Tell Me Pretty Lies

I snort. How gallant. “Not from you.”

“I thought we were past this,” he says, sounding bored.

“You don’t even realize what you just did, do you?”

“What?” His eyebrows pull together, genuinely confused, and I shake my head, amused at how oblivious he can be.

“As if I wasn’t already on her shit list, that just made me an even bigger target.”

“Who, Taylor?” he asks, glancing behind us to see her standing there, seething. “Fuck her. She’s not my girlfriend. We fucked like two times.”

Wow. These Ames boys sure know how to treat a girl. Not that it’s news to me. Holden has never had an exclusive relationship in all the time that I’ve known him.

“Okay, first of all, gross. Second of all, it doesn’t matter. She thinks I’m what’s standing in her way.”

“And you care because?”

I stop to look at him. I…I don’t know. Why do I care? It’s not like I’m afraid of her. I just prefer to avoid her if I can help it. “I don’t care. It seems to be her mission in life to make my life hell, so I’d

rather not hand her the ammunition.” And she slept with your brother on the night of the funeral. Not that I can really fault her for it. It’s not like she knew about Thayer and me. Still, Taylor has always been a mean girl through and through.

“I’ll fix it,” he promises.

“No—”

“I’ll fix it,” he cuts me off, his voice firmer this time, then he takes my hand in his. “Come on.”

Reluctantly, I drop it, even though I know his idea of fixing it will no doubt make it worse. It’s like when the nerdy kid’s mom calls the school to tell them they’re being picked on, and they only end up getting it ten times worse. That’s just how bullies operate.

Once we’re outside, I stop dead in my tracks, noticing my car is gone. Valen picked me up for school this morning, and it was still parked when we got there.

“Dammit!”

“What’s the problem?” Holden frowns.

“My car got towed.”

He shrugs, probably not understanding why I’m upset. And why would he? Money isn’t an issue for him. But all I can think is how that’s going to be another hundred or two added to the list of expenses.

Holden unlocks the doors, and I climb into the passenger seat. The song “Drowning” starts blasting when he starts the car, but he quickly turns it off. We both sit there in silence for a beat, and I know we’re both thinking about Danny.

“I miss him, too,” I admit, feeling weird talking about Danny out loud. He’s been the elephant in the room ever since I got back, but maybe it’s time we start talking about him. Maybe this is how they—how we—heal.

Holden clenches his jaw, throwing the car into drive. Okay, so maybe he’s not there yet.

“Have you heard anything from the police?” I ask, deciding a subject change is probably for the best.

He visibly relaxes. “Not shit.”

“That’s good. What were you doing there, anyway?”

One hand on the wheel, he glances over at me, a grim expression on his face. “Blowing off some steam.”

I narrow my eyes at him, not following.

“Can I trust you?”

I snort out a bitter laugh. “Can you trust me? I’m not the one who’s done anything to have you questioning my loyalty.”