dramatically. He simply looked at Eli and Owen once more, shook his head, and said, “Good job on the medals.”
Then he walked toward the cafeteria.
Vanessa followed him.
Daniel watched them go.
For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Then he turned on me.
“You could have handled this differently.”
The old instinct in me recognized the move immediately.
When Daniel couldn’t control what had happened, he looked for someone else to carry it.
“Handled what differently?” I asked.
“This. Them. Mason finding out like that.”
“I didn’t tell Mason anything.”
“You brought the boys here knowing we’d be here.”
I stared at him.
“Daniel, this is a statewide academic competition. Their qualification scores brought them here. Not you.”
His cheeks darkened.
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I really don’t.”
His voice rose just enough that a couple walking past us glanced over.
“You’ve had
