TMI (19 page)

Alone in her room, Meg twisted the neck of the Pixar lamp clamped to her easel and angled it at her canvas. She switched it on and froze. Chase looked back at her, eyes blazing from under the hair that was always in his face. Blood dripped from his lips down his jaw and throat, making him look like a vampire out of a romance novel, and she couldn't tear her eyes away.

She ran a finger across his parted lips and her own tingled. She noted the slight flare around his nostrils and her breathing went shallow. She leaned closer and swore she could smell the faint scent of vanilla that always clung to him. His eyes locked on hers from under his lashes. When she felt her lips lift in
that
smile, she threw a cover over the canvas and sank to her bed. She hadn't painted his hands but imagined they'd be clenched into fists while he tried like hell not to reach out and grab her. She'd painted him the way he'd looked last night after he had kissed her—and that had been hours
after
she'd finished this portrait.

God, she was losing her mind. It was a painting! Nothing more than a few globs of paint, she assured herself. She pressed a hand to her chest and pulled in a calming breath. The computer on her desk caught her attention. She powered it on and found some unanswered emails from the weekend. One from Ryder on Saturday.

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Chill out!

Meg, WTF is going on between you and Bailey? She's all upset. Could you please back off? I told you I won't hurt her. I'm trying to arrange my work schedule so I can meet her and prove to you that I am who I say I am, so please stop screwing with her head.

Before that, one from Bailey, whose subject line read, “BACK OFF!!!!!!!!!!”

From:
[email protected]

Subject: BACK OFF!!!!!!!!!!

I told Ryder how you wet your pants in second grade and had to wear boys' underwear the rest of the day. He laughed. He thought it was the funniest thing he ever heard. He thought it was so funny that I should put it on Facebook. I hope Chase sees it and laughs at you.

Meg winced. It was like they were six all over again. She'd never told Ryder that story. How could Bailey doubt that?

There were several from a bunch of classmates, all teasing her about her bladder control issues. She deleted them, unread. Then a second one from Bailey.

From:
[email protected]

Subject: How could you?

Megan, how could you do that? How could you tell Ryder what happened in second grade? OMG, I'm so embarrassed!!!! You swore you wouldn't tell anybody that story. I know you don't like Ryder, but seriously, Meg, this really sucks. I thought we were friends. I really like this guy, and now he'll probably never want to talk to me again because of you. Back off!

Her anger reignited, and she pounded out a new message to Ryder.

To:
[email protected]

Subject: You slime

Ryder, I don't know what you think you're doing, but I'm on to you. You're a liar and a player who obviously knows us, and I'm going to track you down. So what's the deal? You want to get back at me for something? Fine. Be a man and face me in person instead of from behind your computer, you slime.

She clicked Send and seethed for a moment or two, and then her phone buzzed with a text message from Bailey. Her hand screamed with pain. With a sigh, she called her.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey! Why didn't you text me?”

“Because it hurts.”

“Oh…right. Sorry,” Bailey said. “So I'll be over in like fifteen minutes? I thought it might be easier to get you showered at night. Then in the morning, all you have to do is change clothes, you know?”

Meg's eyebrows shot up. That was actually a really good idea. “Um…yeah, okay.”

“Did you eat?”

Meg glanced at the clock. It was after nine o'clock. “I forgot.”

“I'll bring you some ravioli that Gran made. See you in a few.”

Meg closed her phone and gathered the things she'd need for her shower. Clean underwear, elastic-waist sleep pants, and a tank top were perfect. What could she tug on tomorrow with one hand? She searched through her closet and found a skirt Bailey had made her buy a few months ago. She made a face and nearly put it back but then reconsidered. It had looked nice on her. It was a long, flowy skirt in a soft brown fabric. She could wear it with ballet flats.

In the bathroom, she readied soap, shampoo, conditioner, towels, plus the plastic bag she'd found in the bag Bailey had packed for her. It covered her hand up to the elbow and should keep everything dry. When the doorbell rang, she was already halfway downstairs.

“Hey!” Bailey bounced in and headed for the kitchen. “Gran says to heat these only for like a minute in the microwave or—” She put a plastic container on the counter and made an explosion sound, emphasized it with a hand motion. “Hungry?”

“Yeah, but I can wait until after I shower.”

“Cool. Let's go.”

Upstairs, Meg kicked off her canvas shoes and then tugged off her shirt. With Bailey's help, Meg was soon under the hot water stream with her plastic-covered hand outside the tub. It took her twice as long to shampoo, condition, rinse, scrub, and shave, but she did it and felt tons better.

“Here. Put this on.” Bailey wrapped her in a robe. “You need help with the clothes?”

“Nah, I can manage.”

“I'll be in your room if you need me.”

