Page 28 of Broken Dream

And he did see it.

I was there.

But I’m sticking to my story. I don’t want Jason to get into any kind of trouble.

“He thinks he saw something that he misinterpreted,” I say.

“And what would that be?” Tabitha asks.

I swallow hard. “It’s nothing. Really.”

“No, Angie,” Ralph counters. “It’s not nothing.”

Before Tabitha says anything more, Eli walks into the kitchen holding up his hands. “What’s going on in here?”

Before Ralph can respond, I cut in. “Let’s just drop it.” My voice is firm. “Can we just focus on why we’re actually here?”

Eli pours himself a glass of wine. “I second that motion. Pizza and textbooks are getting cold.”

Tabitha chuckles. “You can toss your books in the oven for a few minutes to warm them up.”

Ralph shoots me a final glare before grabbing a slice of pizza from the box on the counter. He heads for the living room without another word.

Tabitha watches him go, furrowing her brows before turning back to me with an unreadable look on her face. She doesn’t ask any more questions, though, thank God. Instead, she pours herself a glass of wine.

“Yeah, we’re here to study, not to stir up drama,” she says quietly.

I try to give her a grateful smile. We join Eli and Ralph in the living room.

Ralph is putting on his coat and gloves, his half-eaten slice of pizza on my coffee table. “Not much in the mood for studying anymore,” he says. “See you all in lab tomorrow.” He says nothing more before walking out the door.

His exit is followed by an awkward silence, which Eli thankfully breaks.

“What the fuck was that about?”

Tabitha shrugs. “Drama queen.”

I force a laugh. “Yeah. Drama queen.”

Tabitha presses her lips together. “He seems a little old to be acting that way. Hell, we’re too old to be acting that way.”

Eli scratches the side of his head. “Who knows. Everybody has a story.” He gazes out the window. “He was my ride, though.”

“So grab an Uber,” Tabitha says, shrugging again. “Are we going to study or not?”

“Fine.” Eli nods. “What’ll it be? Anatomy?” He looks at me. “Psychology?”

I ignore his smirk. Since when does an interest in psychology make you a pariah? Don’t they know the importance of mental health?

Of course Eli and Tabitha are both interested in surgery. I have no idea what path Ralph plans to pursue, and after tonight, I sure as hell don’t care.

“We cut tomorrow,” Tabitha says with a grin.

I hold back a groan.

But apparently the look on my face says it all.

“We dissected fetal pigs last semester,” Eli says. “What’s your problem, Ang?”