“I guess that confirms our suspicions about Jeanine’s trip to South America, then,” Joseph replied. “So what did he have to say about your mom?”
Gee, that’s a good question. “Actually, I didn’t even think to ask. It was such a whirlwind after I answered the phone and heard his name. He just said he didn’t know that I existed.” David kicked himself for not thinking to ask Marcos about his relationship with Jeanine. All he knew at the moment was that they had been married.
“Well, if you’re meeting him in person, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to ask then,” Joseph reassured him.
“Yeah,” David said. “I guess that’s true.” How would he even broach that subject? It seemed so natural to want to know, but the phrasing itself would be so strange. It was such a personal kind of information, and the story was full of hidden pitfalls: What happened to you two? Why did my mom leave? Why didn’t she tell you about me?
Joseph didn’t seem to be quite on the same page, but the strangeness of the story seemed to be in his thoughts as well. “Mom always said she thought Jeanine was running from something down there. Maybe she misunderstood Jeanine’s intentions. But if not, then I’d like to know what it was that she was trying to get away from—or to get you away from.”
His speculation made David feel uneasy. Was he implying that Marcos was the thing Jeanine was running from?
His cousin verbalized the thought only moments after it went through David’s brain. “Not saying it was your dad, David. Just . . . well, what if his family wasn’t happy about the union? Maybe that’s why Jeanine had to leave.”
David considered his cousin’s statement. If Marcos hadn’t known that Jeanine was pregnant, then it seemed pretty unlikely that his family would’ve been able to deduce it. What if that was the reason Jeanine had to leave? What if the Morenos would’ve been less than welcoming to the new baby? It was a strange thought, for sure. David wasn’t sure it made any sense. But he thought back to Katy’s initial worry about going to Brazil, and it occurred to him that more than one person had had the same thought now.
“Either way,” Joseph went on. “If he contacted you, it means your father wants to reconnect, right? And I hope he can help us shine a light on why Aunt Jeanine ran the way that she did. And maybe where she went.”
David inhaled deeply. That thought hadn’t even occurred to him. What if Marcos knew exactly where Jeanine had gone, even if he didn’t know that she was pregnant?
What if his parents had stayed in touch? Maybe David was about to have both of his biological parents back. That thought was exhilarating . . . and terrifying.
“Well,” Joseph finished, “I know you’ve got that big internship this summer, but if you find the time to come visit, you know we’d love to have you. And of course Katy could come, too.”
“Thanks, mate. That means a lot,” David told his cousin, his heart filling up with gratitude. And now that I don’t have that internship, I might really have to take you up on this offer. But he wasn’t ready to announce that news to the world just yet. It had been hard enough telling Zeke and Katy.
David ended the call and sat back in his desk chair. Zeke was on a dinner date with Nur, and Katy was at home studying, like David should’ve been doing. But he was having a hard time focusing on anything other than the series of dilemmas he found himself entangled in. Even though he knew Bell was right, he just wasn’t ready yet to throw himself back into a subject that he felt like he had been summarily cast out of. He needed a break from all the things going on in his head, and homework wasn’t helping.
And face it, mate: you’re just not done pouting yet.
He pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Katy, hoping it would stabilize his mood.
“Just wanted to tell you that I love you. Hope studying is going well.”
David eyed the stack of textbooks on his desk. Midterms were almost upon them. But with everything that had happened in the past few days, he was digging deeper to find the motivation to study like he usually did.
Before he could wallow for too long, though, his phone buzzed again.
“You better be hitting those books, too! Chin up. Love you so much.”
The whisper of a smile briefly lit up David’s face. At least things weren’t all bad. And Katy had given him good advice.
Reluctantly, David put his phone down on his desk and grabbed his Financial Theory textbook. But when he had finally opened it to the right chapter and was just beginning to read, willing himself into a mindset to get some learning done, something distracted him.
A beep.
Just a short, low electronic beep. But an unfamiliar one. Like something that was running out of batteries, maybe. David looked around his room. Zeke’s laptop was on the charger, and his phone was most likely with him—obviously. And David’s laptop and phone had plenty of juice. He couldn’t think of anything else that might be emitting the noise.
He strained his ears for a moment longer but didn’t hear anything else. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound like it was going to bother him again. Maybe it was coming from another room.
David turned back to his book. But quickly, he found himself distracted again. This time with more pressing matters. The thought struck him all at once with the force of a freight train.
What if Marcos was lying to him?
David’s brow furrowed involuntarily as he tried to focus on his textbook. It was a silly thought. He had barely spoken to the man. Why consider him dishonest already?
But the more David thought about it, the more it started to make a version of sense. If Jeanine had been running from someone in Bahia, he had to consider the chance it had been Marcos. What if she’d never wanted David to meet his father at all?
And if so, why?
David propped his elbows on his desk and leaned forward, rubbing his temples with his hands. Let’s not get delusional now.
He refocused his eyes on the chapter in front of him. You have actual important things to do. Don’t waste your time with paranoid fantasies.
