Best Served Cold Read Online Free Page B

on my shoulder about being the scholarship kid at the prep school. And believe it or not, he was geeky and quiet. He was all about the running. We were lab partners in chem, and somehow, we hit it off. I’ve seen him change, saw what the whole ‘I’m the Senator’s son, chicks dig me’ deal did to him.”
    “Yeah, I’m sure it was a horrible thing to go through, all that privilege and girls throwing themselves at him. However did he rise above it?” Ava didn’t use sarcasm often, but money and position were sensitive subjects for her.
    Giff cocked an eyebrow. “Hey, we all have crap to go through. I’m just saying that a lot of what you see with Liam came from all of the insecurity. Don’t you ever wonder why he still lives in that tiny little dorm with me instead of getting an apartment? Believe me, Mom and Dad would foot the bill.”
    “He always said it was for you.” I smiled and patted his hand, and he grinned.
    “Well, my charm is definitely a big factor, no doubt. But if you think about it, our boy doesn’t have friends, outside me. He didn’t want to room with anyone else, didn’t want the competition, maybe? You, Jules, were the most real connection I’ve seen him make. That’s why I was so pissed when he screwed it up. On purpose.”
    “And it’s why he’s going to help get you two wacky kids back together again.” Ava’s eyes flashed bright over Giff’s head.
    “You know it.” He chucked me under the chin, and his cheeks dimpled. “Trust me, kid. We’re gonna work it all out.”
     

 

     
     
    I didn’t sleep well that night. I was uneasy about Giff’s determination to get Liam and me back together, and more than a little guilty about my own plans to throw all that work away in the name of revenge. Liam’s feelings didn’t worry me; the sting of his very public rejection was still fresh enough that I wouldn’t mind tossing some hurt his way. But the idea of deceiving Giff made my stomach turn just a little.
    I’d met Giff as soon as I started dating Liam. And looking back, I realized how often he had smoothed things over between us, or taken heat for Liam, deflected blame so that I couldn’t be mad. If not for Gifford, Liam and I might not have dated as long as we did. Was that good or bad? I wasn’t certain.
    “Guess what?” I couldn’t contain my excitement, even over the phone, as I dodged other students on the sidewalk.
    “Julia, I’m really busy. This project is due tomorrow, and the whole group is dumping the work on me, as usual. Can this wait?”
    “No, it can’t.” I switched ears. “Remember that article I wrote on how the Civil Rights movement affected Birch? The Inquirer just called Dr. Rawlings. They’re picking it up, they’re going to publish it next week.”
    “Okay.”
    “Okay? Liam, are you kidding me? This is huge. We’re all going out to Roddy’s in town to celebrate, the staff and Ava, too. Bring Giff. We’ll meet you there.”
    “Julia, are you listening to me? I can’t. I need to get back to work.”
    Tears of hurt clustered in the back of my throat, and I couldn’t say another word. I clicked off the phone and stuffed it deep into my bag, so that I wouldn’t be able to hear it if he called back. I shouldn’t have bothered; he didn’t.
    Late the next afternoon, I answered a knock at my dorm room door. Liam stood there with a huge bouquet of flowers.
    “So are you still pissed?”
    I didn’t answer. I leaned against the door jam and raised one eyebrow.
    “I’ll take that as a yes. Here.” He shoved the flowers toward me, so I had no choice but to take them. “I’m sorry you’re mad, Julia. I really didn’t have a choice.”
    “That’s bullshit, Liam. Everyone has a choice. I get you were swamped, and I would have understood that you couldn’t come out. But you couldn’t be the least little bit supportive? Just a little excited for me?”
    He rolled his eyes, and I wanted to hit him. Hard.
    “Okay, I get it. I’m a