Meg was smiling when she finished getting dressed. Her hand wasn't throbbing anymore and it felt good to be clean. The clothes she'd chosen were perfect—easy to get on with one hand and comfortable for sleep.

“Hey, Bailey, that wasn't so—What's wrong?” Meg's grin faded when she found Bailey sitting on her bed, frowning at her cell phone.

“You bitch.”

Trust
was
fragile
, Bailey thought when she tossed Meg's cell phone on her bed. She didn't want to believe Ryder and she didn't want to doubt Meg, not after everything that had just happened. But there it was—proof right on Meg's phone. She'd contacted Ryder just like he'd said she did after she had told her, promised her that she would stop interfering.

“Excuse me?” Meg said in that oh-no-you-didn't tone she'd perfected back in second grade, but Bailey wasn't backing down. Not this time.

“Ryder says you emailed him.”

Meg's jaw clenched. “Yeah. So?”

“So I told you to stay away from him.” Bailey stood up, glaring.

Meg shook her head. “I want to know why he's telling you lies.”

Lies! Bailey rolled her eyes.
We're back to the Ryder's a liar song
. “You're putting him in the middle and he doesn't want that. Why can't you just stay out of it? I know what I'm doing.”

Meg shot out a hip and snorted. “You never know what you're doing. Remember Mr. Milner? You could have gotten him fired.”

Bailey's face went hot, and she shot up a hand. It was so…so Meg to bring up the past. “That's not fair!”

“Fair? I don't give a crap about fair. I just don't want him to make a fool out of you, embarrass you, hurt you.”

Meg's words only made Bailey madder. It was her life, not Meg's. Honestly, she was like a prison guard. “Megan, I really like this guy. He's incredible. He's smart. He likes gaming and is helping me build my video game.”

“Oh, please!” Meg flung out her hands. “You'll never build that game and you know it. It's just another scheme to get guys to like you. Maximum points!”

“It is not! I like video games. I'm going to build it and sell it no matter what you say!”

“No, Bailey, you won't. You'll just get some guy to build it for you. You tried Simon and then Chase and now Ryder. You're just using him.”

“No. No, that's not true. I like him, Meg. I really like him. I don't want you to ruin that like you—” Bailey suddenly clamped her teeth together and turned away.

Meg flinched. “Like I what, Bailey. What were you gonna say? Like I always do? Is that it? You blame me for all your breakups?” She sank to her bed, blinking back tears.

“Meg, I just want you to mind your own business! I told you to back off. I told you I really like this guy. What is your freaking
problem
?”

“I don't trust him.”

“
I
don't care
!
” she shrieked and stood for a moment, blue eyes hot and wide. “Look, I'm telling you for the last time. Back off, or we can't be friends anymore.”

Meg gasped. “You…you don't mean that.”

“Oh, yeah, I do,” Bailey said with an emphatic head nod. “I'm sick of this, Meg. It's my life, and if Ryder's a mistake, I want to make it! I don't keep shoving
your
mistakes in your face.”

“What mistakes?”

Oh, my God, are you really this clueless?
“Chase! The way you keep treating him is sick, Meg! But do I constantly remind you of that? No.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I do not! All I do is treat him like the friend he's always been. You want me to cut him out of my life so
you
don't have to deal with your feelings for him, and that's just mean, Meg, so I won't do it. I know that pisses you off, but I don't tell you every second of every day that you're making a colossal mistake, even though you are. And I wish you'd stop doing that to me.”

“Wait…what?”

“Oh, shut up, Meg! Just shut up and stay out of my life. I'm going home. I hope your hand feels better.” She stomped downstairs and out the door before Meg could close her gaping mouth.

Back at her grandparents' house, Bailey looked for her mother, but Nicole was out on another date. Gramps was home, but she couldn't talk about girl stuff with him. He took it too hard and always threatened to get his shotgun if anyone hurt her. He didn't even have a shotgun. She'd told him that once, and he'd said, “For you, baby girl, I'll get one.” Gran wasn't home either.
Oh
, she thought as she pounded up the stairs to her room,
time
to
make
more
friends.

She considered a video game but wasn't in the mood to play by the rules. She flopped on her bed, opened her cell, and tapped out a quick text to Ryder.

Bailey:
You there? I need you.

Ryder did not reply. Tears threatened, but she wasn't ready to sob into her pillow. She logged into Facebook and skimmed her Timeline. Her hands curled into fists, and her face crumbled. It wasn't enough that she'd texted Ryder after she'd promised she wouldn't. Meg had posted a brand new update on her Wall.

What do all these guys have in common? Simon Kane, Chase Gallagher, Ryder West, Jordan Clark, Tanner Hayes, Jonathan Pritchard, Elliot Nielson, and Mr. Milner—GO!

