steering wheel, wondering if she saw right through me and already knew what I’d done with Tawnie.
“Why would he even think I was like that?”
“He was just hoping you were. You did go back to his room with him.”
“So? He said we were going to watch a movie.” She glared at me and her lip curled. “You think it’s my fault.”
“No.”
“Is ‘let’s watch a movie’ code for ‘let’s have sex?’”
“No, not necessarily.”
“Do you hope that girls will be slutty enough to sleep with you after just one date?”
I winced, positive that she had already figured it out. What the hell. If she already knew I was a dirt bag, I might as well be honest with her. “If a girl is going to offer sex on the first date, I’m not going to turn it down. But I don’t expect it.”
“Do you ever end up liking the girls who give it away on the first date?”
I knew what the answer was, but I didn’t say anything. My non response obviously confirmed what she already suspected. She sat back and stared out the passenger side window. We drove for a while in silence before I said, “I’ll take care of him.”
“No.” She pointed at me in a threatening way. “I don’t want you talking to him about it.”
“I’m not going to talk to him about it.”
“I don’t want you fighting with him about it either.”
I turned into the arena grounds and drove over the grass field. Most of the participants had left, so there were only a few campers and trailers speckled around.
“I’m serious,” she said. “If you do anything, I will never speak to you again.”
“That’s too bad, but I guess that’s the way it’s going to have to be.”
She groaned and fought to hold back a scream. “Don’t be an asshole, Billy.”
“Making sure Blake knows that it’s not okay to treat you like that doesn’t make me an asshole.”
She stared at me, letting what I said sink in. Her expression fluctuated and I had trouble reading it before she said, “He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just too eager. I want to forget about it. Promise you won’t do anything.”
“What do you care what I do to him? You weren’t even into him in the first place.”
The crease deepened between her eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”
“I could tell.”
“How?”
“I just could. Turns out Cole might actually know as much about women as he claims to.”
She rolled her eyes to disagree. “You guys don’t know anything.”
“So, you did like Blake?”
“No, and I don’t want everyone knowing that I was stupid enough to go to the hotel room with him. It’s embarrassing and it makes me look bad. Please don’t make it into a big deal.” She started crying. “Promise?”
I didn’t like seeing her cry, so I nodded.
“Say it.”
Although Blake needed to be set straight, the hurt tone of her voice was killing me and I wanted to make her feel better, so I gave in. “I promise.”
Satisfied that I’d given her my word, she got out of the truck, swung the door shut, and ran over to the motorhome. There was a little red truck parked in front of our camper, which meant I had no place to sleep. I stretched out on the bench seat and spent the rest of the night thinking about Tawnie, Blake, and Shae-Lynn.
By the morning, the only thing I had figured out was how I was going to handle things with Blake, while still keeping my promise to Shae-Lynn. The door to the camper opened at about six and Cole kissed the curly haired girl goodbye. As she got into her little red truck, I walked over to the camper.
“Hey,” he said, still sounding half asleep. “Did you sleep in the truck?”
“I wouldn’t call it sleeping.” I stepped inside and undressed to take a shower. “You have to drive back to Saskatoon. I’m too tired.”
“I don’t want to go all the way home,” he whined. “Can’t we just go straight to Vancouver Island?”
“I’m not going with you. This was a one time deal.”
He frowned and sat at the dinette. “What happened with Tawnie?”
I leaned on the bathroom doorframe, not intending to answer. “How well do you know Blake?”
He shrugged. “Same as you do. Why?”
“He tried to take advantage of Shae-Lynn and left her to walk home by herself along the highway. I had to pick her up.”
“Is she all right?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t really talk about it.”
Cole shook his head and his fingers tightened into fists. I smiled because I knew my plan would work just fine. He glanced out the window in the direction of the Roberts’ motorhome, already plotting to defend her honour. There were a bunch of empty beer bottles on the table in front of him.
“You know you shouldn’t drink when you’re on that medication.”
“I didn’t,” he said as he cleared them off the table. “That chick was a lush.”
“She drank six beers all by herself?”
He smiled the kind of smile that made it hard to stay mad at him. I shook my head, tired of being his babysitter, then closed the bathroom door.
“Hey, you didn’t answer the question about Tawnie,” he shouted through the door.
I turned the water on so I couldn’t hear him.
Cole drove for the first four hours back to Saskatoon, then we stopped for lunch. He went to the restroom in the restaurant and while I was sitting at the table waiting for the waitress, my phone rang.
“Hey, Mom.”
“You didn’t call yesterday. I was worried.”
“Sorry. We’re fine. Cole didn’t win any prize money.”
“I heard you bought a horse.”
Shit.
