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“Prin—”
I take a step back and throw up my hands, creating a wall between us. “Please don’t call me that. I’m not your princess anymore. I’m not your anything anymore.”
He steps forward, trapping me between the wall and his broad chest. “You’re upset, and I don’t blame you. What I did was—”
“Unforgivable?”
“Was it?” His eyes burn into mine, his pain working its way under my skin. “I was hurt. I reacted. It was foolish and childish, but if you can find a way to forgive me, we can get past this.”
“I can’t. We can’t.” Tears clog my throat, and I tear my eyes from his before I cave. “You didn’t only post the list. You lied about it. You watched me struggle to play a game I wanted no part of, knowing it was your fault I was stuck in this mess to begin with. You had plenty of chances to tell me, but you didn’t. You made me promise no more secrets when you were keeping the biggest one of all.”
Jordan slides both hands into his hair. “I wanted to tell you, so many times. But the longer I waited, the more afraid I was that you’d never forgive me. I couldn’t undo what I’d done, and I didn’t want to lose you.”
“And yet, you lost me anyway.” I’m being a hypocrite. Only a week ago, I begged him to forgive me for not telling him about the kiss, but his betrayal feels heavier somehow.
Mom pokes her head through the door. “Kennedy, would you and Jordan mind taking the meat loaf out of the oven? I don’t want it to burn.”
“Sure, Mom.” I wipe my eyes before the tears have a chance to fall. “I’ll bring it out.”
“Prin—Kennedy,” Jordan pleads. “Please, let me make it up to you. I’ll do anything. I love you.”
I step around him and shove my hands into a pair of oven mitts. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“Please promise me you won’t do anything you’ll regret.”
I avoid his gaze. “What’s one more regret?”
I’m a breath away from taking back the cruel lie, when Jordan nods and walks away.
Alone in the kitchen, a wave of sadness washes over me, and I contemplate sneaking to my room and locking myself in. But my stupid pride won’t let me give up. All I have to do is get through the next few hours, and then I can cry.
With a deep breath, I shove my feelings where I can’t reach them and walk into the dining room, almost dropping the mystery meat loaf when I find Jordan sitting in the seat next to mine. Avoiding eye contact, I slip into my chair and chug half a glass of sweet tea.
Mom slices the meat loaf into equal portions and serves a piece to everyone around the table. She adds a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes and runny gravy to each plate before sitting down to eat.
Ignoring the awkward lack of conversation, I focus on my food. With a savage grunt, I stab a hunk of meat with my fork and shove it into my mouth to chew.
“Wow, Mrs.—Ginger.” Elijah struggles to swallow his first bite. “This is . . . good.”
The liar.
I swallow a hysterical giggle and almost choke on my food. Mom’s outdone herself this time. Her “meat loaf” is a combination of ground pork and beef filled with chunks of red pepper and boiled egg, drowning in a tasteless brown gravy. I almost feel bad for everyone else. As for me, I lowered the bar a long time ago.
“You like it?” Caleb blurts.
Grant chokes down another bite. “You don’t?”
Jordan hasn’t said anything, but I can’t tell if he’s actually eaten any or if he’s simply spreading his food around the plate like a crafty nine-year-old. His downcast eyes flick in my direction every few minutes as he tugs on one of his snakebite piercings with his teeth.
“No way, man. This is garb—” Caleb freezes mid-sentence as the realization of what he’s said sinks in. His eyes stretch wide as he turns to my mom. “I’m sorry. I . . . I didn’t mean it. It’s fine. I mean good.” He takes another bite to sell his fib, almost choking as he swallows.
“It’s okay, Caleb. You don’t have to lie.” With a quick glance at Jordan, I stab another piece of meat and wave it like a red flag. I’m baiting Caleb, but I don’t care. I’ve already picked the finalists in this Greek tragedy. “My mom’s a horrible cook.”
Caleb lets out a breath and drops his fork. “Oh man, you’re not kidding. No wonder you’re so thin.”
The room goes quiet. Mom shakes her fork at me before dissolving into hysterics. It takes her almost a minute to get herself under control. “Oh dear. I was rooting for you, too, Caleb.”
She knows exactly what I’ve done, and if I’m not mistaken, she’s proud of me.
