” Beau groans, patting his stomach. “I could go for some dogs about now.”

“Ditto. Those are fucking good. Really good. They’re open late on Fridays.” Griffin licks his lips, hands on his hips. He looks like he could take off at a sprint to go hunt some down at any moment.

Xander rolls his eyes at his friends’ antics. “I’ll say this, and then we’ll let you go back to your pity party while we go get our hot dogs.”

“I’m in,” Micah blurts, then shrugs. “Sorry, I’m fucking hungry.”

“Aria’s a tough nut to crack. Hard to get to know. Hell, I doubt any of us feels like we know her as well as you probably do by now. But if there’s one thing all of us do know without a doubt, it’s that she’s trustworthy. She’d go to bat for any one of us, and has several times. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass. I’d bet everything I have that she didn’t do that on purpose. She’s been happier than I’ve ever seen her these last few weeks. She’s smiling a lot more often. And that’s saying a fuck ton, considering she’s getting it coming and going at school.” Xander nudges my elbow. “And that smile is there because of you.”

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