All I've Never Wanted (26 page)

“Maya?”

I blinked when a familiar sandy-brown head came into view. “James?”

He grinned when he saw me. “Hey!” he said happily. “Fancy running into you here!”

“Oh, yeah, I was just doing a bit of shopping,” I murmured, blushing a bit as I indicated the bag next to me. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here with a few friends. I live in La Terra, remember?” he added when the questioning look stayed on my face.

“Oh, right.” Now I felt like an idiot. He
had
told me he lived in La Terra when I met him at Stan Hoffman’s party.

“So, you here alone or are you with Parker?” James asked casually, glancing at the two water glasses on the table.

“No, I’m here with—wait, why’d you ask about Parker?” I frowned a bit, trying to remember if I’d told him I was ‘dating’ Parker. I was pretty sure I hadn’t.

“Some of my friends at Valesca mentioned he had a new girlfriend named Maya,” James explained. “And you’re the only Maya I’ve heard of there, so I figured…”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I’m not here with him.” I cleared my throat. “I’m here with, uh, another friend actually. I needed to find a birthday present.”

“Cool.” James nodded. “I didn’t get a phone call from you, by the way…” He raised his eyebrows playfully.

I blushed. “I have a boyfriend, remember?”

“You can do better than Parker Remington.”

My head jerked up, as his tone seemed a bit sharp, but when I saw his face, it was as relaxed as ever. “Or are you dating him because he’s a Scion?” James questioned.

“Of course not!” I was insulted he would even ask such a thing. “I don’t care about anyone’s social status or whatnot. Parker’s a nice guy once you get to know him. Really.”

“Maybe.” James sounded unconvinced. “I’d advise you stay away from all the Scions though, they’re bad news.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I think I can handle myself.” I used to think they were bad news too, but now that I’d gotten to know them better, they honestly weren’t that bad.

“So, how about it?” James said, sliding into the booth opposite me and abruptly changing the subject.

I was confused. “How about what?”

“A date with me.”

My jaw dropped. “James! You know I have a boyfriend.”

He shrugged, smiling a bit impishly. “Ok, not a date then. A friendly outing?” He gave me a puppy-dog face.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry, I don’t think I can.”

“Come on,” James persisted. “It’ll be fun, I promise! There won’t be champagne and caviar, but it’ll be a nice, simple da—er, outing.”

“I don’t know…”

“How about we go to an amusement park?” he suggested. “There’s one right by La Terra. It’s pretty cool, and I know you guys don’t have one in Valesca…”

“Well…” I bit my lip, unsure. An amusement park
did
sound fun, but I didn’t lead him on.

“I promise, we will go as just friends.” James held up one hand solemnly, as if he were taking an oath. “I won’t get the wrong idea. We shall only eat lots of corn dogs and pray we won’t throw them up after a day of scream-inducing roller coasters and long lines filled with screaming children.”

I laughed. “How could I resist an offer like that?” I teased, but I finally relented. “Ok, fine.
One
outing, as friends. That’s it. But if you throw up on me, you’re going to be in big trouble.”

James grinned happily. “Deal. This Saturday then? Or is that too soon?”

“This Saturday’s fine.”

“Great! Do you need a ride, or do you want me to come get you?”

“Oh, no, I think I can get here by myself.” I remembered there was a bus that went from Valesca to La Terra. “There’s no point in you driving all the way to Valesca and back again.”

“Well, then, I look forward to seeing your lovely face this weekend.” James winked at me. “You have my number if you need anything. I’ll see you later!”

“Bye.” I smiled, his enthusiasm contagious.

James left just as Carlo came back from the bathroom.

“You took a long time in there. What were you doing?” I teased.

“Let’s just say someone wasn’t feeling too well in there and I decided to play the Good Samaritan,” Carlo said with a bit of a grimace, just as the waiter came back out with our food.

I wrinkled my nose. Eew.

“So homecoming’s next week,” Carlo commented casually, placing a slice of pizza on his plate. “Who’re you going with?”

I stared at him, chewing my bread slowly. I swallowed before answering, “Um, Parker?”

“Oh.” He frowned a bit. “Are you guys still pretending to date then?”

“I…guess so,” I replied slowly. I mean, Parker hadn’t said anything, so I’d just assumed. “Why? Did he say anything?”

“No, but I thought he was finally going to—well, anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Carlo said quickly. “It’s too bad though.”

“What is?” I swear, it’s like he was speaking in riddles today or something.

“If you weren’t going with him, I would’ve asked you to homecoming,” Carlo said nonchalantly, taking a bite of his pizza.

I immediately started choking on my food. My breath came out in wheezing gasps as I struggled not to suffocate myself with carbs.

“Are you ok?” Carlo asked with a concerned frown.

“Uh huh,” I gasped, grabbing my water and taking frantic gulps.

