Malice by Amity Hope Read Free Book Online Page B

was lit up with a smile.
    “You’re incorrigible,” I teased. “And you’re just lucky that my mom isn’t home.”
    “I’m not incorrigible,” she denied as she scooped up her purse. “I’m just not afraid to take action, unlike some people.” She pointed a finger at me. Finola laughed until Daphne swung her finger toward her next. “Both of you could learn a thing or two from me.”
    We heard a car door slam. “Oh, gotta run. Can’t keep him waiting,” Daphne sang as she sashayed out of the room.
    The moment the front door closed, Finola turned to me.
    “So he’s why she had that dreamy look on her face all day,” I said.
    “Guess so,” Finola agreed. She frowned. “Do you think it’s okay that she left with him? I mean, is it…safe?”
    I nodded. “I’m sure it’s fine. He seems nice. And really, do you think we could’ve stopped her?”
    She sighed but still didn’t look at ease. “I suppose not. He just seems so…old.”
    “He’s not that old,” I argued.
    “Do you think it’s going to go anywhere?” Finola asked.
    I shrugged. “It’s hard to say. I mean, it’s not like he’s going to be in town for too long.”
    “When’s he leaving?”
    “I’m not sure. He extended his stay for another week. But he said depending on how things go, he may stay longer.”
    She straightened out again. “What is it that he’s doing here?”
    “Research.”
    “What kind?”
    I shook my head. “I have no idea. Mom thinks it’s rude to ask.”
    She collapsed back into the wingback chair. “You know I don’t say this often, or ever,” Finola corrected, “but I think maybe Daphne is right.”
    “You think I should go out with Xavier? You know what he’s like,” I pointed out.
    She shook her head. “No, I don’t think she’s right about that. I think she’s right about Tristan. If you’re not going to tell him how you feel, move on. Maybe with Xavier, maybe with someone else.”
    “And if I do tell him, and I find out he doesn’t think of me that way at all?” My heart started racing at the very thought, as if it too, wanted to run from the very idea of pouring my heart out to Tristan.
    “At least you’d know and you wouldn’t always wonder. What do you have to lose?”
    “His friendship,” I said with a sigh. “I have a feeling that nothing could ruin a friendship faster than saying ‘I love you’.”
    Finola leaned forward in her chair. “ Love ?”
    Embarrassment heated my cheeks. “You know what I mean. It’s just a figure of speech or something.”
    “Uh-huh,” she said unconvinced.
    Silence filled the room for several long, long minutes. I knew Finola was trying to wait me out, trying to force me to say something more. Finally, I did.
    “Seriously, Fin, what if he doesn’t feel the same way? He’s never given me any indication that he does.”
    “You’ve never given him any indication either. But if he doesn’t,” she said sympathetically, “then Xavier might make the perfect rebound.”
    “Why’s that?”
    She grinned at me. “Because that boy loves himself too much to care if the girl he’s dating doesn’t even like him back.”
     
    ~*~*~
     
    The next morning I sat in my car, tapping my fingers against the steering wheel. Usually Tristan came barreling out of the house. Not today. I was starting to wonder if maybe he didn’t want to ride with me. I hadn’t talked to him last night.
    I had contemplated not stopping to pick him up because I wasn’t sure just how mad he was. But I didn’t want to make a bad situation even worse. Besides, I needed to at least try to smooth things over. What I’d done was very wrong and I knew it.
    I let out a little sigh of relief when the front door swung open. Tristan’s large frame appeared but he didn’t fully emerge. It was obvious he was talking to Cecily. Finally, he moved out of the doorway and headed my direction.
    He didn’t look up as he trudged to my car.
    His door swung open, he tossed his