Page 65 of Crash Course

“Your birth parents wouldn’t have wanted—”

“They’re not here,” I bite out, because invoking dead people is a low fucking blow. “They’re not here but we are, and we have to do the best we can.”

21

Shay

I’m reading in my room and trying to forget the fight with my dad. Even the ’90s-pop playlist on the AirPods Theo got me can’t make a dent in my mood.

You lied to me. I told you to keep your distance from ARI.

If I thought he was angry about school, this is worse. I meant to talk to him about it sooner. I got carried away with all the excitement of school and working on the car, but the thrill didn’t solve my problems. It only made me forget them for a while.

Megan tried to get me to go to the impromptu party in another hotel room tonight but relented when she realized no amount of convincing would work.

My throat is full of emotion, hot tears behind my eyes that I won’t let fall, when I hear the knock on the door.

Jameson.

He still hasn’t responded to my text, but I want to believe it’s him waiting outside. That he’ll stare down at me with stormy blue eyes, snap out how annoyed he is that he didn’t see me at the track today and that my ideas for the setup are in fact insane. And in some messed-up way, I’ll feel better.

I pad across the floor in my bare feet and lean toward the peephole.

It’s not Jameson on the other side.

“Wow. This is tragic,” Theo says when I swing the door wide. He’s dressed for the evening and with his signature smile, looking more roguishly handsome than anyone has a right to look in real life, while I’m wearing pajamas.

“I had a fight with my dad.”

His eyes crinkle with sympathy. “I’m sorry. Come to the party,” he insists. “You’ll feel better.”

“I can’t. We both know you have to be the best-looking one in the room so…” I trail off and pat my messy topknot with one hand.

He snorts and brushes past me. The door swings shut behind him as he crosses to my bed, dropping onto it and picking up my books. “Well, if this is what you were doing to distract yourself, a party is definitely a better option.”

I drop onto Megan’s bed and pull my legs up. “You just hate the idea that not all of life’s answers can be found in the bottom of a bottle of vodka.”

“You’re clearly not drinking good enough vodka.” His grin is blinding, but Theo has this ability to make me feel instantly comfortable. It’s his superpower.

“If you won’t come to make yourself feel better, it’ll make me feel better.” His gaze searches my face. “Jamie’s been AWOL all day.”

His name has me instantly on alert. “You’re worried?”

“Only that my father and brother are off colluding somewhere, getting his fire suit tailored for the F1 car next year.” His smile slips a little.

The possibility hits me hard. What if Jameson is conspiring with his father to make all his Ashford dreams come true while Theo’s here being honest with me?

I rub my chest with the heel of my hand.

“Or I could stay.” Theo’s voice edges into my brain. “We could hang out here. Find some way to keep ourselves occupied.”

His eyes search mine. He’s not pushing; he’s asking.

As much as some part of me wants to take him up on it, to just forget everything that’s going on, I know deep down I’d regret it.

I pivot. “You’re right. Party it is. Let me get changed.” I shift off the bed and cross to the closet to find some clothes.

When I glance back, Theo’s reclined with his hands behind his head, his half-mast eyes trained on me.