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“But it did. I broke her trust, you broke her heart, and Kendall crushed any shot she had of fitting in. She’s not going to come back from that anytime soon.”
“Kendall isn’t a problem anymore.”
“Are you high? Of course she’s a fucking problem. She hated Becca and everything she stood forbeforeshe found out you’d gone and fallen for her. It’ll be Ami all over again.”
“No.”
It wouldn’t. It couldn’t be.
“You think Kendall’s going to back off because you asked? She’s a psycho bitch. She won’t stop until she runs Becca out of town.”
“You’re wrong.” Kendall wouldn’t go that far; she wouldn’t risk it—not now that she knew how I felt about Becca.
“I’m not, and we both know it. I’ll protect her from afar, do what I can, but if Becca wants to go it alone, we can’t watch her twenty-four-seven.”
Shit. This was so fucked up.
“What the fuck is Stokes’ problem? If he goes after Becca…”
“Who, Vin? Jesus, Evan, that’s what you’re concerned about? Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing. At least, if she was dating, she’d have someone ar—”
“Take that back,” I hissed.
“What?” She held up her hand. “It’s true. If she’s dating, she’s not walking around like a lamb to the slaughter.”
“Not an option, Peters.” No one was touching Becca.
No one.
“Unless she wants it, right?” Her brow lifted. “Because, I mean, she’s a free agent, and she can date who she wants.”
“She isn’t dating. We’re not having this conversation. Drop it.”
“Touchy. You should have a smoke, lose some of that tension you got going on.” I glared at her. She knew I would never touch that shit. Noticing my worsening mood, Scarlett conceded. “Christ, everyone’s so hormonal these days. As if I haven’t got enough crap to deal with.”
“How is she?” I asked, feeling some of my irritation ebb away. It was easy to forget I wasn’t the only one with shit going on.
“Up and down.”
“Listen, if you ever need to talk—”
Scarlett bristled, and I sensed her walls coming up. “I’m good. It’s life, right? Same old shit, just a different day.”
She wasn’t wrong. Living in Credence was poisonous for kids like us.
“I’ll keep an eye out for her, okay?” She stubbed out the joint on the wall and pocketed it. “Just don’t go doing anything stupid.”
I tipped my chin at her and watched her head back to the others. If something happened to Becca because of me—because of Kendall’s sick and twisted fixation with me—I would never forgive myself. But it was an impossible situation. I’d intervened once and look where that had got me. Scarlett was right, though. If Becca was hell-bent on pushing away everyone who cared about her…
Things could get a lot worse before they got better.
* * *
“I’m home.” I closed the door behind me and moved through the house. “Eli? Mom?”
“In here, baby,” a voice said, and a sinking sensation descended over me. I knew that tone, and it only meant one thing.
“Evan! Evans home.” Eli leaped up off the floor and bounded to me. “Mom got me pizza.”
