Page 116 of No Headlines Please

"So you're what? Denying you know him?"

"No. I mean…I do know him, but he's not paying my rent." A note of uncertainty crept into her voice. "Why would you even think that?"

I thought it because it was true. And besides, it wasn't even that surprising.

Tessa was the kind of girl that guys loved to buy things for.

Even now, I could remember how much it hurt when the guy I'd been crushing on spent weeks chatting me up in study hall before showing up at our house with a dozen roses.

Not for me.

For Tessa.

Turns out, he hadn't been interested in me at all. He'd only been interested in learning more about my beautiful sister. I should've known. He was captain of the football team, and I was…well, just the sister of the most popular girl in school.

I'd spent the next month avoiding nearly everyone, especially the school's new favorite couple.

I was still lost in the memory when Tessa said, "Sorry, but you're wrong."

I blinked back to the present. "And you're full of it." The tears from earlier were threatening yet again. "Ask me how I know."

She didn't ask.

So I just told her. "Because I have the receipts."

Okay, technically it was just one receipt, but the point remained. I had proof – which was probably why Tessa abruptly changed the subject, saying in a rush, "I just hope you secured your bank account."

I frowned. Was that a threat? A warning? A hint that the whole family was in on it? "Yeah, well…" I couldn't quite contain my sarcasm. "Thanks for the warning." As in, Thanks for telling me to close the barn doors after the horse is long gone.

She had nothing to say after that.

In fact, she went so quiet that I took the hint, said a speedy goodbye, and ended the call feeling worse than when I'd started.

But hey, at least I had my answer.

I had been replaced.

And by my own sister, too.

46

Not Part of the Deal

Maddox

Some news was best delivered in person. So here I was, in Ryder's office – unscheduled, unannounced, and unwelcome – judging from Ryder's face.

Alright, so maybe it wasn't me that was unwelcome, but my refusal to do what he'd just asked. To drive the point home, I said it again. "No."

Ryder glared from behind his desk. "What do you mean no?"

Barely five minutes had passed since I'd come halfway clean, telling him that we'd found Delaney weeks ago.

The look on his face had been priceless, but I didn't enjoy it.

I felt like I was shivving a friend. But that wouldn't change anything.

This time, I only shrugged. Outside his office windows, the city stretched out, bright and glittering in the afternoon sun. The view was impressive, even more so when you considered where he'd started.