Page 157 of Tell No Lies

She spun and, in a blink, was back on her side of the room. I gaped as seconds passed. She just abandoned me, basically dumped me, over a picture? Without even asking me to explain? There had to be more to what was going on, but I could no longer ask anyone what it was.

Twenty-Two

Normally, seeing Mike waiting for me after dance would have surprised and excited me, but looking at him waiting by his car filled me with dread. What more could he have to say? It was clear he wouldn’t listen to me, and his mind was made up.

I lifted the strap of my duffel bag higher on my shoulder and took in a deep breath before walking out to meet him.

“Hi.” My voice sounded so small, and I hated it. I had nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. I didn’t cheat on him. I just had a friend he didn’t like.

“Hey.”

He gestured to his car before turning to open the driver’s door and getting in. A passing thought of what Gage would say about this slipped into my mind, but I pushed it out. I opened the passenger door and dropped my bag to the floor before sliding in.

We sat in awkward silence for too many moments before he cleared his throat. “I just want to understand why.”

“Why what?” I wasn’t interested in playing his mind games right now.

“Why you would cheat on me with him. Why of all people you would be interested in him.”

The genuine pain in his eyes chiseled at the ice around my heart. I hadn’t deserved his treatment over these past few days, but I never wanted to cause him pain.

“Gage was and is only my friend, Mike. You knew that, and I never tried to hide anything from you. The pictures you saw were made to make things seem so much worse than they were.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me about it?”

“There was nothing to tell! I went on a run with Gage, and we sat down when we got to the beach.”

“It looks like more than that.”

“I don’t think that you want to believe me, Mike. Nothing happened. Gage is just my friend, and I shouldn’t have to defend myself like this.”

“You know how I feel about that guy, and you still hang out with him.”

“Your problems with him have nothing to do with me.” Why should his opinions of people affect me? “I don’t care who you hang out with, and I would never accuse you of cheating if I saw you sitting with a cheerleader. That’s the real problem, Mike. You don’t trust me.”

“It’s not you, Aubrey. It’s Gage.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?” I pled, “Why are my friends icing me out?”

“We’ve warned you since you met him to stay away from him, and you’ve ignored us. We don’t trust him. He could be your stalker, for all you know!”

“He’s not! He’s my friend! It’s not like I snuck out to hang out with him. Brandon knew, and he was okay with me going with him.” I was repeating myself, but he wasn’t hearing what I was saying. He was so locked in that he refused to listen.

“It doesn’t matter! He’s not one of us. He’s not someone to trust. If you wanted to go out, you should have called me or Mckayla or just gone to your gym. Anything but going out alone with him. We’ve all been working together to keep you safe, and it’s like you don’t even care. You don’t realize how much danger you’re in!”

“I trust Gage,” I replied as calmly as I could.

“No one else does! We’re the ones who care about you and are there for you, but every time you get the chance, you take off with Tucker or Gage. Don’t you get it? We’re scared for you, but you don’t seem to care how it makes us feel when you put yourself into situations where you could end up being hurt.”

I shook my head, exasperated. “Gage would never hurt me. He’s always been there for me, even when you guys aren’t.”

“You don’t get it. I’m scared, Aubrey. We all are. I want to be there to protect you every second, but you won’t let me.”

“Because you can’t. That’s impossible.”

“I’m going crazy. I want to keep you safe and happy, and the only way I can make sure that happens is if you’re with me.” He paused and met my eyes. “I want to be with you.”

My stubborn resolve to be right was crumbling. “I want to be with you too.”