Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Clearly it does,” she argues.
“Oh my God. Fine. He set me up, okay?”
I feel Casey’s baffled gaze on me. “Set you up how?”
“When Fenn asked me to meet him to talk about what happened between us junior year, I told Silas to cover for me with RJ.” Lingering anger continues to ripple through my limbs. “Instead, he sent RJ into the woods to catch us.”
She gasps. “Why would he do that?”
“Why do you think? He wants to fuck me. So he tried to sabotage my relationship.”
She goes silent, and when I look over, I see her expression is still awash with confusion.
“I don’t believe it,” she finally says. “Silas wouldn’t do that.”
“He would and he did.” Bitterness coats my throat.
“Are you sure there isn’t another explanation? Silas is a good guy.”
I can’t help the burst of annoyance that goes off inside me. “Jesus, Case. Stop being so naïve. Not everyone is good or bad. Sometimes good guys end up being total assholes.” I shake my head at her. “Stop putting these guys on a goddamn pedestal.”
“Ah, okay. I get it. This is about Fenn.” Her voice is tight. Displeased.
“It’s not about Fenn.”
But it is.
I’ve wanted to strangle the guy ever since I saw his face on the security camera. Not only that, but it’s painful keeping things from my sister. I hate doing it. At the same time, I know the moment she finds out what really happened, her blissful ignorance will be shattered, and she’ll spiral back into the darkness that’s always waiting right on the periphery to consume her again. It seems like no matter how much she tries to put on a brave face, something comes along to snatch her back.
“I know it’s awkward, okay?” she says with a sigh. “Like, in theory, it’s weird that I’m dating a guy you hooked up with—”
I come up short. “Dating? What do you mean you’re dating him?”
She blinks. Shamefaced.
“What the hell, Case? Last time I asked you about it, you insisted you were just friends.” I knew she had a crush on him, obviously, but they’d both assured me it was platonic.
“We were friends,” she replies. “And now we’re more. I didn’t want to say anything yet because I knew you wouldn’t approve.”
The gust of anger nearly knocks me off my feet. They’re together now? The absolute nerve of this guy. He leaves her to die, then buddies up to her for months, and now he’s goddamn dating her?
“No,” I growl.
“Sloane, come on. I know you think I’m too naïve and inexperienced for him, but—”
“Naive?” I cut in, laughing without an ounce of humor. “We are so far beyond naive right now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
CHAPTER 10
FENN
DESPITE THE FACT I HAVEN’T MOVED A MUSCLE IN BED, MY WATCH keeps asking me if I’m working out and would I like to take a moment to breathe. Here, let me guide you through a moment of mindfulness to reflect on your mistakes before you’re put against a wall for the firing squad. My heart rate hasn’t slowed for hours since RJ ambushed me, as I’ve scrambled in my head to figure out how the hell I’m going to come clean to Casey. How to explain myself while completely incapable of offering her any satisfying answers.
Fuck.
I might be having a panic attack.
Or I’m going into cardiac arrest. Maybe the movie of my life will do me a favor and finally kill me off.
Loss has been on my mind a lot lately. I keep thinking about how small my world got after my mom died. Death does that, peels away everything right down to the core. My mother was gone. And then my dad was too. Grief tends to create a pocket of emptiness in your life that no amount of sex or illegal substances can fill.
Then I saw those taillights. A car half-submerged in the lake.
Casey filled that pocket with light. A billion stars breathed into existence. It’s corny as shit and twice as depressing, but entirely true. She’s more than special. She’s the kind of person they don’t make enough of, who inspires everyone else with her compassion and goodness. Completely unselfish or self-impressed.
So of course, I came along and poisoned her. A slow, nearly imperceptible death.
The air in here has gotten thick and it lodges in my throat. RJ and I each went to bed about an hour ago after lights out, and I’m now lying silent in the darkness with only my thoughts to taunt me. I’ve been staring up at the ceiling waiting for an epiphany to point me toward a strategy. So far, one hasn’t presented itself.
I swallow a groan and roll onto my side, phone in hand. I dim the screen to not disturb RJ and find myself scrolling through old chat threads with Gabe.