Page 92 of Pretty Vengeance

“Are you saying Jamie threatened Brad?” I stare at her, trying to work out if she’s making things up to drive a wedge between Jamie and me.

She holds out her hands in a stop gesture. “You have the bracelet. From now on, I’ll stay away from you. I’d appreciate if you’d do the same.”

As if I had any other intention. Clare is the last person I want to spend time with anymore.

Still, an uneasiness settles in my chest because it’s clear Clare knows things about my friends and my life that I don’t.

42

JAMIE

Leaning against the car, I watch Sawyer emerge from the Briar Club house with a pensive expression. I look past her, scowling at the front door. If Duffy is giving her a hard time again, she’s going to regret it.

Sauce zips her hooded black puffer coat up to her throat and puts on black gloves before leaving the wraparound porch. The wind whips her hair and pinks her cheeks, which reminds me of the way she looks while we’re playing games. I miss everything about having her in my bed.

Halfway to the sidewalk, she sees me and slows. She didn’t expect me to be waiting. I came because I didn’t want to chance her changing her mind and going straight back to the dorm. Retrieving her from there would be a lot harder.

I push off the car and stride over to meet her on the sidewalk.

“I didn’t mean for you to come and wait.” Throwing a furtive look back at the house, she murmurs, “I would’ve texted when I was ready.” A lock of hair drops in front of her eyes.

My fingers brush the strand back, and she tilts her head away. Not ready for me to touch her yet.

I raise my brow but lower my hand. “So, bad news or good from the club?”

“I don’t know.” Stepping around me, she goes toward the passenger side of the car. “Can you drop me off on campus?”

“I can. After we talk.” I open her door, and she slides inside. “I’m starving. How about pizza at Hearth & Stone?”

Sawyer nods.

We’re silent on the drive, with my gaze straying to her every chance it gets. She’s too fucking pretty by half.

I know we need to talk, but she seems lost in her own thoughts, so I hold off on pushing my agenda.

The restaurant is south of campus in an old stone mansion on the water. They seat us in a back booth near the fireplace.

“It’s nice here. My first time.” She glances out the window at the water. “Eating outside in summer must be amazing.”

“I’ll bring you.” Raising a glass of Guinness to my lips, I watch her face closely. “So, about what happened… You’ve got a right to be angry. The mistake I made was a significant one. It won’t happen again.”

Her eyes search my face. “What had you heard about Brad that made you so angry that night?”

So, as I thought she might, her assumption is now that Brad was the relative I had a problem with. Does she suspect I killed him? That would be suboptimal.

I glance around. “I’ll tell you the truth. But not here.”

She slides off her bench seat and moves to mine, sitting sideways.

This close, I can smell the winter wind on her and the hint of berry skin lotion. Sauce leans forward so she can whisper in my ear, and my body reacts like I’m a fucking teenage boy with his first girlfriend.

“I read some articles,” she says softly. “You have a dangerous family, right?”

I shift in my seat so we’re facing each other. “One member is, yes.”

“What about you?”

Our eyes lock.