by Shae Ross
Through the pounding sound of my heart in my ears I hear the distant ring of my cell phone. Without even looking, I know it’s my dad. I press a hand to my brow and answer the call. “Hi, Dad.”
“Morning, Jett. How’s everything going out there?” My dad’s voice comes through laced with the usual tone of expectation. “So you guys are still holding the lead, I presume?”
“Actually, the girls have tied it up.” The line goes silent even though I know he’s still there.
“Well, how’d that happen?”
I hate it when he asks questions that really aren’t questions. How do ya think it happened? They beat us. Twice. What more is there to say? I let out a sigh of frustration.
“Jett, I need you. Jett Industries needs you. I’ve been waiting for you to join the team for ten years now. Don’t screw this up at the end. I gotta believe the team you’ve assembled can beat a bunch of bubbleheads from Michigan State.”
Piercing anger shoots into my temples. “They’re not bubbleheads, Dad.”
“Do you need me to call in a favor for you?”
“No!” I cut him off. “Do not do that, and I gotta go. As always, nice chatting with you.” I hang up the phone.
I grab the coffees I ordered for the girls and head to their room. A text chimes through. I’m sure it’s Dad, so I ignore it. I know he’s pissed that I hung up on him, but too bad. I’m tired of the nagging.
I knock on the girls’ door, and Jade answers. “Hello,” she whispers, motioning me over to the small dresser in the entryway. A single ray of light shines from between a gap in the drapes, making the outline of Devi’s sleeping form just visible in the bed. I set the cardboard carrier on the table between a curling iron and an ice bucket, anxious to leave before Ryan gets back. There is no way I want to see her right now. I know I’m justified in my anger, but I have got to calm down and get a hold on my emotions.
“Ryan’s out running,” Jade whispers. She thanks me for the coffee, and I head out. I’m halfway down the hall when I realize my pockets are still stuffed with Devi’s Splenda. I turn back and stop in front of their door. Jade either forgot to shut it or she’s coming out. I hear her speaking to someone on her cell phone.
“Hi, Mom,” she says in a cheerful voice. I pause, debating whether or not I should interrupt. She’s talking in hushed tones from just behind the door, probably not wanting to wake up Devi. As I stand there, her next words hit my ears with the slow burn of acid.
“Are you and Dad going to make it to the concluding ceremony tonight?” I stop in my tracks. Why would Jade be asking her mom, who’s supposedly in China, if she’s coming to the ceremony? The door opens, and Jade pauses and stares at me with a startled look on her face. I hold the packets out to her, and she mouths out her thanks and closes the door.
I turn down the hallway, thoughts ricocheting around in my mind like a sniper’s bullet that just missed its target. I look back at their door, and it all makes perfect sense. If I had any lingering hope that Ryan could possibly come up with a plausible explanation for her rendezvous with Robert this morning, it’s dead now.
I grip my pulsing temples, thumb on one side, middle finger on the other, and shake my head. With the exception of the day my mother died and the day after, I’ve never felt so dejected.
The angelic vision of Ryan sleeping with her cheek pressed to my chest this morning haunts me. My stomach twists. I’d like to put my hands on her face and look her in the eye and hear it from her. My fist pulses against the wall.
Why, baby? Why didn’t you just tell me? Could she possibly have felt that desperate for their team that she had to lie to me? If she’d just trusted me…told me they were gaming us because they desperately needed the win, I would have moved heaven and earth to help her. Didn’t she know that? But lying to us and fooling around with Robert this late in the game? Unforgiveable.
My fingers flex and form into a fist. The hallway seems to narrow as the vision of Ryan’s sweet, smiling face flashes before me. I’m a chump for falling for that shit.
The whole story about Jade’s poor, sick, immigrant mom was obviously a hoax, designed to distract us and make us feel sorry for them. No doubt they were hoping we’d turn the competition over to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have some kind of bet going as to which of them could get one of us to back out first. Was the make-out session part of it? The thigh highs? Here I’ve been apologizing to her and defending myself against her accusations that I was taking advantage of her, when in reality she’s been using me.