But, several paragraphs more into his chapter, David accepted that he wasn’t retaining anything. His mind was elsewhere. On all of the strange things currently going on in his life, all coming together like a tsunami that was trying to wash him away.
It almost felt intentional.
25
Katy
“Another great job, Princess.”
Bissenhof held out the paper with a sycophantic smile. Katy took it, her expression flat, and muttered, “Thank you.”
For nothing. I’m sure you slapped an A on this without even reading it.
But the professor simply held his smiling gaze for another second before moving on to the next person in line. “Not your best work, Jones,” she heard him say to the boy behind her. The boy groaned.
Katy would’ve killed to get a C on a paper in Bissenhof’s class, honestly. It would have made her feel like she was getting sincere criticism and possibly even learning something. Unlike how she actually felt, which was elevated and untouchable. Until the professor stopped thinking Katy could grant him Lorrellian citizenship, all of Katy’s papers, quizzes, and tests were bound to be “great.” Or until she could finally be done with his class and then never take any of his courses again.
When class was dismissed, Katy gathered her things and bolted out the front door. The last thing she wanted was for Bissenhof to keep her for even a moment, filling her head with transparent lies about what a model student she was.
She headed down the hall to the exit, grateful that her next class had been canceled. She’d have just a few minutes to surprise David in between his classes, and she was excited to see him.
Outside, she made her way to the nearest hall, where economics classes were taught. Then, trying to act casual, she hung out by the front door.
“Hi, Princess!” a tall girl in a Harvard tee said as she walked through the hall doors.
Katy smiled and waved, the same thing she always did
when she was recognized. Most people didn’t even really register her presence anymore, now that the fervor from earlier in the semester had died down. Now Katy felt like just another college student, albeit one with a striking last name.
After a few minutes, David came walking briskly toward the hall entrance. He almost didn’t see Katy.
“Hey, stud,” Katy said in a gravelly voice as he moved past her.
David turned in confusion, but then quickly broke into a grin. “Katy! You scared me.” He stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in, and Katy reciprocated, snaking her arms around his neck and pressing against him. Her lips found his and she kissed him firmly, reveling once again in his touch—and their ability to share moments like this, no matter who was looking.
And honestly, I don’t care who sees. So long as I’m not unprepared and they’re not a paparazzo.
David pulled back and looked down at her. “So you’re skipping classes now, huh? Naughty. You know, a lot of kids look up to you.”
Katy rolled her eyes playfully. “Well, luckily for the children of Lorria, I’m not skipping anything. Class was canceled.”
“Lucky you,” David replied in a sultry voice, moving back but keeping his hands on her waist. Katy liked having them there. Lucky me indeed.
“Do you have plans after class today?” Katy asked.
“Only if you’re free.” David winked.
We’re official now. We’ve been intimate before. So how can I still get butterflies from just a wink?
“Well,” Katy replied in a sing-song tone, “I do have a rather full social calendar. But I suppose I could squeeze you in.”
David looked at Katy wolfishly, his grip momentarily tightening on her hips, letting her know that he’d definitely caught the innuendo. He leaned in and kissed her again, his tongue delicately parting her lips and beginning to explore her mouth. Katy giggled and pressed against his chest. Public, David! I’m still a recognizable princess with standards to uphold. But she liked his small act of rebellion.
“You better get to class,” she warned once she’d pulled back, her face flushed. As much as I wish you could come straight home with me.
“Then I’ll see you afterward,” David said. Then he squeezed Katy’s hips one last time, roughly and hungrily, before releasing her and taking off into the economics hall.
Katy watched him go, feeling dizzy with the excitement of passion. When she was alone, she turned and walked back to her shared house.
* * *
“You’re not checking those gossip sites again, are you?” Cassie asked from the bathroom door. Her wet hair was wrapped up in a towel as she blended foundation into her pale skin with a luxurious makeup brush.
“Just making sure,” Katy replied. Her breath caught in her throat as the page loaded. But, once again, Katy exhaled in relief. Her photos hadn’t made the news yet.
“Your parents pay that lawyer a lot of money, Katy,” Cassie said dismissively as her brush worked in circles over her jawline. “You have to trust him. No way that pap will sell those photos now that he’s signed all of that paperwork.”
“That’s if he has the photos, though. Assuming the memory card didn’t fall out of the camera and get picked up by someone. Marty swears he doesn’t have it.”
Cassie tightened her robe around her waist and replaced her brush on the bathroom counter. Then she sauntered out and stood beside Katy at her desk. “Girl. If neither you nor Marty has that card, then who else would? You have to relax about this. Otherwise you’re just going to drive yourself crazy.”
Katy looked up at Cassie. “I know, I know. I’m just nervous.”
Cassie placed a sympathetic hand on Katy’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. And you should come tonight. So you have something to do other than refreshing celeb websites all night to see if your pics have showed up yet.”
Cassie let down her hair, shaking out the damp towel, and strolled back into the bathroom. Katy could hear her cousin plugging in the blow dryer, as though this kind of conversation was totally normal.
