Page 108 of Don't Take the Girl
"You're literally living in my house. How else would London know to leave all those things outside my window if you weren't feeding him information?"
"I'm not," he argues.
"Are too," I fire back.
"What's the last thing that showed up?" He puts the pillow back where it was.
"A strawberry milkshake," I say with narrowed eyes.
"And who did you tell that you had a craving for a strawberry milkshake?"
Damn it. "Sydney," I sigh. I should have known.
"See, I think an apology is in order." He crosses his arms, vindication evident.
"I'm sor?—"
"Nope, I don't want an empty apology. You can apologize by taking me out on the town."
"Fine," I agree.
His eyebrows shoot up. "Really? You're not going to put up a fight?"
"Nope." I turn in my chair to finish applying my makeup. "I'll be ready in ten minutes. Get ready to be thoroughly unimpressed."
Fuck it. I want to leave these four walls and stretch my legs. I have the truth, which is more than I had the last time I walked these streets. That's my armor now. Everything else is just noise.
"Who are you texting?"Trigg bumps my arm as we sit at the new bar in Willow Creek.
"Why? Are you hoping it's Asha?" I tease sardonically.
"Always." He lifts his beer to me and takes a sip.
"Touché," I say, twirling the straw in my virgin daiquiri. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened between the two of you? I know it's more than some family feud between your parents."
He purses his lips and spins his bottle in thought. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it…" His eyes flash up to mine. "I just want to know if she remembers it."
That was not the response I was expecting at all. I thought I'd get the runaround again, same as always, not some ominous answer that's going to turn me into Nancy Drew until I crack the case.
"What do you think she forgot?" I pry shamelessly.
He smiles. "That is the question. The problem is, if I tell you, then she'll know."
"I don't understand. If it happened between the two of you, how could she not know? Why would confiding in me ruin anything? Think of it this way: if you tell me, then I can tell you if she's ever mentioned it, and then you'd know. But if you don't tell me, you'll never know if this secret you keep is worth harboring at all. And I think, since meeting me, you've learned secrets are poison. Nothing good comes from keeping them."
He nods in agreement. "I suppose that's one way to think about it, but as you said, if it happened between us, then I'm not really keeping a secret now, am I?"
Not much has shifted between them these past few months. They've been around each other more, but only because London and I spend time together—it's circumstantial, not intentional. There's definitely something simmering beneath the surface, but things haven't progressed like I expected after finding them asleeptogether on that lounge chair. Both are too stubborn to talk it out—whatever IT might be.
I roll my lips. "Fine, don't tell me. Sit there and sulk in your unknowingness." I take a sip from my daiquiri before pulling the straw out and licking the whipped cream. "It wasn't Asha."
"My brother again?"
"No." I debate not saying anything, but if I didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't have told him it wasn't Asha holding the attention on my phone. I would have said nothing, but I want someone—no, I need someone—to talk to. "Madison left me a voicemail a few hours after everything happened, and I haven't listened to it."
I shrug. "At first, it was too fresh. Then, I just wanted to move on. Now, I don't want to look back."
"Since you haven't deleted it, the way I see it, you have two options. One, delete it. Or two, let me listen to it."
