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“They were giving me a headache,” I muttered. “I took them out to fix them and he bumped into me and I dropped them.”
I had never been so thankful for the dark in my life. My face felt so hot that I knew my cheeks were beet red.
“Who bumped into you?” Becka looked over at Otto and made a noise in the back of her throat. “Otto Hawthorne?”
“Hey,” Otto said, his voice flat. I glanced at him to see if he was angry that I’d lied, but there was no expression on his face.
“I haven’t seen you in forever,” Becka said, leaning back on her heels. “How have you been?”
“No complaints,” Otto replied.
“You two know each other?” I asked, the bobby pins forgotten.
“Yeah,” Becka said easily. “We hung out a couple times last year.” She glanced over at Matt. “Before me and Matty got together.”
Mortification and betrayal burned in my gut. He’d said he didn’t know her. That he didn’t even recognize hername. Of course he’d been lying. Everyone knew Becka. She was pretty and smart and outgoing and willing to face any consequence as long as she was having fun. But why had he lied?
“Esther,” Otto said quietly, trying to get my attention.
I couldn’t even look at him. He’d seen every part of me. He’d beeninsideof me. Oh, god. How could I have been so stupid? The full ramifications of what I’d done in the darkness of the forest slammed into me.I didn’t even know him.
“You know my cousin?” Becka asked him in confusion.
“Let’s go, Becka,” I ordered, getting to my feet.
“Esther,” Otto said again, his voice nearly a growl.
“What the hell is going on?” Becka asked.
Matt started to laugh. “No fucking way,” he said, looking back and forth between us. His eyes widened as he sniffed the air. “No fucking way! You fucked the—”
Whatever he’d been about to call me was cut off abruptly when Otto’s fist hit his jaw with a loud thunk and he flew, landing on his back in the dirt.
Becka squeaked in fear.
“Let’s go,” I said, tugging on her arm.
“You got somethin’ to say?” Otto asked, standing over my cousin’s idiot boyfriend.
“No,” Matt mumbled, his voice shaking.
“What the heck is happening?” Becka shook her head in confusion.
“Let’s go,” I repeated, jerking her away. “Come on, we’re already so late.”
“Matt?”
“Go, Becks,” Matt said quietly as he sat up. “You’re gonna get in trouble.”
“Are you okay?”
“Go,” he snapped.
He was embarrassed and being an ass, but I didn’t care. I was just happy that he was telling my cousin to leave. I was on the verge of tears and I wanted to get as far from Otto as possible. Even the fear of facing my parents felt small when compared to having to look him in the face again.
“Fine,” Becka said, taking a step backward. She grabbed my hand and stomped toward her car.
“Can you drive?” I asked, hurrying to keep up with her.
