Page 151 of Brutal Little Secrets

“A girl like what?” I keep my tone neutral. And study the guy sitting beside me. Why is he telling me this? Why is he talking to me at all?

“Ambitious. Going places.” He smiles and nods toward her. “She’s not the hottest girl at school, but with the right leg up, she could definitely make it big in this business.”

“You and this business,” Elizabeth scoffs. “I swear that’s all you care about. Besides that one girl. Oh, what was her name?” She snaps her fingers toward Brandt, which has her hand in front of my face. “Olivia. That was it. She was fun.”

“How was she fun?” I ask. Is she talking about Olivia Carmichael? It’s possible there are other Olivias at our school. Or outside of school.

Elizabeth laughs and glances at Brandt with a smirk.

“She was a bit obsessive.” Elizabeth leans over to me like she’s telling me a secret while she looks at her brother. “She came around a few times, but she kept going on about this hockey player. She’d pretty much given up on having him. But Brandt said she deserved him, and the guy was just playing hard to get. That she should focus all her attention on the guy. Convinced this girl he would be the trophy she needed for the future. What did you call it, B? Oh, arm candy. Every girl needs a nice piece of arm candy.”

Elizabeth shakes her head and laughs like it’s their own personal joke. “You never did tell me, B, did she ever get her arm candy?”

“No,” Brandt says with a smirk. “But she got a new pair of bracelets. Not the quality she’s used to though.”

“Hmm.” Elizabeth settles back into her chair.

For a second, they’re both silent. What’s their game? Is he the reason Olivia came after me so hard this year? It doesn’t make sense though. Who is this asshole?

“I was surprised to hear about you and EvanAnn.” Brandt kicks his feet up and glances over at me almost casually. “She’s not your normalspeedof girl. But you weren’t supposed to be here this year at all. What happened to that hockey program you were going into?”

“Dad wanted me to stay here.” I don’t mention the accident. How much does this guy know? I need to ask Cam about him when I get back. He always knows everyone’s deal, no matter which school they attend.

“Got into an accident this summer, right?” Brandt nods like he doesn’t need me to confirm it. His gaze strays to Chase and Evan across the pool. They’re still talking to that woman. “Odd how Chase had to repair his car. Big, ugly scrape and dent. They never caught the guy who ran you off the road, did they?”

I cock my head at him. “No. Probably never will. Dark road. Late at night. No witnesses.”

Brandt rubs his jaw. “You didn’t see anything? Don’t guys like you use cams on your motorcycles?”

I smile slightly. “We don’t wear them most nights. And I don’t remember much of that night.”

We definitely don’t wear them when we’re riding like our namesake.

“Odd.” Brandt turns to look at EvanAnn and nods his head toward them. “That’s Sandra Cox EvanAnn is talking to.”

I glance over like I wasn’t already aware of this. Evan seems in her fucking element, talking to a director who can mentor her. She practically shines.

“She’s very pro-woman in the industry. Loves giving internships to rising stars. The connections that could unlock for EvanAnn would be amazing.”

“Why aren’t you over there chatting her up then?” I ask, curious. I’m not stupid. He sought me out for a reason. Like his sister said, there are a lot of professionals here he could be rubbing elbows with, so why me? And did he use his sister to have an in to talk to me?

It feels like he’s trying to find what wound is raw so he can pick at it.

“Why aren’t you over with your girlfriend?” Brandt replies, instead of answering. His eyes narrow on me even as he smiles.

I don’t say anything. Brandt is Evan’s competition for the fall showcase. From everything I’ve heard, he’s not as talented as her, but he’s better connected.

Looking like the cat that caught the canary, he leans towards me with his elbows on his knees. “I’ve been watching this play out, and I think I’ve got it figured.”

“Have you?” I cock an eyebrow.

Elizabeth chuckles. “He’s the smart one in the family.”

“You get into an accident and can’t go to the hockey thing because of the injury or just because daddy doesn’t want his only son going off. Maybe it’s a mortality thing. The problem is, someone ran you off the road. That someone happened to have a girlfriend. Granted, he was fucking anything that moved behind her back, so maybe he wasn’t the best boyfriend.”

I set my drink down but keep my face blank.

“But then you and your friends pay attention to his girl. And shit starts to get interesting. They breakup, and you three are dating her, fucking her, whatever you want to call it. It’s epic. Like a play brought to life, upsetting the norms. But what I don’t get is what’s the endgame.”