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Herboyfriend.I don’t know where Lydia got that idea. Did she see us at her birthday party and make an assumption? Did Elise tell her that? Have my few appearances with her created a new reality among her parents’ friends?
You wish you were her boyfriend.The small, quiet voice in my head sounds suspiciously like Jacob Chambers. He said a similar thing to me once. It echoes behind the words.You wish you were my boyfriend.He was teasing, and two weeks later, we were dating.
I close the trunk and go back to the driver’s seat. When the door’s shut, I hold the blanket out to Elise. “It’s clean.”
Lydia leans against Elise, her head on her older sister’s shoulder, eyes closed. Elise takes the blanket, shakes it out, and wraps it around Lydia. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I hate this. I hate the stiff, wounded politeness. I hate the way Elise thinks we should have it out.
I hate the way I want to.
If we were together, if I weren’t committed to going down with the consortium, we could have the fight. She could tell me I was an asshole, and I could agree with her. She could demand restitution, and I’d give it. She could forgive me, and I could let her.
None of that is going to happen.
The house where the party’s being hosted comes into view in the middle of my turn through the street. Peeling white siding.People crowded into a narrow entryway. Shadows moving behind curtains.
Raises my hackles. It’s easy to get lost in a place like that. Either nobody’s paying attention to you or the wrong people are. Not safe for Elise.
Not safe for Lydia, I mean.
I steer us back to the highway.
“I have to ask you something, Lyd.” Elise is calm, almost casual.
“Hmm?”
“How did you end up at that party? I’m really not mad. I’m just asking.”
Her sister lets out a heavy sigh. “You have to swear that you’re not going to be mad at me. And you’re not going to tell Mom.”
“I swear.”
Lydia hesitates. Then: “A guy brought me there. But we had a fight, and he left. That’s why I needed a ride home.”
Elise’s eyes flick to mine in the rearview mirror. She doesn’t like the sound of this. Neither do I.
“Where do you know him from?”
“Around school. He’s normally not like that. He’s the one who brings the stuff to smoke. When we have a chance.”
Lydia’s lying. Or she’s not telling the whole truth. Who the hell is this asshole dealer? Who would abandon a sixteen-year-old girl at a party like that?
“I’m sorry,” Elise says.
“It was a dumb fight.”
Not two mile markers later, there’s movement in the rearview mirror. Elise’s dark eyes catch mine. “She’s asleep.”
“Do you know who the guy is?”
“No. And I don’t think she’s going to tell me. Not tonight, anyway.” Elise is quiet for a minute. “I can’t protect her from a stranger.”
Lydia isn’t visible at all in the mirror. She must be lying on Elise’s lap, covered with the blanket. “What happened after he ditched her?”
I have to keep my eyes on the road, so I can’t watch Elise’s face. “She said there were some guys who tried to get her into a bedroom. She didn’t want that, so she ran away. But obviously—” Her voice is soft but strained. “Obviously, they grabbed her. I don’t know how else her dress would’ve torn.”
