Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds by Christy Barritt Page A

exactly how I’d envisioned. Not even close for that matter, unless you included how totally uncomfortable I thought I’d feel around his friends. I’d hit the nail on the head with that prediction.
    Riley sighed as we stepped outside, a sure sign that something was heavy on his mind. “I can’t believe that.”
    “At least the car had a good life.”
    “A new car isn’t in my budget.”
    “You could ask your parents for money.”
    He cut a glance at me. “You know I won’t do that.”
    “They wouldn’t mind.”
    “I’m well beyond the stage where I want to depend on them. No, I’ll make my own way.”
    “I could ask Chad to drive my van out. He could pick us up.”
    “That’s a possibility. I don’t know how we’re going to pay for the wedding if we keep having added expenses like this. At the rate we’re going, it’s going to be five years before we have enough money saved up.”
    We were paying for the wedding ourselves, even though Riley’s parents had offered to help. We wanted this to be our day and not to be indebted to anyone else. “You know I don’t want anything big. We could elope for all I care.”
    We’d planned for a Christmas wedding. In the evening. With lots of romantic lights dangling around us, creating a magical feel. I wanted candles and soft music and for all of my friends to be gathered around.
    He shook his head. “No, I want our wedding to be nice. I know it’s important to you.”
    I had always kind of wanted a big wedding. My version of nice was totally different than these people here at Allendale. I just wanted a warm church, a pretty dress, and a reception that offered a little more than cake, peanuts, and mints.
    “It will all work out,” I told him. “More important than the wedding is the marriage. Isn’t that what you always say?”
    He sighed again. Something was bothering him, but what? His car? The wedding? Or something else?
    I squeezed his arm. “What are you thinking about? You’re not acting like yourself.”
    He paused on the sidewalk and brushed a hair out of my face. “You know me well.”
    “I should hope so.”
    He looked in the distance a moment before making eye contact with me again. “I guess I just wanted this whole week to be fun, a chance for you and me to get away. It seems like it’s turned into anything but that. Jackie is missing. My car is totaled. My friends haven’t really grown up like I thought they would have. In my head, we were all tight. Now that I’m seeing them again, I feel like I hardly know them.”
    “People do change.”
    “I know they do. I just hoped that they’d changed for the better. You know, less of The Breakfast Club or The Hangover , and more of Star Wars .”
    “ Star Wars ?” I questioned.
    He shrugged. “I was trying to think of some movie where the main characters grew up by the end. I was having a little trouble.”
    “Obviously.” I winked.
    He hooked a hair behind my ear. “I promise you, before we leave, we’re going to have at least one night together to do something. Have a fancy dinner. Go to the spa. Something.”
    I grinned up at him, soaking in every wonderful angle of his face. “Promise, Luke Skywalker?”
    “Promise.” His lips grazed mine.
    I fought a frown. I’d made a promise to Riley when we started this trip, and I was doing a lousy job keeping it.
    I had to do a better job at minding my own business.
    That just might be the biggest challenge of my life.
     
    ***
     
    Back at Allendale, Riley headed to grab some sandwiches from the market downstairs. We decided to simply eat in my room and unwind a little, and that was fine with me. I hadn’t even been here a day, and I was already craving cheap pizza and Chinese food.
    I started back up to my suite to tidy up. I decided to take the elevator this time. I stepped inside, saw Jackie’s mom, and realized it was too late to escape.
    As soon as the doors closed, Jackie’s mom reached for a button and held it. The elevator