Page 106 of Wish You Were Her

“Hi, Simon.”

She took note of the slight black eye he was sporting on his left side. “Did Jonah give you that?”

“Yeah.” His voice was bitter. “You’re a sore subject for him, it seems.”

“Good.Iwanted to hit you for what you did to me. If you ever do that to another girl, I’ll make you regret it. The one good thing about fame is that there is always a journo willing to listen. You touch someone else without their consent, I’ll make your whole world go away. It’s what you did to me.”

“I’m sorry, Allegra.”

“You hurt him, too, Simon,” Allegra added. “Putting himout in the public eye like that. It’s not what he wants. It’s a burden for anyone, let alone those who don’t actually choose it.”

“He wants to be a writer, Ally. This will make a hell of a story for him. He should be grateful.”

She deliberately stayed silent, allowing her disapproval to fill the air like smoke.

“Sorry,” he finally mumbled. “I’m sorry, Allegra. I really am. I didn’t know what the pictures actually were. They asked about you and me and when I confirmed it was me, they pressed about the guy you were with as you left Main Street. I gave Jonah’s name. I didn’t know about the photos. I swear, I didn’t. That… I had no idea about it.”

Allegra reached out to touch some of the books in her father’s shop. “Okay.”

“I—I’m really sorry. I am. I’m going to give Jasper my spot at the premiere, too. It will be too hard for Jonah to see me there.”

She still said nothing, the silence speaking volumes.

“I bought into your surface act,” Allegra said softly. “Everyone around here thinks you’re great. I believed the reviews. But you’ve got a nasty streak. You show it to Jonah, more than anyone. Don’t you?”

“Allegra, I didn’t know you liked him. I knew he liked you. God, I’ve never seen him like that around anyone. You were the name we could never bring up around him, and Jonah has always been indifferent or oblivious to everyone. So, it was weird. I worked it out pretty early on.”

Allegra wanted what he was saying to be true. “I think he was rightly annoyed at an actor slumming it for a summer, at a job he took very seriously all year round.”

“Nah,” Simon said softly. “You know how some people, when they trip? They get really mad? They get scared andembarrassed and then they look around to make sure no one has seen them fall?”

“Yes,” Allegra said, unable to suppress a smile. “It happens to me on the regular.”

“You fall and your first instinct is what? To look around, act mad. Put on a show and let the world know that you are no faller. Something sabotaged you.”

“I suppose. But I’m dyspraxic. We fall a lot.”

“That’s what Jonah did. He fell and then got mad about falling.”

Allegra felt color rush to her face. “Well… I’m not so sure—”

“That’s what all that gruffness and bravado was,” said Simon matter-of-factly. “He fell and he didn’t see it coming. So, he acted stupidly.She’s not making a faller out of me, all that nonsense. But I saw it. You would have, too, if you two had stopped fighting for two seconds. But… I mean, those pictures looked like the two of you figured it out.”

He said it without any bite but it still stung.

“I think the photographs going viral and appearing on morning television might have killed any feelings he had,” Allegra said, unable to keep both the pain and reprimand out of her voice.

Empathy flashed through Simon’s eyes. “Hey, no way. Thing about Jonah? He’s all or nothing. He’s yours forever. If you want him. Trust me.” There was a beat of awkwardness before he added, “I just hope he can forgive me. You, too.”

Allegra regarded him and then said, “I might forgive you, Simon. Someday. But I’m not as concerned about making everyone else feel comfortable all of the time now. So don’t be surprised if it takes a while.”

Chapter Thirty

Allegra’s father didn’t return to the shop from the festival site until fifteen minutes to three.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Ally.”