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“I told him to ask you, and he said he has. That you wouldn’t tell him.”
This time, Holden raises a challenging brow. “So?”
“Would you tellme, if I asked?”
“I’d ask why it took you four years to.”
Outrage courses through me, heavy and hot.Hebreaks my heart and then has the gall to ask why I didn’t confront him about it sooner?
Not that he knows about the heartbreak—I hope. But regardless, he had to know distancing himself would hurt me. Would lead to insecurity and second-guessing.
“I can take a hint, Holden. If you didn’t want to be friends, that was fine by me.”
“Wanthas never been part of the problem, Cassia.” He sounds irritated withme, which I don’t understand. Almost offended that I’m questioning him, that the subject that used to be taboo between us has come up.
It makes no sense to me, but most of me and Holden since high school started has been a puzzle. I should give up oncollecting pieces. But it’s hard to do when he’s sitting next to me, when I’m enjoying his proximity. When I keep replaying what happened between us that Friday night. If I had pushed for more, would he have had sex with me?
“Holden! You playing?”
I look away from Holden—probably for the first time since he sat down—to see that everyone else has gathered into a tighter circle. The bottle McKenzie carried down has been set in the very center, suggesting they’re recruiting for some sort of drinking game.
“Yep.” He stands, and I assume he’s walking over there. Instead, he jerks the lounger I’m sitting on closer, so it’s part of the periphery of the circle.
I fall back against the cushions, not expecting the sudden movement and unprepared to stay upright. “Youdick.” I speak without thinking, embarrassment coursing through me as everyone looks at me with shock.
Holden grins as I sit up. Amused by my outburst, not contrite.
“Truth or Dare, Holden?”
I scoff, both with annoyance that Grace is choosing Holden to start with and because of the irony we’re playing a game that involves the word truth when there are so many lies stacked up between us.
Predictably, Holden chooses dare.
Grace jerks her chin toward the pool. “Take a dip.”
There’s murmuring amongst the group. Guys grumbling the choice of dare is lame. Girls excited about the prospect of Holden stripping to swim. Maybe I would be too, if I hadn’t already had a private show.
But I doubt it. There’s always been an innate possessiveness when it comes to Holden. Some claim that I can’t make or resist.Watching other girls ogle over his abs is not my idea of a good time.
I focus my attention on anything but Holden as he stands. Jordan Eaton is sitting directly across the circle from me. When he catches my eye, he smiles. I smile back, hesitantly.
Jordan is on the basketball team with Holden. He moved to Pembrooke sophomore year, though, so I don’t even have the distant history that I do with some of the other people here.
I startle when a ball of fabric lands in my lap.ADAMSis spelled out on the back of the gray sweatshirt, but the fact the guy next to me is now shirtless is really the only clue I needed to know the sweatshirt is Holden’s.
I don’t think his aim was off. Holden is the star of the basketball team, for Christ’s sake. He’s making a point. I make one too, shrugging the sweatshirt off my lap.
“Actually, I don’t feel like swimming,” Holden says.
He walks to the center of the circle, unscrews the top of the tequila, and takes a long pull from the bottle. I watch the shift in topography on his stupidly muscular back before he turns around and returns to my side.
When he sits, he doesn’t pull his sweatshirt back on. His presence next to me is impossible to ignore. His knees are spread, and he’s leaning back on his palms. It’s like he’s trying to encroach on as much space surrounding me without actually touching me anywhere.
I swallow. Glance at Jordan again. He’s not looking at me this time, and it feels purposeful. Grace is having the opposite issue. Her gaze is direct and annoyed—and aimed straight at me. She’s clearly irritated I’m here, and I’m assuming Holden’s choice of seating arrangement has only amplified it.
“Eaton. Truth or Dare?”
I look at Holden, surprised by the edge to the question. He’s friends with Jordan…right? I see them at school together. Theyshowed up here together. But there’s a challenge and maybe a warning laced in the words that don’t sound very friendly.
