Page 134 of Tell No Lies

I fought the urge to shake my head. Of course, he would want to come in and play hero and fix everything in one swift movement. As if my brother and I were doing nothing to figure this out. “Thanks, Mike. The detectives should be here in a few, but there’s nothing we can do right now. You should go to practice.”

“I can’t think about practice when my girlfriend was just threatened!”

“I appreciate that, but Brandon is here, and Mckayla won’t leave my side. I don’t want you getting in trouble because of me.”

He begrudgingly agreed and left after a quick kiss.

Sixteen

Despite how quickly we cleaned up my car before Brandon drove it home, the damage had already been done.

My secret was out, and I could feel it the minute we reached the parking lot the next day. Mckayla tensed, and I knew she could feel the change too.

On every other day, the crowds in front of the school and on the lawn would be dispersed and lost in their own worlds, but today, it seemed they were all focused on this area. Mike’s truck was parked next to our empty spot, but he and his usual posse were missing.

Mckayla pulled into our normal spot and slumped in her seat. “We can leave now if you want.”

Her focus was on the population of our school. Half were blatantly staring at her car, while the other half pretended they weren’t doing the same thing. It was eerie, like we had entered a bad zombie movie and we were the only remaining humans with brains.

“We can’t ditch every day. Brandon and your mom would catch on eventually.”

“Duh. I just don’t think they would mind you skipping today … all things considered.”

My eyes followed a group of freshman girls as they walked in front of our car, whispering behind their hands. Very clever. Cover your mouths but stare right at me.

“We would have the beach to ourselves.”

“Would that make me a coward?”

“Only a little, but you’d be a coward with a tan.”

My lips twitched as I willed myself not to smile. Dang her. “I have to face this. Otherwise, the psycho wins.”

She nodded in response and opened her door. “Let’s gather the troops, then. You’re not allowed to be alone for even a second today.”

I followed her lead, slowly getting out of the car, and met her in front before we made our way across the lawn to our table. “Brandon’s orders?”

“His, and Mike called me. Also, my mom and dad told me. Oh, Carter threatened me via text too.”

I cringed at Carter’s name. What right did he have to get involved?

“Fine. I’m sure they have a drone following me too.”

The mystery of Mike’s absence was answered as soon as we got to the quad. He was standing in front of what looked like the entire football team and a handful of other large guys.

“Does everyone understand?”

The group was listening to him intently and nodded like trained dogs.

“Good. If anything happens on your watch, I’m taking it out on you at practice.”

There was a collective groan as Mike turned around and saw us walking up.

“Hey, beautiful.”

I almost laughed at how his voice had changed. One second ago, he’d sounded like a seasoned drill sergeant; now his voice was soft and light.

I walked into his open arms and relaxed into his hug. Resting my head against his built chest made me feel safe for the first time since seeing my car the day before. He seemed to sense something was wrong, since he’d allowed me to snuggle against him while running his hand over my hair rather than pushing me to talk.