My jaw clenches. I almost fell for it—I almost fell for her. My phone chimes off a text alert in my pocket. I swipe it open and see Ryan’s name.
Thank you for making my last night in New York a night I will never forget!
Then another text chimes through:
I’m looking forward to tonight.
Hmm. I shake my head. I’m sure she thinks she’s pulled it off, has me eating right out of her hand, and tonight’s plans to serve me up to the crowd as a second-place leftover. I take my fist off the wall and head back to our room. Disaster averted.
Ben and Vaughn are ready to go and waiting.
“We gotta talk,” I say.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asks, looking startled by the expression on my face.
“You’d better sit down,” I tell them, and I proceed to explain what I overheard Jade say.
“Could you have heard wrong?” Ben asks.
“No.”
“I don’t know, dude. It just doesn’t seem like the girls would be lying to us this late in the game.” He looks distressed as his head moves back and forth between Vaughn and me.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, Ben, but we’ve gotta think with our brains here, all emotional attachments aside.”
He flops down on the bed. “I know,” he says, pushing his fingertips back and forth over his thighs. He turns to Vaughn. “What do you think? Think they’re scamming us?”
“I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible they’ve just been using us the whole time.”
Vaughn’s words hang in the air as we all think hard about the possibility. I clutch the back of my neck with my hand and tell them about seeing Ryan with Robert.
“Well, what are we gonna do?” Ben says, looking as dejected as a homeless dog.
“We’ve got to get back in this game, boys,” I respond in a dead-serious tone. “Think about the consequences if we call this one wrong. We’ll end up with Spartans tattooed on our asses, while the girls brag to anyone who will listen about their victory. I can just see the headline on the front page of the State News: MSU ‘Treps Win the National ACE’s Competition and Tattoo the Asses of Three Asses.
“Yeah,” Ben says, shaking his head, “that would not be good.”
Vaughn looks conflicted, as if he’s not ready to render the verdict. “Let me call my dad in China. Maybe he can try to find Jade’s mom and tell us if she really is there.”
“That’d be great, but we have a time-frame issue here,” I remind him.
“We can’t risk it. There’s no way we can withdraw unless we’re certain we’re not being gamed, and right now it looks a hell of a lot like it,” Ben says.
We move about the room in silence. As if I don’t feel shitty enough, seeing the hurt look on their faces only makes it worse. Neither of them got as involved with the girls as I did with Ryan. Vaughn’s too reserved to move that fast and Devi, although perfectly willing to flirt with Ben, made it clear she just wanted to be friends. Even delivered from a friend, betrayal still stings.
Chapter Seventeen
Ryan Rose
I stare out the window of the limo, watching the hotel doors for Team Jett while Devi applies makeup to Jade’s face. She’s been insisting Jade needs more color to keep her from looking washed out on stage, and Jade’s patience is as thin as the rice paper Devi’s using to blot the shine. Jade smacks her hand away. “Enough. I don’t want to look like a freak show. Get o
ff of me.”
“Geez, I’m just trying to help you out,” Devi says. We are as nervous as a locker room full of freshmen. Between my developing feelings for Jett, delivering my speech, and knowing that the winner will be announced, there’s plenty to feel anxious about.
Devi’s blush and lipstick cases click together like the tick of a clock as she throws them back into her purse. She clucks her tongue against her cheek. “Well, here we are again in the limo waiting for the guys.”
I recall the text I’d sent Jett earlier this afternoon and check my phone for a return message. Nothing. Oh, well. I assume he’s been busy today packing and getting his thoughts together for the evening.
“Here they come,” Jade says.
My gaze locks on Jett. Whoever it was that created the tuxedo must have done so with him in mind. It fits his lean, athletic form to perfection. The collar of his white shirt stands up against his dark hair, framing his perfectly chiseled features in a crisp glow. Now that I don’t have to sneak looks at him anymore, my eyes linger on the stunningly handsome picture he presents. Since our date last night my whole world has lit up. I’m still desperately hoping we win, but if we don’t, I know the competition has been a success on another level.
