Page 70 of Tell No Lies

“Yeah, still no luck.”

He leaned against the doorframe, chuckling. “Give it time.”

“I’m willing it to ring, but that’s not working either.”

“Ah. Well, give that some time too.”

I glanced up at him before resuming my stare-off with my screen. “What do you know?”

“I know that your friends love you, and they’ll get over things soon.”

“Doubt it.”

“Girls are so dramatic. Guys would never give each other the silent treatment. We just yell or punch or move on.”

“I’d take that right about now.”

“How are things with Mike?” He tilted his head and snorted.

“Like you don’t already know.”

He moved farther into my room, grabbed the chair from my desk, and sat in it, facing me. “I haven’t heard from him in a few days.”

“You probably won’t anytime soon.”

“What happened?”

“Do you really want to hear about my lame drama?”

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Of course I don’t, but you’re my little sister, so I have to care.”

“We broke up.”

He made a sound in his throat and sat up straight. “When?”

“After dance. He gave me an ultimatum.”

“Fool.” He grunted.

“Yeah, I know. He said he would take me back and forgive me if I promised to stay away from Gage.”

“No kidding?”

“Yup. I told him I would never ask him to do that, but he didn’t care. It was either him or Gage, and I told him I couldn’t walk away from my friend, so we’re done.”

“Wow, Aubrey. Are you doing okay? I thought you two really liked each other.”

I dropped my head. “I don’t really know. I did really like him, Brandon, but I can’t be with someone who thinks they should have control over me.”

“He made a huge mistake putting you in that position, and he’s going to realize that. I’m really sorry, Aubrey. I never expected him to do something like this. Whatever went on between him and Gage must have been worse than anything you knew about. This isn’t about you at all. I think this is the same issue they’ve had for years.”

“So, I wasn’t worth him getting over it?”

“Mike’s a prideful guy. I think knowing how close you were with Gage killed him. It’s unfortunate that he was willing to lose you over it, though.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Do I need to pick up some ice cream and put in a chick flick?”