Page 67 of Broken Dream

She swallows a bite of croissant. “Well, yeah. I wouldn’t be asking you otherwise.”

Do I tell her the truth? That he came on to me in my kitchen and tried to kiss me? That when I rebuffed his advances, he threatened to go to the dean about the kiss I shared with Jason? Which would not only end his teaching career but would also make me a pariah among my peers?

Better to leave all that out.

I scratch my nose. “We talked about this, didn’t we? I think he’s kind of a dick.”

She wrinkles her forehead. “He did have that weird moment when we were all here for pizza. But… I don’t know. Something about him… I kind of like him, and… He’s hot.” She bites her lip. “Guess I’ve got a bit of a thing for older men.”

You and me both, sister.

That’s what I want to say. But I don’t know if I trust Tabitha enough to let her know about my ongoing romance—or whatever it is—with Jason.

So I just shrug. “He’s good-looking, yeah. I don’t know if I’d go so far as hot.”

She giggles. “Well, I stalked you online, of course. I saw your two brothers—one blond, one with brown hair. They put the heat in hot. Is everyone in your family good-looking?”

My cheeks warm. “I don’t know about that.” A lie, of course. My entire family is great-looking. Besides the fact that we’re rich, that’s the second thing people know about us.

“Lucky.” She narrows her eyes coyly. “Are your brothers available?”

“Dave is newly married.” I scratch my chin. “Henry’s not seeing anyone, though. But he’s a lot older.”

She waggles her eyebrows. “Like I said, I like older.” Her bright eyes deflate slightly. “But jeez, Angie, something about Ralph…”

I really don’t need her getting close to Ralph. One, because he’s a dick and Tabitha deserves better. And two, because if they get close, he might spill the beans about Jason and me.

So I’m going to push her gently in another direction.

“Why not Eli? He’s got his eye on you. You’d have to be blind not to see it.”

She purses her lips. “He’s sort of cute, in a Jeff Goldblum kind of way.” She rolls her eyes. “But he and I are just study buddies. Besides, he’s so devoted to school and surgery. I imagine he’s not going to date for the next ten years.”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I think you could convince him to give dating a try.”

She scoffs. “He’s like my brother, but Ralph… I was hoping you’d say he’s not a dick after all.”

I sigh. Do I out him? And if Tabitha is really interested in Ralph, I should probably tell her that he came on to me.

But I don’t want to hurt her.

She and I aren’t besties. Maybe we could be, but we haven’t known each other long enough or spent enough time together.

Tabitha is like my sister. She’ll go up and talk to anyone. Pretend they’ve known each other forever.

I’m not like that.

But if I want Tabitha to be my friend, to trust me as a friend, I owe her the truth.

I grab her hand. “If I tell you something, will you promise you won’t hold it against me?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”

I sigh. “The other night when we were studying here, Ralph…came on to me in the kitchen.”

She doesn’t reply. In fact, I can’t read her expression at all.

“Uh-oh.” She bites her lip. “So I guess you two…”