Ben yanks the door open and ducks his head inside. “Hey, guys, we have escorts,” he says in a booming voice. Devi grabs an empty water bottle and launches it at him. It hits him in the head, bounces off the limo door, and drops.
“Get in before you make us late.”
Ben climbs in and sits next to Devi. Vaughn follows and takes the seat beside Jade. Jett ducks his shoulders in and falls onto the seat beside me.
“Hi.” I smile up at Jett, trying to look composed.
He directs his gaze to me, and I wait a moment for his look to warm. I search his face, and my mind flinches as he pulls back. “Hi,” he says in a flat voice, and turns away.
All expression falls from my face. My fingers start to move toward his arm, but the tingling sensation moving up my chest stops me. The air around me suddenly feels heavy. I think there’s something wrong. It must be nerves, right? I need to see his face again but he’s completely turned away from me.
“You ladies look lovely,” Ben says, but even his tone seems more reserved, and I see his neck strain as Devi returns the compliment and brushes lint from his lapel.
The limo pulls away from the curb and silence expands. Vaughn and Ben are texting on their cells, and Jett is staring out the window. I glance at Devi and she twists her lips and shrugs, pulling out her own cell. I watch the lampposts whiz by and concentrate on deep breaths.
We’re halfway there, and but for a few one-word responses to Devi and Jade, the guys are quiet. Jett hasn’t said anything at all. From the side of my eye, I watch his rigid profile. Is he worried about losing? Winning? It’s as if he’s zipped himself up in his game-day clothes and tucked away all emotion. My mind returns to the vision of him this morning, lying stretched across the rumpled white sheets, a happy, relaxed expression on his face.
I take a deep breath and tell myself I’m being ridiculous. It must be nerves. He’s just nervous. I lay my fingers on his arm and say in a low voice, “I’m sorry I had to run out on you this morning.” He turns to me, and I feel an icy blast flash up my skin from the impact of his glare.
“My God, Jett, what’s wrong?”
His mouth is drawn into a tight line, and for a minute I think he’s going to ignore my question entirely. Then he bites out, “I didn’t realize you and Robert were so close.”
My brow tightens in confusion. “Robert?” And then it occurs to me: Robert Trott. A feeling I can’t identify begins to creep into the edges of my stomach.
“I saw you running in the park with him this morning,” he snaps, and his eyes bore into me. His raised voice has silenced the conversation our friends were having, and they are all staring at us—Jade and Devi with startled expressions, and Ben and Vaughn as if they’re waiting to hear my explanation.
I widen my eyes. He thinks there’s something between Robert and me? Blood rushes to my ears. He’s bearing down at me with an accusatory look. He reminds me of a hawk ready to swoop. I feel myself shrinking in my seat.
“Do you know how it felt to be standing on the terrace watching you prance out of Central Park with Robert Trott?” He pauses a long beat, and I don’t even know what to say. “Did you tell him you’d just left my bed?” he shouts, and I blanch at his words, feeling as if he’s just slapped me in the face. I close my eyes and keep them pressed tight for a moment. Heat washes up my face. Tears sting.
I take a breath and then another. I look levelly at him and start to speak, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “I promised Robert yesterday morning I would run with him—before you and I had any plans. I made that promise and I only kept it so I could tell him that I intended to start a relationship with you once the competition ended—which I am now seriously reconsidering.” My words snap out with an angry beat. “You’ve misinterpreted the whole thing…”
“I think the only thing I’ve misinterpreted is you, Rose.” A tear plops across my cheek and I swipe it away.
Jade is off her seat, hunching as she moves across the limo, her lips slanted in a tight seam. She jabs her finger inches from Jett’s nose. “Now you listen to me, you son of a bitch. Ryan’s only been putting up with that creep all week for me—so we don’t lose our chance. What’s she supposed to do when he’s leering at her, tell him to fuck off so he can sabotage us?”
Jett flinches. A single beat of wide-eyed, slack-mouthed shock stalls us all and then Devi jumps up and is moving toward Jett with a closed fist.
“Ahhh, hell no!” Ben says, lunging for her waist. “Knock it off and sit back down, kids,” he yells.