“You could wear one of my dresses, if you want!” Cassie called over the whir of the dryer.
Katy stood and walked to the bathroom door to look at her cousin. “David said he’s not going to be there. He’s coming here instead.”
Cassie turned off the dryer. “Really? It’s the Wolf Club’s spring fling party and David isn’t even going to go?”
Katy shrugged. “You know he doesn’t like stuff like that. He said he’d rather come by and watch a movie here instead.”
Cassie gave Katy a knowing look. “Yeah, I’m sure you two will be focused on the movie.”
“Hey, didn’t I have a reputation for being frigid and modest just a month ago? How am I suddenly an insatiable tart?”
“A tart?” Cassie said in mock indignation. “I would never say that. But insatiable? Around David? Come on. That one’s a given.”
Katy chuckled. “In any event, neither of us are really into the Wolf Club parties.”
Cassie flipped her dryer back on and began to rake her fingers through her wet hair. “It’s probably for the best anyway,” she said nonchalantly, looking into the mirror.
Katy narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”
Cassie didn’t turn off the dryer but raised her voice to speak over its noise. “Well, I heard that the guys in the house don’t want any . . . publicity, if you know what I mean.”
What on earth is that supposed to mean? “Like, they don’t want me there? Specifically, me?”
Cassie talked over the electronic whirring. “Don’t take it personally. Just imagine the bad press if something happened to you at their campus house. They’d probably lose their lease.”
But it was hard not to take that personally. Katy didn’t like thinking that she wasn’t welcome somewhere just because of her last name. And why hadn’t David told her that?
“Just as well for David too,” Cassie went on as her hands worked her hair. “One of the girls in my abnormal psych class said the parties are particularly rough on him.”
“How so?” Katy was getting annoyed with this chill, casual trickle of information that Katy was obviously invested in. And turn the damn blow dryer off so we can talk!
“The same old stuff. Girls throwing themselves at David.”
Katy lingered in the bathroom doorway. That whole concept was old news by now, so why even bring it up at the moment? Unless Cassie wasn’t giving her the whole story.
“Is that it?” Katy prodded. She trusted David—she really did—but it felt like Cassie was holding some information back from her, and Katy wanted to hear it for herself. Seemed like lately Cassie had been holding out on her when it came to gossip about David, and Katy couldn’t tell whether it was because her cousin wanted to spare her feelings or whether she honestly just thought it was all old news to her. Which as a whole it was. Besides, Katy was tough enough to know the truth.
Cassie turned off the dryer and looked at Katy blankly. The silence added a new, unexpected gravitas to the conversation, and Katy swallowed. “Well, now that you and David are kind of a famous thing . . . you know how the rumor mill is. It’s never very creative, hon.”
“Cass, can you just spit it out already?” Katy asked impatiently. She hated when her cousin baited her like this. Why mention it if you’re not just going to come out and say it?
Cassie sighed. “I hate telling you stuff that’s obviously false, but fine. Mel from my psych class said she was walking through the upstairs hall to use the bathroom at the last big Wolf Club party and she saw a girl in David’s room. Alone with him.”
Katy shifted her weight. “Well, maybe David knew her from class or something. I’m not so jealous that I can’t handle my boyfriend having female friends.”
“Of course not. But Mel said it looked a little . . . more than friendly.”
Katy felt herself growing annoyed. “If she told you this, then why didn’t you te
ll me back when you first heard it?”
Cassie balked. “Because I don’t like telling you false rumors! If I told you every unsavory thing that I hear about David, we’d never talk about anything else.”
Katy blinked. Was that true? Or was Cassie exaggerating? How many “unsavory” rumors could she be hearing?
“You’re right,” Katy said, making up her mind. “It doesn’t matter anyway. They are false rumors. David is the most stand-up guy I’ve ever known. I trust him.”
Cassie nodded. “Exactly. Besides, some of the rumors are so ridiculous that I know I can’t trust any of them.”
“Like what?” Katy trusted David implicitly. But she couldn’t help being curious about what people were saying about her relationship. What could be so ridiculous?
“Well, like what my friend Robin told me. She said David had been bragging to one of her guy friends about bedding you.”
Katy stifled a laugh. David was a very private person. There was no way he’d be talking about his intimate relationships. Whatever this was had to be good. “Oh? And what on earth did Robin think he was saying about me?”
Cassie laughed with her cousin. “It was so dumb. She said David was telling everyone that you were so ready to lose your virginity to him that you got on top and totally took control. As if, right? Especially for your first time. So dumb.”
Katy felt the color drain from her face.
She tried to laugh. She’d expected the gossip mill to spit up something senseless like the tabloids. But this . . . she couldn’t tell Cassie now, but this seemed like such a strange, specific rumor to just make up. Of course, it was probably just a lucky guess. But if it wasn’t . . . how else would anyone have known something that had gone on between just the two of them, behind closed doors?
Could David have really said that to somebody about their private affairs?
Surely not.
Right?
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