What little she'd eaten earlier bubbled in her belly, and she gulped to make sure it stayed down. She pressed a fist to her mouth. Jonathan Pritchard wrote,
No
comment ;)
. Jordan posted,
Uh oh!
A girl in her English class said,
They're all hotties!
Another girl asked
Oh, Bailey, how did you get an A from
Mr. Milner?

It wasn't the Likes the Wall post was collecting, and it wasn't even the comments, even though they all pretty much implied she was the school's biggest slut. No, what hurt the most…what drove the knife through her back was that Meg was the one who posted it.

Meg opened her front door with a snarl. “What?”

Chase all but seethed, his green eyes glinting in the glare of the porch light. “What the
hell
, Megan?”

She flinched but did not cower. “You saw Facebook.”

“Yeah. Saw you stab a friend in the back. And you used me to do it.”

His voice was quietly cold—no small feat considering how furious he was. She stared at him, speechless. He waited one more beat. “You don't even deny it?”

“Um, I believe it's called fighting back.”

“Really?” Derision practically dripped from the word. “It sounds a whole lot more like getting even, and that's not you.”

Her eyes went round and she leaned toward him. “Oh, I thought you knew me so well, Chase! That you loved everything about me. Guess you were wrong. You
don't
know me, and you can't possibly love me, so just go home and leave me alone.”

She tried to slam the door, but it bounced off the foot he stuck in its path. She took a step back. Chase stole the opportunity to walk in uninvited, and her face went red. He angled his head and narrowed his eyes. “You think I don't know you. You're wrong. Under all this mad, you know what I see? You're in pieces. Bailey took a cheap shot, and you're hurt. I get that. But this—” He jabbed a finger upstairs toward her room and finished, “is low.”

She shook her head. “Why don't I get a shot? She came after me first, and worse, she got Ryder and even you involved. I keep telling her not to trust this guy, and she actually
believes
him
over
me
.”

The sound of her voice bounced off the walls of the living room. Chase took another step.

“Delete it, Megan. Right now.”

She folded her arms and shook her head. When he cursed, her eyebrows shot up.

“Damn it, Megan. You don't hurt people like this, not on purpose. Delete the post before it ends up with another TP'd front yard or a knife through a hand. Please.”

“No, Chase. Not this time.”

He met her gaze. “Fine.”

If she'd expected him to walk out and leave her to suffer alone, she'd underestimated him. Instead, he picked her up by her elbows and moved her out of his path to stalk upstairs to her room. He strode into her bedroom and came to a complete and utter stop when he saw her easel. Right behind him, Meg saw his face the second he caught sight of her easel, and her heart skidded to a stop. He ran his thumb over the streaks of blood that dripped from the likeness of his face. That cold fury was gone. In its place, she saw wonder and something that looked a lot like pride.

She shoved past him, tossed the cover over the painting.

Grinning, Chase pulled it back off. “Too late. I can't unsee it.”

Meg fought desperately for something to say, something to explain it away, but she couldn't when the truth was staring at them from a twenty-by-seventeen-inch canvas.

“Bailey told me, but I was too afraid to believe it,” he murmured.

Bailey told him? “Oh, God. Told you what?” she asked, letting her eyes slip shut.

Chase turned, the expression on his face making her knees buckle. “That you paint me all the time.”

She bit her lip. Of course she did. Bailey was all about revealing secrets lately.

He stepped closer. “She also said that you're obsessed.”

She stepped back.

“That you feel the same way about me as I feel about you.”

He took another step.

She felt the bed behind her legs. He grinned, and she cursed. He knew she had nowhere to go.

“I love you, Megan. I've loved you for so long. I can't remember not loving you.”

She swallowed thickly and blurted out one word. “Why?”

He moved closer still. “Why?” he repeated. “Lots of reasons. One day, when you're ready to hear them, I'll give you the list.”

Her eyes softened. He had a list.

“You know what I love most of all?” he asked. “You have the most loyal heart. The way you defend and protect and love Bailey amazes me and makes me jealous because I want to be loved that way. I want to be loved
your
way.”

She stared at him, certain she was going to burst into flames. She wasn't sure when it happened or why she chose that moment to stop denying it, but she loved him. Oh, God, she did, even though her father had warned her. And the words played on her lips, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She nodded and smiled her Chase-only smile, and it was answered with one of his own. He took her hand and her pulse skipped, but he only moved it over her mouse.

“Okay, okay. You're right.” She deleted the bitchy post. “Happy now?”

When she turned back to Chase, his smile thawed her heart, and for the first time in her life, she told her dad's memory to take a hike. “You have no idea.”

Her hand still under his on the computer mouse, she asked, “What now?”

He shook his head. “I don't know, Megan. Let's just start with tomorrow, okay? Wait for me. We'll go to school together.”

Together.

Meg really liked the sound of that.