Page 77 of Tell No Lies

I broke her gaze and looked around at Talia and Alexis for help, but they were both frozen in place with their mouths wide open.

“Yeah, I think it has.”

There were a few moments of silence before the screaming broke out. Mckayla jumped on me first, followed by the other two.

“I knew it!”

“He’s so hot!” Alexis screamed.

“Didn’t I call it months ago?” Talia shoved Mckayla.

Their comments were coming at me faster than I could respond, not that I would have known what to say. I had been expecting them to be mad, say it wasn’t okay, even demand I give up and go back to Mike … really, anything but what was happening.

“Guys! Get off me, then let’s talk!”

It was a mess of giggling for minutes until they calmed down enough to act like normal humans. Once we were all sitting down, Mckayla looked around as if asking permission to go first. “Does he know?”

“Carter?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Carter. Does he know how you feel?”

“No. Well, kind of. He told me I needed to focus on enjoying high school and my friends, and that we can’t be together.”

That earned me another thirty seconds of screaming and questions. I sat back, waiting for them to calm down.

“You guys have talked about it?” Alexis looked like she was two seconds away from exploding.

“Yeah, the feelings were pretty mutual, but I don’t know anymore. I mean, why would he want to be with his best friend’s little sister? He was probably just being nice instead of telling me I was insane for liking him.”

Talia seemed to be the calmest now. Always the wise one. “The age gap might seem worse at this age, but in the grand scheme, it really doesn’t matter. I can understand why he would want you to enjoy your teenage life, but I don’t think he was blowing you off. You should talk to him again.”

“Talia’s right,” Mac agreed. “You tried it his way, and look how things have turned out. Maybe it’s time to talk to him again. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Bree. He doesn’t just think of you as Brandon’s little sister.”

I wanted to believe them, but I also couldn’t get my hopes up again. I barely survived the first time he broke my heart, and I didn’t think I could handle it again. “What if he turns me down again?” I paused, trying to keep myself together. “What if he doesn’t feel the same? I can’t lose him all over again. It felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest the first time. I can’t go through that pain again.”

Mckayla moved next to me and pulled me into a hug. “Then you call us, and we’ll come and feed you ice cream until you puke. After, we’ll drive to his house and use it as target practice with a few dozen eggs.”

Despite everything I was feeling, I had to laugh. It started out silent, but soon my shoulders were shaking, and I was drying tears from my eyes. The girls joined in and tossed around different ideas to get back at him. It took almost an hour for us to settle down and stop laughing. As long as I had them back with me, I could handle anything.

☼ ☼ ☼

My opportunity to talk to Carter came much sooner than I was prepared for. He was sitting on the couch, watching a game show, when I got home from dance the next night.

“Hey, Aubrey.”

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I walked past him to drop off my bags in my room but turned back to join him in the living room.

“I thought I’d come by since Brandon is having another late night.”

“Again? When does he ever get a break?”

He looked over at me and smiled. “Soon. The project he’s been working on is almost finished, and the buyer is already lined up. He’s already promised to take a break once this is over so he can spend more time with you.”

“That will be nice.” I sat on the other end of the couch.

“I haven’t seen you in a little while. How are things?”

I stared at his profile, wondering how much Brandon and Liv had told him. Probably everything about the stalker, but had they mentioned Mike? I didn’t want that to be the first thing I told him.