Page 88 of Drive

“Why in the hell am I suddenly responsible for what he does? Or reporting his whereabouts?”

Lexi stood. “Stella, lay off.”

“No problem,” I said with bite directed at Ben. “You two lovebirds have a great fucking night.”

“That’s not fair,” Lexi said as she followed me to my bedroom, where I grabbed some boy shorts and a T-shirt from a drawer. She leaned against the doorjamb. “What did he say?”

“Nothing. He saw Nate drop me off and sped off. But seriously, he’s going to play jealous? I haven’t heard a word from him since he left, he shows up to Austin, and I bust him with some chick. And, Lexi, it was the craziest shit ever. I was in the middle of the crowd—thousandsof people—and I just so happened to look up.”

“Are you serious?”

“One single step forward without looking up and I would have missed him.”

“That’s insane.”

“No, what’s insane is something inside told me to look up. I just felt him there. Felt him close.”

“I’m sorry,” Lexi said quietly.

I slammed my drawer and walked past her. “Like I’m the one who should have to explain myself.”

“You shouldn’t. You don’t.”

“Why did he come here?”

“Because maybe he just needed to see you were okay,” she offered.

“I’m not now,” I said, walking into our bathroom. I caught Lexi’s face in the mirror. “I’m sorry. God, Lexi, ever since you moved here, I’ve been a total mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said in a low voice. “I’m breaking every rule in my own book.”

“I fucking hate this!” I said, turning on the shower. “I hate how much I want him to turn around, even knowing he had his hands all over someone else. I’m notthatgirl, Lexi. I’m not.”

“You love him and it’s okay to be a little crazy because of it.”

“Is it?” I asked hoarsely. “Why was he here?”

“I don’t know. I wish I could tell you, Stella. Men are complete idiots.”

“I heard that,” Ben barked from the couch.

“Good,” she hollered back over her shoulder with a shrug. “Take your shower. Come get me if you want to talk.”

Under the scalding water, I did my best to try to figure out where Reid’s head was and realized when it came to him, I may never get any answers.

I cried until the water turned cold, and then I walked into the living room and sat next to Ben, who held Lexi’s head in his lap.

I nudged him with my arm. “I’m sorry.”

Ben wrapped an arm around my shoulder as Lexi smiled up at me.

“I’m going to split his fucking lip the next time I see him, babe, I promise.”

I swallowed the tears that threatened. “Make it hurt.”

***

A few nights later, I was using insomnia to my advantage, typing out a new article forSpeak. My phone vibrated next to me on my bed where I was propped with a pillow on my lap. I didn’t recognize the number. It lit up only once. I looked up the area code and saw it was a Nacogdoches number.