It was more than possible. Like that night in the truck, she'd have something to hold over me for life. Something far worse than anything she'd ever done to me.
"I guess the question is whether he's worth it," she added.
The truth hurt. It hurt in my chest, and it hurt coming out, because I didn't want to feel this way, but I did. "He is."
"If he's your soul mate, then he's yours. He can't have two soul mates-it's a fact. You deserve a happy ending, even if it means you have to be selfish and greedy."
"You're stoned, and you're a film buff obsessed with happily-ever-after. Can I really take your advice?"
"Then don't," she said. She sounded serious.
I shouldn't tell Manning how I felt. I knew I shouldn't. But if I didn't speak up before the wedding, I definitely couldn't tell him after. "What if this is my only chance?" I asked.
"Then do."
The acoustic guitar song on the stereo strummed the painfully taut strings keeping my heart from bursting. "What song is this?" I asked.
She closed her eyes, listening. "'Into Dust,'" she said softly. "Also Mazzy Star."
A commotion by the fire made us both turn. Manning and Corbin stood a foot apart, arguing.
"Don't worry about me, and I won't worry about you," Corbin said to Manning as Val and I approached.
"Not worried about you, but you're driving Lake, and that does concern me," Manning said. He waited as Corbin took a long, pointed gulp of his Budweiser. "But go ahead and finish your beer," Manning said smugly. "Tiffany and I will take Lake home."
"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm not driving her. She's driving me. So you can shove-"
"She doesn't even have her license-"
Corbin raised his voice, taking a step forward. "Shove your self-righteous, judgmental bullshit-"
"Whoa," Tiffany said. "No need to get worked up, Corbin. He's just looking out for her."
"You'd think I was the fucking criminal between us," Corbin spat.
Manning met Corbin's stride, getting in his face. Despite Corbin's height, next to Manning, he looked like the teenage boy he was. "I don't care if I'm FBI's Most fucking Wanted," Manning said. "I'm not going to stand by and let you put her in danger. You bet your ass I'll always call you out on that."
"Yeah?" Corbin asked, leaning in dangerously close. "Why?"
Heavy with meaning, the word sat fat and unsubtle between the four of us-why? A question I was pretty sure Corbin had been wanting to ask since the night he'd walked me back to my cabin and Manning had gotten upset about it. Why should Manning care what I do?
"Because she's my girlfriend's little sister," Manning said.
"Is that all?" Corbin asked.
"Shut up, Corbin," Tiffany said, pushing between them. "You're being a drunk idiot."
Corbin picked up my heels. "Am I drunk, Lake? Am I an idiot?"
They waited for me to answer, Corbin and Manning's eyes intently on me. I didn't know where my loyalty should lie, but at that moment, it wasn't with Manning or Tiffany. I went to Corbin and slipped one arm around his waist as I placed a possessive hand on his chest. "No to both."
Corbin's heart beat strongly against my palm. Manning pushed up his sleeves, his forearms tense and veiny.
"Don't," Corbin said under his breath so only I could hear.
I looked up at him. "What?"
"You know what. Don't use me to get what you want." He peeled my arms off him and walked away as I stood there. Perfect. Just what I needed to end this night, being humiliated in front of Manning and Tiffany by the one person who rarely let me down.
"Let's go for a walk," Tiffany said to me, glancing back at Manning. "Is that okay? I need to talk to her about something."
He took a pack of cigarettes from his hoodie pocket and smacked it against his palm, looking between both of us. "Fine by me. Don't go far."
Tiffany looped her elbow with mine to walk down to the water. It felt like cozying up with the enemy, except that Tiffany's shampoo and scent and hair and body were as familiar to me as my own. I needed the kind of comfort only a sister could give me, but I also didn't want to go anywhere with her right then.
"Everything okay with you and Corbin?" she asked.
"There is no me and Corbin." I sniffed. "You know that."
"But he's so perfect for you, Lake. You need to try harder."
"He's not . . ." Manning. "He doesn't . . ."