Once I’d calmed down, I wiped my mouth and gaped at him. “Why would you ask me to homecoming?” I blurted. He couldn’t—he didn’t like me, did he?

“I actually enjoy talking to you.” Carlo was still acting infuriatingly calm. “I usually go with random girls whom I can’t stand, so it’d be a nice change.”

“Well, why don’t you go alone?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m a Scion. Bad for the image and all that.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip, feeling a bit disappointed with his explanation. Suddenly, I thought of something. “Does that mean Roman and Zack are going with dates too?”

“Yep. I think they already found dates.”

My face fell, the disappointment heightening. I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t care if Rom—if the others had dates. It wasn’t like I wanted to go with hi—with any of them anyway.

I grabbed another breadstick and tore it apart semi-angrily, ignoring Carlo’s questioning stare.

Nope, I didn’t care. Not at all.

*              *              *

It turns out James wasn’t the only surprise of the day, because when I got back to Roman’s house, I got a double whammy.

The first occurred right as I set foot in the foyer.
Hava Nagila
started playing on my phone, indicating a call from my mom. I’m not sure why it’s my ringtone, since neither of us were Jewish, but I liked the way it sounded. 

“Hello?” I shut the door behind me and pressed the button for the elevator. “Mom?”

“Hi, sweetie!” my mom said cheerfully. “How are you doing?”

I smiled at the sound of her voice. “I’m good, how are you? How’s Napa Valley?”
And my jerk of a dad?

“It’s amazing! The wine tasting your friend set up for us was out of this world,” she gushed. “So, you’re enjoying your time at Adriana’s house?”

My eyes narrowed as my defenses came up. I knew that tone of voice. It never boded well. “Yeeesss…” I answered slowly, even though I wasn’t staying at Adriana’s house. But she didn’t need to know that.

“That’s wonderful, dear. Really.”

I pulled open the doors to my suite and kicked off my shoes.

“Mom, what is it? I know something’s wrong.”

“Well.” My mom hesitated. “It’s not that something’s wrong, per se. I’m just not sure—“

“Mom, just spit it out. I’m a big girl, I can handle it,” I said patiently.

“Ok, fine. Your father and I entered a contest here at the inn and we ended up getting an extra two weeks’ stay here for free!”

“
What?”
I exclaimed, then quickly lowered my voice. “What?” I repeated.

I could practically see my mom fretting over the phone. “I know, dear, it’s a bit…unexpected, but it’s a wonderful opportunity. Of course, if you don’t want to stay there for an extra two weeks, that’s fine, we’ll come back—“

“No, no.” I shook my head, trying to process the information. “I mean, it’s great, it really is. But what about work?”

“We both have enough vacation days accumulated to fit an extra two weeks into our schedule.”

“Oh.” I was a bit disappointed I wouldn’t be able to see my mom for longer than I’d thought, but I was happy she was having fun, I really was. Besides, I didn’t really want to face my dad anytime soon anyway. “You should stay, mom. Don’t worry about me. I’m having a lot of fun at, uh, Adriana’s house.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, mom,” I replied. “Really. Enjoy your time there.”

“Ok.” She sounded both worried and happy. “If you need anything, you have all the emergency numbers, right?”

“Yep.” A knock sounded on my door, and I frowned, wondering who it was. “I have to go right now, but I’ll talk to you later, ok? Love you.”

“I love you too, sweetie. And your father says hi.”

Right. “Bye.” I didn’t acknowledge her last statement.

I hung up and called out, “Come in!”

When I saw Parker stride in, I couldn’t help but smirk at the pink polo he was wearing.

“You look like such a prep,” I said dryly, eyeing the signature Lacoste alligator on the front of his shirt.

“What? Not even a hello kiss from my girlfriend? You really
do
have a thing with Carlo,” Parker joked, dropping down on the bed next to me and draping an arm over my shoulder.

“Yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you, but I decided things just aren’t going to work out between us,” I teased. “So what’s up? Are you here to visit Roman?”

“Not really.” He dropped his arm from my shoulder as a more serious expression came over his face. “I’m here to see you actually.”

I tilted my head curiously. “Ok…”

“Well, you know how we started dating because you basically forced me into it to get your grandmother off your back?”

I rolled my eyes. “Gee, thanks for making it sound like I tortured you or something.”

Parker smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, but you know what I mean. Anyway, now that she’s gone, we
technically
don’t have to pretend anymore…”

I had a feeling I knew where this was going. “Uh-huh…” I dragged out the last syllable, prompting him to continue.

He cleared his throat. “Well, I wasjustwonderingifperhapswe couldstoppretending?” He asked in a rush. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you or anything. I really do. You’re so hot, I would totally do you, especially if you wore that lingerie—“

“Parker!” I held up a hand. “Stay on track.”