Page 140 of Tell No Lies

I turned around in Mike’s embrace and smiled up at him. “Thank you. I’m so happy you were here!”

“Nothing could have kept me from seeing you like this.” He winked suggestively. “I wouldn’t mind seeing those outfits again soon.”

“Oh, really?”

He nodded eagerly.

“Nice try, but those are for competition only. Although, I was more covered than I am during practice.”

His eyebrow shot up. “Why have I never witnessed this?”

I swatted him and took his hand before walking back to our friends. “Because you have your own practice to attend.”

He tugged my hand back before we reached everyone. “Aubrey, I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting lately. I’m just really happy you and I are finally together, and I want to be with you. I was being a jerk asking you to come to my practice.”

I stood there, frozen with my mouth agape. He’s admitting he was wrong?

“I didn’t mean to make it seem like I didn’t appreciate what you do. It’s obvious how hard you work. Things have just been so crazy lately, and I wanted to be able to keep an eye on you. I need to trust you to be able to take care of yourself.”

Well, this was completely unexpected. He was telling me exactly what I’d been wanting to hear, but he was wrong. Things were getting worse.

Today was the first time my stalker made physical contact, and I’d panicked. I’d been surrounded by people all day, but the monster had been able to corner me during the few seconds I was alone. I was way out of my league, and I knew I had to tell him and Brandon, but I wanted to enjoy my few moments of glory.

“Thank you. I appreciate you apologizing. I know you weren’t trying to be mean about me skipping my practice, but it felt like you thought it didn’t matter because it was dance.”

“That wasn’t it at all. I just didn’t like you not being with me.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll try to do better from now on.”

“Actually, I have something I need to talk to you and Brandon about … later.”

His hands came up and brushed my cheeks. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“We can deal with it later.”

I tried to pull off a calm face, but I knew he saw through me. He paused for a moment before giving me a slight nod. He led me to the waiting group.

It took almost an hour for everyone to take their turn congratulating me and Cassie. Some of the guys decided they were hungry and convinced everyone to meet for burgers and shakes. I hugged the girls and told them to have fun, but I wanted to spend the evening with Brandon and Mike.

When I turned around, I could tell by Brandon’s expression that he knew there was something going on.

Liv approached me and gave me a hug, whispering, “Do you want me to come over?”

She knew I had something to tell them, and she would be a great buffer. I looked into her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m going to need your help.”

Liv had proved to be the level head Brandon needed. Whenever he got too overprotective, she’d been able to negotiate with him on my behalf. I hoped they’d end up staying together, since she was becoming like a sister to me.

We separated into our cars and agreed to go directly back to the apartment. I could tell Mike was waiting for me to talk to him, but I wasn’t ready. I knew he would freak out when he heard what had happened, and I’d rather he didn’t do it while driving.

Brandon and Liv were sitting in the living room when we walked in. I had expected Carter to be there too, but I realized I hadn’t seen him after the competition. So much had been running through my mind and so many people were around me that I hadn’t even noticed his absence. I almost asked about him, but thought better of it when I realized Mike might take it the wrong way: that I cared about Carter and where he was. Which I did.

Brandon gestured to the other end of the sofa and waited expectantly. “What’s going on, Aubrey?”

I debated a topic change but remembered I was the one who’d asked them to come listen to me. I reached into my dance bag, which was lying beside me, and pulled out the envelope, which I still hadn’t opened. There was an audible gasp when they saw it. No one said a word for a few moments until I broke the silence.

“I was attacked during the competition.”