Page 126 of Best Served Cold

He places his palm over my thigh, and I’m so relieved I nearly tear up. Whatever’s happened, he still wants his hands on me.

He turns to get a better look at me. “I’ve cancelled the meeting with Nelly tomorrow.”

“What?” I ask, floored. “Why would you do that?”

He pauses for a long moment. “I withdrew my application to become a foster parent.”

I feel myself teetering on the edge as I wait for him to reply, because I already know his answer will everything to do with me.

“Jonah left a box of matches outside of my apartment earlier. I called him, and he confessed that he and my dad had a PI investigate you. They managed to access your juvenile record, and Jonah threatened me with it.” He runs his hands through his hair again, agitation radiating off him like sparks.

And there I go, tumbling off the edge. I was a fool to think I could leave my past behind.

This is all my fault. If it weren’t for me, Jonah wouldn’t have arranged for that initial call to Nelly. I’d thought I was helping by offering to pose as Rob’s girlfriend, but of course I wasn’t, because even though the files were sealed, my secret wasn’t safe. Someone found out, and they used the truth of who I am to hurt Rob and Emil. And now Emil won’t be able to play his music except on those stolen weekend mornings with Rob. And Rob…

Oh, Rob.

My whole body begins trembling as if it might shatter into tiny pieces, nothing but atoms and molecules. “Tell her we’re not together. Tell her you discovered the truth and dumped me. Say?—”

He takes my hand, fixing his gaze on mine. “I’m done lying, Sophie. I shouldn’t have lied in the first place.”

A sob breaks free of my chest, and he runs his fingers over my cheek, his touch so gentle it hurts. “I’m not leaving you, Soph. But if we stay together, there’s a chance they could release this information anyway. They could hurt you. Jonah wants to hurt me.”

“He alreadyhashurt you.” I slip my hand into my pocket and find the guitar pick. I run my finger across its pointy tip, poking myself. It’s stupid, but it feels like it betrayed me. Still, I run my finger over it again and again, hoping for a Hail Mary I know will never come.

I’ve taken Rob’s family from him, and now they’ve turned on him.

I’ve ruined his chance to become Emil’s foster parent.

I’ve ruinedeverything.

“This was supposed to be fake,” I say, my voice quavering as tears track down my face. “Maybe we should have kept it that way.”

“Are you being honest with me right now, Sophie?” he asks, his golden eyes focused so purely on me that I feel like more than just a speck of a person on a speck of a planet. Being this important in his eyes is really something. Maybe it’s everything. And it makes my heart feel like it’s bleeding out, because the right thing to do is walk away, isn’t it? I draw in a long breath as I think of how to answer him, and whether I even can answer him.

“We promised to be honest, with each other at least,” he continues.

I open my mouth, still unsure of what to say. I close it and lick my lips. And then the front door of the house bursts open.

“Hey,” Otis says, his voice harsh. “I warned you, man.”

My heart bleeds a little more, and now I’m crying for both of these men who’ve put so much on the line for me. Lifting a hand toward my cousin, I say, “No, Otis, it’s not like that. It’s Jonah who did something awful.”

“Oh, thank God,” Otis says, pressing a palm to his chest. “I didn’t know how I was going to follow up on that. But I slugged one of those beers for courage before I came out here, and now?—”

“Why don’t you sit down, bud?” Rob says, nodding toward the porch chair.

But Otis comes around and sits down on the other side of me, on the broad front steps. “What did he do now?”

“He—” I fall silent as the front door of the little purple house next door creaks open.

“Yoo-hoo,” Dottie says, waving from her stoop. “Who would like some fresh-baked cookies?”

I’m guessing what she really wants is some fresh gossip. However much I love Dottie, I’m about to tell her no, but Rob is already waving her over. “Sure. Yes,” he says. “I think we could all use some fresh-baked cookies.”

“Rob,” I whisper as she slips back into the little purple house. “We can’t avoid this. We need to settle it.Now.”

“It’s been settled,” he says with that firm jaw covered in perfect stubble. “I made the call. Even if I told Nelly it was over between us, it wouldn’t help. The damage is done. My application is dead in the water. And I’m not willing to give you up. I’m not.”

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