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When Tiago was gone, Sasha sank back to her seat and studied him over the table with concern in her eyes. “That upset you.”
He nodded. No sense in hiding it. “Chrissy was a good friend.”
“Tiago seems to think you two were more than friends.”
“He might think so, but it wasn’t like that. Chrissy and I liked each other. We flirted—a lot. But I was still fighting a losing battle with my demons, and she had hers. We both knew if we took that step beyond friendship, it’d destroy us.”
“That was very rational of you.”
He tapped his temple with one finger. “Yeah, well, when your brain’s full of holes, sometimes all you can do is cling to the remaining rational bits and hope they’re enough to keep you afloat.”
Her expression softened, and he glanced away, staring hard out the window. Unfortunately, it was dark enough outside that all he could see was his own reflection, but that was better than the pity he knew was in her eyes.
The waiter arrived with their dinners, and they both picked at their plates in uncomfortable silence.
“You know, I’m not the only one with issues,” he said finally.
Sasha raised an eyebrow. “I never said you were.”
“Zak had more issues than Playboy.”
She exhaled a soft chuckle and popped a fry in her mouth. “True.”
“And I saw Ash a little bit ago. He looks like hell.”
“He has a lot on his plate.”
“Yeah, and I just loaded on more,” he muttered and scowled down at his dinner. He’d lost his appetite. “Can’t decide if I shot myself in the foot or not.”
“What happened?” When he hesitated, she reached over the table and squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
He lifted his head and met her gaze. Instead of pity, he saw understanding, which was somehow worse. “I want to tell you everything. I just don’t know that I should. I don’t want you to think less of me.”
“Hey.” She squeezed his hand again. “If this is about Darcy, I know you didn’t kill her.”
“Then you’d be one of the few people in town to think so.” But, he decided, he would tell her the truth. She deserved to know everything about the man she was sleeping with—even the bad parts. “Before we came over this afternoon, Spirit and I went for a run to the beach to burn off some of her energy. We hung out down there for a bit—maybe forty-five minutes. We didn’t see anyone else around, but on the way back up the trail, she found a red shoe.”
Sasha inhaled. “Like Darcy was wearing when she disappeared?”
“Exactly like that. It couldn’t have been hers, though. It was too new, too clean. But I contacted Ash, and he took it into evidence. I’m sure it was someone’s sick idea of a joke. They saw me out running and decided to put the shoe on the path to torment me.”
Her brows drew together. “But it’s not like people just carry red canvas shoes around with them. That seems very deliberate. What does Ash think?”
“I already told you what he thinks. Even if he’s not convinced I’m a killer, he still doesn’t think too highly of me.”
“Why? You used to be so close. I remember the three of you—You, Zak, and Ash—were inseparable in high school.”
He lifted a shoulder and raised his glass to his lips. “We grew up, grew apart.”
“No, it’s more than that. What happened?”
“It’s…” He set his glass down without drinking. “There was a night a few months before everything happened with Darcy. We were out doing stupid teenage shit, and the sheriff caught us. He threw us in county lockup and threatened all kinds of charges, from trespassing to criminal mischief. Zak’s parents came for him, and the sheriff let him go with barely a warning. Ash’s parents came, and same thing…”
When he trailed off, she nodded in understanding. “But not you.”
“My parents didn’t come. Even if they had, I doubt the sheriff would’ve let me go. I’m not town royalty like Ash or from a respected family like Zak. I was just trailer park trash. The kid from a broken home on the wrong side of the tracks, who would probably not amount to much. The sheriff even said so. He said he expected to see me behind bars more often than not.”
“He was wrong.”
