Page 9 of No One But Us

I barely trust myself to speak as I turn to James. “You told him I looked like a whore?”

“No,” he says hurriedly, catching the look on my face. “I just said I thought it made you feel like one. It seemed like the uniform was making you uncomfortable.”

I meet his eyes. “Well, now it is.”

He rubs the nape of his neck, looking away. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I never meant to make you feel bad. I’ve always objected to that uniform, especially once Ginny had to start wearing it, and you…just look…it fits you differently is all,” he concludes.

I didn’t know James was capable of awkwardness. I let his words settle over me, creating a small seed of warmth in my stomach. I could be misunderstanding him, but if I’m not, it’s possible that James Campbell has finally, after all this time, decided I’m attractive.

Chapter 5

JAMES

My father left me a voicemail last night during my shift, and I return his call in the morning. He doesn’t bring up the internship, thank God, perhaps correctly surmising that my mother and Ginny have run the subject into the ground.

Instead he brings up a topic that’s possibly even worse.

“I heard Elle is there,” he ventures. He says the words reluctantly. I’m guessing he wants to discuss this as little as I do.

“Yeah. Her parents want her to stay out of the spotlight. I guess you heard what happened with Edward Ferris?”

“I don’t know what he was thinking,” my dad says. “She’s a child.”

I know exactly what that anchor was thinking. It’s what pretty much every male in my house was thinking last night.

“The problem is she doesn’t look like a child,” I tell him.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, your mother is not happy about this. It would be best for all of us if she’d just go back to DC.”

“You mean it would be best for you and Mom.”

“No, I meant all of us. I think you or Ginny should ask her to leave.”

I kind of expected this response, but find that I’m unwilling to execute it. “We aren’t doing that,” I say flatly. “She just drove all the way here, and she’s never done anything to either of you.”

“James, your mother...you know how she is. And she’s very, very disturbed by this.”

I’m sure she’s making his life hell, raving about the evil Graysons and all the ways they’ve extended their grubby reach into her household, and I know how he worries—how we all worry—when she gets upset. Everyone deals with stress in their own way, but my mother’s way is less healthy than most.

“Dad, I get that. But we are three states away, and Mom’s issues are not Elle’s problem.”

“Fine,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “But this is all on you. If anything goes wrong, I’m holding you responsible.”

My stomach sinks. They asked me to watch Ginny, and now it looks like I’ll be watching Elle too. Kind of a problem, given that the best thing I could do would be not look at her at all.

* * *

That night I get cut early and head home. I follow the sound of voices on the back deck to find Elle, golden and glowing, hair spilling around her shoulders—along with Ginny, Max, and our next-door neighbor, Martin, who’s too fucking old to be hanging out with a couple of teenage girls. Elle laughs that husky laugh of hers, and I don’t even have to look to know that douche is thinking about her in a way he should not. She sounds older than 19, and she looks older than 19, and what this means is I’m not just going to have to worry about college douchebags working here for summer, but perverts like Martin too.

He and Max both need to be reminded how young the girls are. I turn to Ginny. “I thought we’d already discussed the fact that you two aren’t old enough to drink?”

“Right,” says Ginny. “Like you didn’t drink when you were 19.”

“I did drink, and I acted like a fucking idiot, which is why it worries me, given that I’m tasked with babysitting you two all summer.”

“Babysitting?” Ginny demands. “Did you really say babysitting? I was just on my own for nearly a year!”

I pop open a beer. “You do realize that living in a dorm with a curfew where all of your meals are provided and your parents are paying for all your shit isn’t exactly on your own?”