Page 19 of Home Stretch

NINE

Malia

Things have been going so wellbetween Kade and me the last week that I completely forgot about Sterling and my parents. Big mistake.

Part of me was hoping that Sterling and his friends would forget all about me and their night in Sequoia. I was counting on them not saying anything to their parents or mine, but I guess I shouldn’t have counted on that.

I’ve only taken two steps out of my accounting class when my phone rings. I glance at the screen, hoping that it’s Kade calling to set up another date, but instead, it’s my mom’s name on the screen.

Dread fills my stomach, but I know I need to answer. She’ll just keep calling me until I do. I hurry outside and around the building, where it’s a little more private, before I accept the call.

“Hey, mom. I’m actually still on campus,” I say, hoping to put an end to this conversation before it can really start.

I’m not that lucky, though.

“I can’t believe that you treated Sterling that way!” comes her screeching voice. Hello to you too, I think to myself. “He came all of the way out to that little hick town you insist on living in, all to take you out on a nice date, and what did you do? You left him for some loser!”

“Um, I’m not sure what Sterling has been telling you, but that’s not what happened.”

“So, you didn’t leave with another man?”

“Well, yes, but that’s only—”

“So you admit it!” she shrieks. I can just picture her clutching her pearls, and the thought has me rolling my eyes.

“Yeah, mom, but can you let me explain my side, please?”

“Fine,” she half snarls down the phone. “You embarrassed me in front of all of my friends, but sure. Let’s hear your excuses.”

I take a deep breath, rolling out the tension from my shoulders. I swear this woman takes five years off my life every time she calls.

“Did Sterling tell you that he brought two of his friends with him for our date?” I start. “Or that the ‘romantic evening he had planned’ was really just him taking me to the racetrack at this farm near campus?”

“Well, I’m not surprised! He probably couldn’t find anything else to do in that town.”

“We have restaurants and a movie theater and all of that, mom. There were other options.”

She doesn’t have anything to say to that, and I just know she’s tapping her high-heeled foot in annoyance.

“Did Sterling tell you that he bet me? He bet that he could win the race, and the winner got me. I was literally put up for collateral. Is that a good enough reason to ditch him?” I try controlling my voice, not wanting to get flustered around my mom. She has a way of sniffing out weaknesses and pouncing on them.

“Well, the other man had to accept the bet, so what does that tell you?”

My stomach tightens in pain at the memory of that night, but I know why Kade accepted it. He already explained and apologized to me for it, and I forgave him. My mom won’t care about any of that, though. Typical. She can forgive one man for initiating the bet, but not the man who took up the offer to save me.

“You need to call Sterling and apologize to him,” my mother snaps. I jerk my head back, lifting the phone away from my ear so I can stare at it incredulously. Me? Apologize? “Maybe he’ll be interested in taking you out again, preferably in Los Angeles this time, and you two can clear the air.”

Is she serious right now? But, of course, she is. “Mom. He bet me,” I stress. “He used me as collateral. Traded me like a piece of property. I have nothing to apologize for.”

“I don’t care what you think he did. That doesn’t sound like the nice young man our friends raised. Sterling is a shining example of the kind of man you should be with. He’s wealthy, connected, handsome, and he’ll give you a comfortable life.”

“A shining example? He’s a misogynistic piece of–”

“I will not let you embarrass this family,” she says, cutting me off. Her tone is flat and dark, which does nothing to hide the threat behind her words. “You will apologize to Sterling for what happened that night and for leaving with someone else. It’s incredibly rude, and your father and I raised you better than that.”

“No,” I state firmly.

“Wh– what…?” She stumbles over the word, baffled that I won’t accept her ridiculous demand.

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