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Bryce glowers at my boyfriend. “Jacobson. Can’t say the same about you.” His gaze moves to me. “You’re dating Will Jacobson?”

Something about his tone makes me want to say no and assure him I would never do something so utterly ridiculous, but it wouldn’t do any good now. I’ve spent two months complaining about my crappy boyfriend, and now he’s standing here. Even worse, I feel a prickling sensation up my spine that says I’ve been lied to. The way Bryce is watching his every move—the way his shoulders tense—indicates that there’s more than just a casual rivalry between them.

“We’ve been together for two years!” Will brags, slinging his arm around my shoulder to wrench me into his side. “We make a wonderful team.”

We’re not a team. We’re barely even a couple. There’s also nothing all that wonderful about us.

Josie has her hand in Bryce’s, trying to pull him away from the situation, but he remains firmly in place, glaring at Will, and then at me. I try to squirm away from Will’s hold, but he just tightens it. A silent demand that I stay by his side and make him look good.

I don’t know why, and I can be mad at myself later, but I cave.

“How long has this been going on?” He motions between Josie and Bryce. My brows arch at the realization that he doesn’t just know Bryce, he knows them both. Which means he has to know about the blog she used to have with Mia. Their circles were more closely linked than he’d ever let on. Even when I flat out asked him. “Can’t say I ever saw it coming. She doesn’t seem like your type, man.”

Bryce’s lip curls with a snarl, but Josie is the one who speaks up. “Our relationship is none of your business. We don’t really give a shit what you think.”

Will’s grin is amused as he looks her up and down, sizing her up. “Good. I don’t want your opinion of mine, either.”

“Kat’s an adult, Jacobson,” Bryce sneers. “She can speak for herself.”

I stare at Bryce, stunned, not sure what to say. I know what that is meant to be. He’s protecting me. Reminding me I don’t have to let this man walk all over me. There’s no way I’ll get the upper hand now, though.

“Of course she can,” Will jovially replies. This is nothing but a big game to him, a game to see who can piss the other off first. “Still, I don’t want to hear whatever opinions you’ve formed about me from what she’s said. It’s been years and our relationship is our own business.”

Does he know that I’m on the verge of ending things with him? Is he sensing that my being around them is some kind of threat to him? Of course, they’ve helped me see the truth, that I deserve better, but that’s been something I’ve been thinking for months. It’s not their fault.

“Time doesn’t mean change,” Bryce challenges, looking over at me. “You guys should go. You wouldn’t want to hit traffic.”

I look over at Josie, whose gaze tells me to listen to him. I’m not sure what issue they have with each other, but it must run deep, and is something Josie can see turning ugly. She’s telling me to get him out of here before it gets that far, and she’ll do the same with Bryce.

“Will,” I say, slipping out from under his arm but keeping a grip on his hand to tug him toward the car, “let’s go. I’ll see you guys on Monday.”

Josie’s already leading Bryce away from us, toward her Jeep across the lot. At this point, there’s nothing I can do with my car except leave it here. We have security drive through all night to keep people from stealing materials or breaking into the property. Still, I’ll need to get my bag, but I’ll wait for them to be gone before I do.

“Hey, Clark!” I can see the way Bryce stiffens at his name, but he doesn’t turn toward Will. “Be sure to say hey to Abrams for me.”

Bryce turns, like he’s going to say something, but Josie is pulling him away. I quickly do the same, telling Will to get in the car while I grab my bag from mine. I’m hoping to have a moment with either Josie or Bryce to figure out what all this is about, but they’re already in Josie’s Jeep, pulling out of the parking lot.

With a sigh, I grab my bag from my trunk and head back to Will’s car. He didn’t bother to pull it up to where I was parked, despite doing so would give him a straight shot out of the lot. I wait until I’m buckled in and he’s leaving the lot before I turn on him. “What the hell was that about?”

“It was nothing.” He waves me off. “Just two friends catching up.”

“Don’t lie to me, Will.” I glare at the side of his head, knowing full well trying to have this conversation with him is going to be pointless. “I saw the way Bryce looked at you. He never would have expected you to be the one standing there. What happened between you guys?”

“I’m surprised Clark didn’t know I’m your boyfriend.” Of course, he’s going to blame this on me. I should have seen that coming. “Why didn’t you tell him? I told you we knew each other.”

“You told me you swam against one another and that’s it,” I argued. “Do not blame this on me. I didn’t think I needed to bring up the fact that I was dating someone they occasionally swam against in college. I didn’t even know if they’d remember you!”

Something flashes in his eyes, and I instantly recognize it as anger. What could he possibly be angry about? He’d told me countless times they swam against one another. Why would Bryce and Carter remember someone who quit after college? It’s not like they were best friends with every person who had a lane in each race. That would be ridiculous. Unless there’s more to Will’s story than he’s told me.

Which wouldn’t be surprising, since he seems to enjoy lying about everything.

“Why does he hate you so much?” I ask, trying to get the answers I need.

Fiddling with the radio, Will shrugs. “Don’t know, ask him.”

The car fills with some medical podcast that I can’t focus on, but it’s enough of a sign from Will that I need to shut up. Instead, I take the opportunity to pull my phone out and start doing some research to find out just who I’m dating. If he lied about how well he knew Bryce and Carter, what else could he be lying about?

March2024