“No, I wouldn’t. Don’t change the subject.” I brought the cup in close against my chest. “Keep going. I want to know more about you.” I’d purposely kept everything surface-level with Rhett during our ‘one-night stand’ night months ago. It was hard to say what had changed since then, but I wanted to know more this time.

“Well, unlike you—obviously, judging by your big-ass house—I grew up in a trailer. My mom worked double shifts at two different waitressing jobs just to support us.” He spoke fast at first, but slowed down as he continued on. “My dad took off when I was little, but she never acted like it bothered her. She’s the strongest person I know. I might not have had the greatest home growing up, but I never went without stuff. I wore the same brands as other kids at school. I played sports. Had all the right equipment for that. And my mom always made sure I kept up with my guitar lessons. I was always the priority.” He sighed. “Anyway, I finally got the chance to return the favor and helped get her out of that damn trailer two years ago. She lives in a small single family house now and has a receptionist job where she’s no longer on her feet all day, so I worry less about her.”

“By helping, you mean you helped pay for her house?” I swallowed as I asked this, my heart beating a little faster for some random reason. I already knew the answer to my question. Yes. Maybe the rest of world saw something else when they looked at Rhett, but all I saw was this amazing, handsome, genuinely nice guy.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I can pull in decent money as a bartender, especially in the summer. So I help her out when I can. It’s the least I can do.”

We were both quiet for a minute. I thought of John’s perceived pregnancy scare after I lost my virginity to Rhett, the whole reason I was now on birth control, and the way he’d called Rhett’s future children ‘Satan’s spawn’. I’d never considered it before this moment, nor had I ever seen Rhett around kids, but I knew he would make a good father one day. The way he spoke about his mother—protective and admiring—it told me that he would. Not that I was considering having his babies, obviously, but the thought popped into my head just the same.

“Sorry about my ‘big-ass house’ comment. That was unnecessary,” he added.

“Well, I do have a big-ass house. So I’m not really offended.”

“Okay…I told you about my mom, so how about you tell me about your family now? All I know is that you live with your brother. And you mentioned the house was your grandfather’s.” He paused for a moment. “Wait. Are your parents still alive?” His voice lowered as he asked, like he was afraid to ask, but they were both very much alive so there was no need to tread carefully.

“My parents are alive. Hell, if you saw my mother you’d probably try to hit on her.” I laughed, but it really wasn’t funny. “I only mean that she looks young enough to be my sister,” I corrected. “I don’t really know what else to say about them. Not much to tell. They’re rich. They act like it, too. They like to live the hell out of life, as long as it’s according to their standards. And they go on vacations most people only dream about. That’s about it.”

He made this ‘hmm’ sound, like he suddenly had a strong opinion about my parents.

“What?” I questioned, a little defensively.

“That sounded like half the story. You live with your brother—why?”

This part was where it always got too difficult to talk about. The room suddenly grew cold, and I became uncomfortable. I set down the cup and rubbed my hands over my arms to shake off the feeling. Nobody wanted to hear about the ‘oh-so-hard-life-of-the-privileged’. Which was part of the reason John never let people know we came from money. And the reason I avoided bringing up my parents in conversation. “Because I like North Carolina,” I tried.

He didn’t buy it. Instead he groaned, running his hands over his head. “Now I’m assuming the shittiest of scenarios, Sydney.” His voice was pained and hoarse—all for me.

“Don’t. Living with my parents was fine. I just chose to live with my brother instead. No big deal. Don’t assume the worst like that. But—” For once, I actually wanted to tell someone more about my life. And I wanted him to know the truth rather than having him jump to the worst conclusions. Grabbing his hand, I laced our fingers together and told him something I’d never voiced to anyone other than my brother. “You said you were always your mom’s priority. It wasn’t the same for me. I was never a priority. All the vacations and all the parties and all the bullshit in life—all of that always came first. Never feeling good enough was a constant in my life growing up. Because it didn’t matter how well I did in school or how hard I tried to please them, they still never saw me. Only recently, now that I’m an adult, my mom has started making room for me in her life. So I moved in with John my freshman year of high school, and that was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

He had no comment, or joke, or usual Rhett-ism to follow up my confession. All he did was squeeze my hand a little tighter, then he stood, pulling me up to my feet along with him. At that moment, a man in a suit entered the ice room. He went straight to the machine, ignoring us. Someone else awake had to mean it was getting close to morning. Wow. That meant I’d spent the entire night up with Rhett.

“Do you have the time?” I asked the man.

“Oh,” he said, as if I’d startled him. Maybe he hadn’t seen us standing behind him. “It’s almost five thirty.”

Jeez. It was late. Or early. Rhett and I left the room and walked in silence back down the hall. There had been talk about going to Disneyland today, but I didn’t know how the day would unfold or when Ellie planned on taking us all to see Ben.

Ben.

My heart dropped at the thought of his name. I hadn’t thought about Ben once in hours. It was weird thinking about him now. Unwelcome, even. I’d been enjoying my time with Rhett, now it felt clouded somehow.

“Alright,” Rhett said, fishing his room key out of his pocket. “We better both go try to get some sleep. Ellie always wakes up at the ass-crack of dawn. You’re welcome to come share my bed until everybody gets up. If you want.”

“I think I’m going to go try to sleep in my own room,” I uttered. “I don’t want them to wonder where I am when they wake up.”

I was suddenly insanely nervous around Rhett. My stomach twisted into a gnarly knot, my throat thickened up, and I was having a little trouble breathing properly. Why was I so tense?

“Okay,” he said, opening his door. “I’ll see you in a couple hours then.”

“See ya’,” I replied.

There was no goodbye kiss. There wasn’t even a nice, long lingering gaze into one another’s eyes. He was just suddenly gone, while I was left by my lonesome out in the hallway. I spent a moment trying to collect my thoughts and trying to catch my breath. It felt like I’d screwed up somehow. Then again, maybe he was only tired and wanted to hurry to get a small amount of sleep in before the others woke up. I wasn’t sure.

Back in my room, everyone else was still dead asleep. I used the bathroom as quietly as possible and then snuck into bed with Ellie. Despite our non-existent goodbye, I’d spent an amazing night with Rhett. Possibly the best in my life. Even though I still had confusing feelings toward Ben, I now knew one thing with absolute certainty. Rhett was in my heart, too. Hell, he might even be taking it over, pushing Ben out, and throwing one hell of a curve ball at everything I thought I’d ever wanted.

* * *

When I woke up later that day, the entire room was drenched in sunlight. That told me several hours had passed since my time with Rhett. Ellie was gone. So was Noah. Only Georgie remained in the room. She was awake, lying in the other bed, doing something on her phone. “Where is everyone?” I asked, my voice groggy with sleep.