Red Queen Read Online Free

Ted—who had gone off to find his own room. Alex, it seemed, was determined that Jimmy stay with us.
    â€œWe settled the sleeping arrangements in the car,” Debbie said, studying the minibar. Because it was filled with tiny bottles of liquor, and we had checked in to the room using our real IDs, the bar should have been off-limits. But Ted had managed to bypass the locking mechanism before departing for his quarters. I was glad, I loved minibars. The snacks tasted ten times better to me, probably because they cost ten times as much as they were supposed to.
    â€œWhen we talked about it in the car, we didn’t know this suite would be so large,” Alex said.
    â€œWe only have one bathroom,” Debbie growled.
    â€œDo you plan on spending the weekend throwing up?” Alex asked.
    Jimmy interrupted. “Hey, it’s okay—remember, I’ve got Ted’s room as a backup. Don’t worry about me.”
    Alex went to reply, but then her eyes slipped from Jimmy to me. Her unspoken message couldn’t have been clearer. She wasn’t worried about Jimmy, she was worried about me. Orelse she was trying to force the two of us back together, which, in her bizarre mind, was the same thing.
    It didn’t matter. The elephant standing in the room had just quietly roared. It could no longer be ignored. Jimmy and I had to talk—soon, and alone. But I felt too nervous to say it aloud. I stood and caught his eye, and headed toward my room. Jimmy understood, he followed me and shut the door behind him.
    Before I could figure out where to sit, or what I should say, he hugged me. The gesture caught me by surprise. I didn’t hug him back, not at first, but when he didn’t let go, I found my arms creep up and around his broad shoulders. It felt so perfect to stand there and listen to his heartbeat. Yes, that word again, I could not be free of it when I was around Jimmy.
    The hug was warm but chaste; he didn’t try to kiss me. He didn’t even move his arms once he had ahold of me. Although we were standing up, we could have been lying down together, asleep in each other’s arms. I don’t know how long the hug lasted but it felt like forever . . . compressed into a moment.
    Finally, we sat on the bed together. He was holding my hands, or trying to, but I had to keep taking them back to wipe away the silly tears that kept running over my cheeks. He didn’t rush me to speak. But he never took his eyes off me, and I felt he was searching my face for the answer to a question he had carried with him a long time.
    Of course, I had my own question.
    â€œWhy?” I said. The word startled me more than him. It felt so blunt after our tender moment. The question didn’t offend him, but he let go of me and sat back on the bed, propping himself up with a pillow.
    â€œDo you remember the day we drove to Newport Beach?” he asked.
    â€œYes.” It had been during Christmas break, a few days before the holiday. I wasn’t likely to forget because it was to turn out to be the worst Christmas of my life. He dumped me December 22. Then I hadn’t known what to do with the presents I had bought, or the ones I had made for him. In the end, I hadn’t done anything. I still had them in my bedroom closet. They were still wrapped.
    â€œWhen we got back to Apple Valley, Kari was waiting at my house.” Jimmy paused. “She said she was ten weeks pregnant.”
    I froze. “We were together ten weeks.”
    Jimmy held up a hand. “I never slept with her once I was with you. I never even kissed her.”
    â€œI believe you.” And I did—he didn’t have to swear. Jimmy was incredibly rare; he didn’t lie. I added, “Did you believe her?”
    â€œShe had an ultrasound with her.”
    â€œThat doesn’t mean it was yours.”
    â€œJessie . . .”
    â€œSaying, ‘I’m pregnant, Jimmy, you have