Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (29 page)

“
I’ve been here since eight
a.m.”

I turned to look at him.
“Why?”

“
I only knew you were
getting in today, not what time. I looked it up, and there was one
flight originating in New Orleans, switching in Atlanta, that
landed at nine thirty.”

“
Oh. I thought you just
came with Andrew.”

“
You think I invited your
ex-boyfriend to spend Christmas with us?” Andrew butted in. “That
would be pretty low.”

“
So my mom doesn’t know
Toby’s here?”

Andrew shook his head. “I didn’t know
until I found him waiting.”

“
Good.” At least I didn’t
have to be mad at the people I was spending the week
with.

“
You look great.” Toby’s
voice came from right behind me. He pressed his body against my
back, using the crowd as an excuse to get close. “But, then again,
you always look great.”

It was strange being so close to him
again. It was familiar and comfortable in a way I didn’t like. “I
don’t know what you were expecting, but I have a feeling you’re
going to be disappointed.”

“
I wasn’t expecting
anything. I just needed to see you.”

I watched the sea of black bags moving
around the belt. I noticed the pink tag I’d tied around the handle
of my rolling suitcase and reached for it. Toby placed a hand over
mine. “I’ve got it.”

I backed up and let him pull it
off.

“
What do you have in here,
rocks?”

I shrugged. “I brought a few pairs of
boots and lots of sweaters.”

He laughed. “You really don’t know how
to pack light.”

“
And it’s really not your
problem.”

He nudged me with his free hand. “I’m
just joking.”

“
There’s mine.” Hailey
grabbed her bag.

“
I could have gotten that
for you.” Andrew tried to take the bag.

“
It’s not a
problem.”

“
Okay, if you’re
sure.”

I smiled. Hailey was enjoying his
attention, even if she didn’t want to show it.

I turned back to Toby. “You can drop my
bag.”

“
I’ve got it.”

“
And I’m
leaving.”

“
I’m going with
you.”

“
No you’re not. Andrew is
not giving you a ride.” I gave Andrew a look daring him to argue.
He nodded. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“
Why don’t you let me give
you a ride? I’ll follow Andrew back to where you’re staying. It
will give us a chance to talk privately.”

“
Not a chance.” I yanked my
bag out of his hand, quickly putting it down so I could roll it.
“Let’s go.” I started walking, hoping Andrew and Hailey would
follow.

“
Cut me a break, Allie. I
left at three in the morning to drive up here.”

I turned back to him. “Whose choice was
that?”

“
How far away are you
guys?” Toby asked Andrew.

“
About a half
hour.”

“
I think you can handle
thirty minutes in the car with me. You’ve spent a lot more time
than that with me before.” He gave me his puppy dog look that
always broke me.

“
And then what? You’re
going to drop me off and leave.”

“
If you really want me
to.”

I turned to Hailey. “I don’t want to
prolong this. Do you mind if I go with him and we’ll follow
you?”

“
Not if that’s what you
want.”

Andrew grinned. “I’m sure I’ll keep
Hailey entertained.”

I waited as Andrew gave Toby the
address of our condo in case we got separated. I hoped that
wouldn’t be an issue.

We walked out the lot. Hailey pulled me
aside to whisper in my ear. “Call me if you need me. I probably
shouldn’t separate from you, but you seemed to want some time to
deal with him.”

“
I’ll be fine. It’s just
Toby.”

“
Okay, I’ll be ready to
talk when we get there.”

I hugged her. “Thanks.”

“
Of course.”

Toby opened the back of his silver
Acura SUV. He wordlessly picked up my bag and placed it inside,
next to his own, before closing it. He followed me to the passenger
side and opened my door for me. Toby always insisted on that. When
we first started dating it had seemed so charming. By the end, it
got annoying.

I buckled up as I waited for him to get
in.

He glanced over and smiled at me before
typing the address into the GPS. He pulled out of the spot and
caught up with Andrew as he paid and left the lot.

“
I can’t believe you’re
really here.”

“
You and me
both.”

“
Your friend seems
nice.”

“
She is. She’s awesome.” At
least Hailey was a safe topic.

“
Is she on your floor or
something?”

“
She’s my roommate. We met
over the summer.”

“
Oh, cool.” He fidgeted
with the radio, finally settling on a classic rock
station.

It was obvious the car had been sitting
outside for hours, it was freezing. I pulled my pea coat tighter
around me, trying to get warm.

“
You cold?”

I nodded. I really looked at him for
the first time. Nothing about him had actually changed. He still
had the same slightly long, brown hair, but he looked different.
Almost older somehow.

He reached over and turned on my heated
seat. “I would have done that right away, but you’re never
cold.”

“
I’m not used to the
temperature yet.”

“
What, a few months down
south ruined you?”

“
I’m not
ruined.”

He looked at me. “No, you’re
not.”

I glanced out the window and watched
the wintery landscape. It must have recently snowed, because a
fresh layer of white coated the grass and trees. “Why are you
really here?”

“
I already told you. I
needed to see you.”

“
Why? There’s nothing left
to talk about.”

“
Of course there is. We
need to talk about us.” He picked up my left hand in
his.

“
There is no
us—”

“
There’s an us.” He
squeezed my hand, and I tried to pull it away.

“
Nice ring. You’ve never
been a ring person.” His grip on my hand tightened.

