Free One Black Rose by Maddy Edwards Page B

these years happily ignoring us and suddenly they’re following you around town like lovesick puppies. WTF?”
    “I wouldn’t say that’s what they’re doing,” I replied, blushing furiously. “Holt and I just hung out once.” And he clearly just wants to be friends. If that.
    “Yeah, okay,” said Carley, rolling her eyes. “The point is, those girls had no business telling you to stay away from Holt, and if they were going to do that why not tell you to stay away from Samuel as well?”
    “I have no idea. They don’t like me, so I’d think they’d want me to stay away from Samuel more than they’d care about Holt. In the café yesterday Leslie glared at Holt when he started talking to me,” I said thoughtfully. It really didn’t make sense.
    “And Holt wouldn’t tell you anything?” she asked.
    I shook my head. “He apologized, but said there was stuff he couldn’t tell me. He refuses to answer a lot of my questions.”
    “Maybe he’s betrothed,” Carley suggested. “To one of the Cheshires.”
    I stared at her. It was something I hadn’t thought of. Actually, I really had no idea why he’d have to stay away from me while Samuel didn’t, except that maybe it made sense if he was involved with a Cheshire.
    “Why wouldn’t he just say that? And why wouldn’t they act like a couple?” I asked reasonably. “Plus, we just hung out once and they’re getting pissed.”
    “I don’t know. Maybe they don’t actually like each other or something,” said Carley.
    “It’s the twenty-first century. Stuff like betrothals doesn’t happen anymore,” I scoffed.
    “How do you know? There are seven billion people in the world. Do you know all of them?” Carley demanded.
    “Don’t be annoying,” I said primly, finishing my cereal. I tried not to think about Holt engaged.
    “Anyhow, are you okay?” asked Carley. “Don’t let those girls get to you. Obviously they’re prettier than their manners.”
    “No, it’s fine,” I said. “I’ll ignore them. What could they possibly do to me anyway?”
    “I mean, they could probably do lots if they wanted to….” She grinned when I threw the dishtowel at her. “Holt told them to leave me alone. I have a feeling they’ll listen.”
    “Anyway, my night was boring,” Carley said, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and sitting on the counter while I finished the dishes. She told me all about dinner with her parents’ friends. “They have two kids under ten who are both apparently complete terrors. They like to hide on each other and then leap out and attack. The parents have to separate them. Actually, it sounds a lot like me and Charlie.”
    I laughed. Once she’d finished talking about her night, she glanced outside at the steady rain that was still coming down. “Anyway,” she said, “Nick was going to come over in a bit. My mom wants me to clean and stuff and Nick offered to help, but I think we might just play cards. You can see what he thinks about those Cheshire girls, although I warn you he’s a guy and will probably just say they’re hot.”
    “Sounds good,” I said.
    We didn’t have long to wait. Five minutes after I was done with dishes the doorbell rang. Before either of us could get to the door, Nick’s voice called, “Hey, you home?”
    “In the kitchen,” Carley called.
    Nick came down the hallway. He looked damp. His hair was covered in a fine slick of water like droplets on a window, and the edges of his long-sleeved T and the bottoms of his jeans were wet.
    “How’s the weather?” I asked, grinning.
    “I love driving in downpours,” he replied sarcastically.
    “Cards?” Carley asked.
    “Samuel’s coming over,” said Nick cheerfully. “He called me this morning and I told him I was heading here and invited him to tag along.” Nick was now looking from one to the other of us in confusion, as we’d both uttered horrified gasps at almost the exact same instant.
    “What’s the problem?” he asked,