Page 219 of Rebellious

“Oh, um, I’d like iced tea,” she said, so pretty in her corset mini dress.

“Sweetened or unsweetened?” D. Elliot asked.

“Sweetened.”

The waiter nodded and turned his attention to CJ.

“I want a lemonade,” CJ said.

“Any appetizers?”

CJ thought about Skye and wondered how long his secret would be safe. It didn’t matter what Easton said, Jaleena and Skye moved differently. They were also in competition with each other. The moment Skye told Jaleena, Jaleena would find a way to tell Harley. “Can you give us a few minutes? I need to talk to Harley.”

“I’ll see to my other tables.” At the door, D. Elliot paused. “I’ll be back in about twenty minutes. That long enough?”

“More than enough,” CJ responded.

“He’s changed so much,” Harley said, the moment D. Elliot closed the door.

“Grief will do that to you.” He thought Torie had run off. “I feel for him.”

“Me, too. Whenever I come in with Mommie, Daddy, and my brothers, and he’s on duty, he always asks about Lolly, Pop, and Grant.”

“He usually asks me about Mom and Dad,” CJ admitted, sighing. Hopefully, time healed D. Elliot.

Shoving her braids behind her ear, Harley smiled at CJ. “What’s up?”

Once, all CJ needed was a smile from Harley to instantly brighten his day. At that moment, he wasn’t sure if anger would replace that look when he told her the truth. Or tears. Harley had weaponized both to maximum effect.

“CJ?”

“I hooked up with Skye Ratcliffe,” he told her.

She blinked, and CJ braced himself for the explosion.

Her shrug almost disappointed him. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized he’d wanted some reaction from her. “I know,” she said, shocking him into silence. “It happened Wednesday evening. Jaleena called me that night.”

“You didn’t say anything? Confront me?” Why the fuck that annoyed him, he wasn’t sure. “It doesn’t matter to you?”

“What do you want me to say? We aren’t a couple.” The sadness in her tone soothed him. “I wish it hadn’t happened, but considering my behavior, I can’t complain about yours.”

“You seem to be on that same soul-searching mission as Ryan.”

“I just want to do better. Karma bit me back in the worst, most humiliating way possible.”

CJ reached across the small table and held out his hand. “You didn’t deserve any of what you got.”

Slowly, she placed her hand in his. “I think I did,” she said softly.

“I didn’t think Jaleena knew,” he said, squeezing her hand and changing the subject. “She hasn’t called me.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Fuck, yeah. I just wonder who else knows?”

“Rebel and Mattie don’t, so most of the girls on the cheer team don’t either.”

Fuck, that was the last thing he needed. His hook-ups gave Rebel fuel to add to her…whoever fire. “That’s comforting. I don’t want the whole school to know—”