Page 70 of No One But Us

Feet come thundering down the stairs.

“Campbell?” a voice shouts. “Where are you? We saw you come down this way!”

He punches the siding. “I’ve had it,” he says.

“Just go,” I sigh.

“No, I’ve fucking had it.”

I follow him to the deck, where Max is throwing back beers without a care in the world with Ginny by his side.

“Max,” James hisses.

Max grins. “The worker bee finally has some downtime! I never see you anymore, bro.”

James does not smile back. “Your friends need to leave.”

Max nods. “Yeah, I think they’re taking off tomorrow.”

“No, they’re taking off now. Right. Fucking. Now.”

“Dude, it’s almost midnight.”

“Perfect,” James says. “They won’t hit traffic.”

“They’ve been drinking.”

“Rehoboth has many fine lodging establishments.”

“When did you turn into such a grumpy fucker?” asks Max, rising and heading inside. “I’m going to have to buy you some female companionship if your dry spell keeps up.”

“Yes,” I grin at James when Max is out of sight. “We wouldn’t want your dry spell to continue.”

He leans close, his low voice near my ear. “My dry spell is about to end in a big way.”

And it does.

Chapter 41

JAMES

The offer letter arrives. I show it to Elle and no one else.

“Don’t say anything,” I warn after she reads it. “Max has a big mouth, and Ginny will flip out.”

She raises a brow. “You are planning to tell your parents, right? Or were you thinking you should wait until NYU calls to tell them you never turned up?”

I sigh. “Yeah, I’ll tell them. I’m waiting for the right time. I need to talk to my dad when my mom isn’t around and make sure she’s not going to flip.”

She hesitates. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but have you ever thought that maybe your mom’s reaction to things that make her unhappy is a little...manipulative?”

“Huh?”

She bites her lip. “It just seems like your mom gets everything she wants by doing this stuff.”

I’m stunned. People who know what’s up with my mother always speak of her problem in hushed, regretful tones. Even if it’s created problems and changed our lives, no one in my family has ever once complained.

“Are you saying she’s actually starving herself to death to get her way?”