Page 126 of Spurred On

“I’ve been an ass.”

Had she been? “I hadn’t noticed.”

Claire wrinkled her nose. “Are you saying I always act like an ass?”

“I didn’t say it.”

With a great gust of breath, Claire continued. “I know I’ve been in a bad mood all weekend, but I had a reason.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. It’s stupid though. Do you want to hear?”

Sidney leaned against her car and folded her arms. She knew Claire. Whether she wanted to hear or not, she would. “All right.”

“It has to do with Cody.”

Crap.Maybe she could still escape . . .

“When I was a kid, Porsche and I had this fantasy . . .”

“Yeah?”

“That one day she’d marry my brother and we’d be sisters.”

“Claire, that’s hardly a secret. You told everyone.”

She huffed an impatient sigh. “Let me finish, please.”

“Okay.”

“And then, you and Cody—”

“There’s nothing between me and Cody.”

“It’s okay. I’m not objecting.”

“There’s nothing between me and Cody.”

“Will you let me finish? This is hard. I don’t often apologize.”

That was true. She should just lean back and enjoy this alien sensation, but instead, she said, “You don’t need to apologize.”

“I just kind of lost it when I realized that you and Cody had a thing . . . and that Porsche was falling for Brandon and it was all going up in smoke. And . . . I was an ass.”

“Again, I didn’t notice.” Though Claire had been extraordinarily grumpy, there was no doubt about that.

“I just wanted you to know I’m sorry and to say . . .” She swallowed hard. “If you and Cody are happy together, I am happy for you.”

Well, wasn’t that just phe-fucking-nominal.“Claire, there’s nothing between me and Cody and there never will be.”

“Please. I heard the two of you in the office the other day.”

Lovely.“That was a brain fart.”

“I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you. I get it. I just wanted you to know, I’m cool with it.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, but for the final time, there’s nothing between us, and there never will be.”