I wasn’t going to lie. Honesty was
probably my only way to get through to Toby. “It’s from
Levi.”

He stiffened. “I’m going to hope you’re
wearing it on your left hand because it doesn’t fit on your
right.”

“
Toby…”

“
No. Don’t say another
word. This is unbelievable.” I could almost feel the anger rolling
off him. “What are you doing, Allie? You barely know the guy. If
you wanted an engagement ring, I would have given you one. Hell,
I’d still give you one.” He glanced over at me.

I looked out the window.

“
No response? No
explanation?”

“
What do you want me to
say?” I finally tugged my hand free. It felt cold.

He shook his head. “This is such a big
mistake.”

“
It’s none of your
business.”

He slammed his hands on the wheel.
“Like hell it’s none of my business! What happened to us, Allie? We
were so happy, and you ended it out of nowhere. Then you leave town
and decide to shack up with some random guy. Now you think you’re
marrying him?”

“
Excuse me? First of all, I
am not ‘shacking up’ with anyone. I live in a dorm. Secondly, I
don’t have to justify my decision to break up with you. We weren’t
right, and if you’d just think about it, you’d agree.”

“
I’m never going to
agree.”

“
There are plenty of other
girls out there. I’m sure you’ve found some at Princeton.” I
crossed my arms.

“
Are you asking whether I
hooked up with anyone this semester?”

“
No. I really don’t care.
You can sleep with anyone you want.”

“
Like you mean that. I know
you care.”

“
I don’t.”

“
I’ll tell you anyway. I’ve
slept with girls—plenty of them.”

“
Lovely. Thanks for
sharing.” I turned away.

He put a hand on my leg, and I looked
back at him. “But none of them were you. I only want
you.”

I pushed Toby’s hand off my leg.
“You’ll find someone, and when you do, you’ll realize I made the
right decision. You’ll know what it really feels like to be in
love.” My thoughts went to Levi. I missed him already.

“
Why are you rushing into
marriage? It isn’t like you.”

“
I’m not discussing this
with you.”

“
You’re not happy. I can
see it on your face.”

“
I am happy!” I couldn’t
explain what was really upsetting me.

“
No, you’re not. And if
you’d just give me the chance, I can remind you what it’s like to
feel happy. And, contrary to what you said, I do know what it’s
really like to be in love.”

“
I can’t handle
this.”

“
Hiding from me isn’t going
to help. When are you supposed to get married anyway?”

“
This summer.” At least
that’s what Levi’s dad thought.

He shifted, pulling his jacket off.
“What does your mom think?”

Out of habit, I helped him pull his arm
free. He always got hot driving and needed to take his coat off.
“She doesn’t know.”

“
You plan on getting
married in a few months and your mom doesn’t know? You tell your
mom everything. That should tell you something.”

“
We’re almost there. Have
you said everything you needed to say?” I tried to sound
nonchalant, but our conversation shook me up. Being near Toby
brought up too many feelings, too many questions. I didn’t need any
more doubts.

“
I haven’t come
close.”

I sighed. “What else is
there?”

“
I think you should
transfer to Princeton. You still have your spot.”

“
I’m not
transferring.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because I like Tulane, and
I’m not starting over again.”

“
It won’t be starting
completely over. I’m there. I’ll introduce you to my
friends.”

“
And all the girls you
slept with?” I couldn’t resist. I didn’t appreciate him forcing
images of him with other girls on me. I may have been over him, but
I didn’t want to think of him that way.

“
I actually made you
jealous, didn’t I?”

“
No. Just grossed out. I
don’t need to know about your man whore ways.” I already spent
enough time with Jared.

“
What if I told you I lied,
and I didn’t actually sleep with anyone else?”

“
I wouldn’t
care.”

“
Well, I lied.”

“
Why?”

“
I wanted to make you
jealous.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You are so
weird.”

“
Not weird, desperate.” He
took my hand again. “Please, Allie. Give me another chance? If
you’d only seen what a mess I’ve been.”

“
Toby, you have to move
on.”

“
I can’t. You didn’t give
me any closure.”

“
Closure? I told you it was
over. What other closure do you want?” I didn’t like rubbing salt
in his wounds, but he needed to wake up and accept it.

“
One more night. Just one
more night. I need a chance to say goodbye for real.”

I choked. “Are you insane?”

“
No. I think it might help
both of us.”

“
And how would that help
me?”

“
You’d know for sure you
were making the right decision.”

I freed my hand again. “You really are
insane.”

“
No, just hear me out. If
you let me make love to you one more time, and you really don’t
feel anything, then you’ll know you made the right choice. But if
you do feel something…then I’d be saving you from making a big
mistake.” Toby stepped on the brakes as we hit stop-dead
traffic.

“
Ugh.”

“
So what do you say? It
doesn’t have to be tonight…any night you want.”

“
I have to be on a reality
TV show or something. Someone’s pranking me, right?”

He laughed. “No. I told you I’m
desperate. I had to try.”

“
I’ve made up my mind,
Toby.”

“
Break ups aren’t fair. Why
does only one person have power? We both agreed to start dating.
Why do you get to make the decision to end it? Shouldn’t it be a
joint decision too?”

“
Relationships aren’t a
democracy. Not everyone gets an equal vote.”