Page 19 of Craving Venom

“Yeah, about that…” She drags the words out, clearly stalling.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “You don’t have to explain. Really. I’d rather you didn’t.”

“But I want to explain!” she insists. “Look, me and Xaden, we’re taking it slow, okay? It’s not, like, official or anything. I mean, I know he’s your friend, and I don’t want things to get weird between us because—”

“He’s your friend too. Boyfriend now, apparently. So, there’s nothing weird about it.”

“You’re sure? I mean, you two have always been close, and I thought maybe…”

“Stop.” My tone is sharper this time as I glance at my laptop and tap the edge of the desk with my nail. “Xaden is not my type.”

Tria exhales loudly, and I can hear the creak of her bed as she flops onto her back. “Okay. Good. Because, you know, I wasworried there for a second. You walked in on us, and I thought maybe it was… I don’t know, weird for you.”

“It’s only weird because you’re making it weird.”

“Fine, fine,” she mutters before her tone lightens again. “But now that we’ve established he’s not your type… then who is your type? Trevor?”

“Trevor? Are you serious? No. God, no.”

Tria laughs—loud and obnoxious, the kind that makes my shoulders tense. “Oh my god, that bad, huh? Is this why you didn’t let the kiss turn into a full-on makeout session?”

I stiffen. “How do you even know about that?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb,” she says. “Trevor told someone, and guess what? It flew through Xaden and landed right in my lap.”

“Fuck me,” I hiss, dragging a hand down my face. “What is he, a fucking middle schooler?”

Tria laughs again, unbothered by my growing irritation. “Look, I’m just saying—if you didn’t like him, why kiss him in the first place?”

I chew the inside of my cheek, debating whether to answer. My brain feels like static as the memory creeps in. I don’t want to show Trevor in a bad light, but if I tell her the truth, that Zane’s stupid face and the goddamn photos from the crime scene flashed in front of my eyes at the worst possible moment, I’ll look insane. And weak. And probably a little fucked up.

So, I don’t.

“It hasn’t even been a year since Jason. I… I wasn’t ready, that’s all.”

“Faith,” she finally says almost cautiously. “Jason’s dead. You need to move on.”

Her words hit like a slap, and guilt sinks its claws into my chest. She thinks she’s helping, and maybe she is in her own way, but all I can feel is how shitty it is to lie to her.

“I know,” I mumble.

“Then stop using him as an excuse,” she presses gently. “You deserve to be happy too, Faith. And Trevor—”

“You’re right,” I cut her off before she can go on another tirade about Trevor, of all people. The words taste bitter on my tongue, but they’re the only ones that’ll make her shut up.

Tria sighs. “Finally. Look, if you’re not doing anything tonight, come hang out with me and Xaden. Nothing crazy, just pizza and maybe a movie.”

“I don’t know, Tria—”

“Nope,” she interrupts quickly. “No excuses. I’m not letting you hermit your way through life. You’re coming. Period.”

My first instinct is to say no, but the truth is, she’s not entirely wrong. I do need to get out more—have a life beyond dissecting the minds of criminals and burying myself in my obsession with their twisted logic. It’s not like I have anything better to do.

“Fine,” I mutter, already regretting it.

“Perfect! I’ll text you the details,” she chirps. “And Faith?”

“Yeah?”

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