Vaughn’s up, too, reaching for Jade.
The limo lurches to a sudden stop. Our driver shouts a curse and everyone caves in on us. I grunt from the impact of Ben’s shoulder into my ribs. He’s knocked the wind out of me and I’m gasping for air, clutching the leather seat. We’re a pile of bodies; Jade and Devi are in Jett’s lap, Ben’s hand is on my leg, and Vaughn is on top of Ben.
“Ryan,” Ben says, “I’m sorry.” I suck in another empty breath as the door of the limo yanks open. Arms and legs are moving, trying to untangle.
Ben reaches to help me. Devi shoves his hand away and grabs one of my arms while Jade grabs the other. We wrestle our way out of the limo and straighten our skirts, and I’m still gasping, but at least the breaths are making their way down my burning lungs now. Devi propels us up the walk and we’re intercepted at the bottom of the steps by the group of young Trott execs. Devi squeezes my arm reassuringly and steps in front of me. She smiles, smoothing her hair, and chats them up. Jade joins in and I stand behind them, feeling devastated by Jett’s attack.
My heart aches as if it’s been split in two. I should have just texted Robert back this morning and told him I’d talk to him later but I wanted to get it over with—so I wouldn’t have to worry about it being awkward tonight. It’s not as if I’m carrying on with him. Is that what Jett really thinks of me? Is he really that mad, all because of this morning? I’m so confused and there are so many people around me right now, my head is spinning.
I grip the brass handrail. Every inhale stings my ribs on the left side. I’m standing in the exact spot I’m supposed to meet Jett after the winner is announced tonight. I can’t resist turning back to look at him, one last glimpse at my perfect man.
His gaze is on me but all expression is masked. He’s gone. The man who had emerged over the past couple of days has retreated behind enemy lines so fast he’s completely ambushed me. I refuse to fire back. I’m not going to let him do this to me—to us. I haven’t done anything wrong I repeat to myself. I haven’t done anything wrong.
I climb the stairs, favoring my left side, and enter the Met alone. I have to push Jett out of my mind right now and focus on the remainder of the competition. I don’t want to blow it in the fin
al hour by crumbling. I order a San Pellegrino from the bar and tell myself this night is not about Jett and me. It’s about the competition—it’s always been about the competition. I take a deep breath and put my game-face on. All I have to do is wear it for another couple of hours, then I can deal with Mr. Jekyll at our rendezvous point—if he’s even brave enough to show.
I visit with many of the guests I recognize, fielding questions about our week. I’ve seen Devi and Jade off and on over the last hour, mingling with the crowd. I excuse myself from the couple I’m speaking to, determined to locate all of the players that placed catering orders with Trixie’s Taco Truck to thank them. When I turn to leave, I’m greeted by the most welcome sight: my mom and stepdad standing in front of me, beaming their generous smiles.
“Surprise!” my mom says, holding her arms out. She hugs me and I’m overwhelmed by their appearance. I breathe in the sweet familiar smell of her shampoo and feel my eyes watering. She’s dressed in a black silk wrap dress and her beauty glows. My stepdad has on a dark blue suit and light blue shirt. They blend into the Manhattan crowd of “somebodies” with ease.
“I can’t believe you guys came all the way to New York,” I say to them. I reach out and hug my stepdad. He steps back and puts his hands in his pockets.
“We wouldn’t have missed it, Ryan,” he says, and I see the faint mist behind his glasses.
“Have you seen Jade or Devi yet?”
“No, we actually just got here.”
“I’m so thrilled you guys are here,” I say, hugging them both again. I spend the next hour tugging them around, introducing them to Mr. and Mrs. Trott, Robert, Jillian, and anyone else who crosses our path. I think about finding Jett to introduce them and then my mind dismisses it. Maybe after the competition is over.
The lights dim—our signal that final statements will begin in fifteen minutes. My stomach flips with anxiety.
“I’m going to use the bathroom before we get started,” I say to my parents.
“I’ll go with you,” my mom volunteers. I lead them to the back hallway and my stepdad waits for us by the door.
