A Whole New Crowd(84)

“Scared?”

“I feel like I disappointed you.” She stopped, closed her eyes. “Man, I’ve been holding that in for a long time. I think, since you confronted me and drove me to rehab, that I disappointed you.” A small and bitter-sounding laugh came from her. “Why didn’t I feel like that with my own parents, but I did with you?”

“I don’t know.” My chest had been tight since we left the patio. At hearing her last confession, some of the tightness loosened. I had five massive knots tangled up inside of me and I had four more to loosen. “Let’s not analyze that. I can’t handle feeling any more right now.”

She grinned, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Too much with Brian’s death?”

I nodded. I really didn’t want to talk about him. Or Jace. I shook my head. “I’m not keeping things from you. It’s just that it’s so damn painful to even think about it, much less talk about it.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together and her lips pressed together. “You’ve been staying with Tray this whole time?”

“Since I took you to rehab. It didn’t feel right staying at the house. I felt like I was going against what your parents wanted.”

“You were right. They wouldn’t have taken me to a rehab, or at least not to that one. I would’ve gone to some nice plush one where they wouldn’t have pressed me that hard. My dad would’ve told them to treat me like I was a soft princess. The one you took me to—”

“Is good.” I finished for her. “I took Brian there. He needed a place that’s like that. They don’t bullshit around.”

“No.” She laughed. “They don’t, but that’s what I needed. And I think I was tired of lying to everyone. Thank you, Taryn.”

I was struck speechless.

There were tears in her eyes, but as she smiled at me, I didn’t think they were the bad kind. She said again, “Thank you.”

I nodded. “Yeah.” My voice was hoarse and that was all I could get out.

“Did you go to the funeral?”

I shook my head. My throat stung. “No. From what I was told, the funeral was kept private. I wasn’t invited.”

“That’s cold.”

“Yeah, well, what do you expect? His brother might as well killed him himself. Of course he wouldn’t let me go. I’d have questions and demands.” I’d have a knife or a gun.

“What do you mean?”

“What?”

“You blame his brother?” She wrapped her hands in her dress and tilted her head to the side, studying me with a frown. “I thought he was robbed at gun point. That’s what everyone is saying. Why would that be his brother’s fault, unless it was his brother that robbed him, but I doubt that happened. You know, since he had the funeral for him without you and everything…” Her voice trailed off and her head lifted. Her frown deepened, and she sat upright. “Taryn? What’s wrong? What’d I say?”

A robbery. Gun point. That’s how they spun it? A hard laugh ripped from me. I couldn’t believe what I just heard.

“Taryn?” She stood. Mandy started for me, but stopped a few feet away. “What’s wrong? What’d I say? Please.” A hysterical note etched into her tone. It was soft, hanging there on the end, before it bloomed.

I shook my head. Forcing myself to sound calm, I asked, “Who told you that?”

“Amber and Jennica.”

“Where’d they hear it from?”

She lifted a shoulder, but let it drop suddenly. “I don’t know. I’m not helping you. I’ve made it worse. I’m sorry, Taryn. What can I do? Tell me what to do to make this better.”

There wasn’t anything she could do. “I need to talk to Amber and Jennica.”

“Okay.” She went for the door. “I’ll get them.” She opened it, but paused before she said, “I want to help you like you helped me, Taryn. I’m sorry for making this worse.”

My insides were burning up. I felt raw, like someone had dragged a rake through my organs and left me bleeding out. “You did. Trust me, you did.”

She left and I closed my eyes. Stay calm. Hear them out, I tried to tell myself, trying to calm the tornado inside me, but it wasn’t working. I used my last resort and counted down from one hundred. When I got to sixty-nine, a knock sounded at the door and Tray stepped inside.

“What’s going on?” He closed the door and leaned against it. Voices sounded from the hallway and the doorknob turned. He said through it, “Give me a minute in here.”