Page 35 of Symphony for Lies

“Don’t you dare leave out any details!”

Their voices overlapped, question after question, but all I could do was shake my head, completely bewildered.

Because even I didn’t know what the hell had happened.

Chapter 10

“I swear nothing is going on. Not with any of them! Officer Wilson is only involved because of the case I told you about. Tristan and I have known each other since we were kids; you guys know him, too. And Zane? He’s just the brother of the kid I tutor. That’s all.”

For the tenth time, I explained myself.

Stacy had parked in front of my house, and now three pairs of eyes were burning into me like I was hiding some scandalous affair. Which I absolutely was not.

“Yeah, well… Tristan has liked you for ages, but he never made a move. We actually took him off the checklist of potential partners. But I guess we need to add him back on.” Stacy opened her notes app right in front of me and added Tristan’s name to her ridiculous ranking list.

“What?” I grabbed her phone, scanning through the names.

Tristan was at the bottom.

And the top spot? Aiden. A teacher at the school where I tutored.

“Why the hell is Aiden number one?”

“So, the list itself doesn’t shock you, but the ranking does?” Tiana remarked, earning a sharp glare from me.

“I keep telling you guys I’m not interested, but you don’t seem to care. That’s why I’m not surprised anymore. But Aiden being first? That’s shocking. I barely even talk to him.”

“Listen, every guy who has interacted with you had potential. And at that time, Aiden seemed like a good catch. Stable job, good salary, not too old or young… But we might have to update the rankings now. Spencer, Zane, and Tristan all have better credit scores.” Stacy clapped her hands like she was making an official decision, and Layla nodded enthusiastically.

Fine. Let them do whatever they want.

“Thanks,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

“You’re welcome!” they all chirped in unison.

Annoying as they were, I couldn’t stay mad at them.

As I lay down in bed later that night, my thoughts drifted to Zane. Why did he intervene?

I wanted to push him out of my head, but something told me that getting involved with him would be trouble.

I woke up with a bad feeling in my gut. On my way to work, I hoped there wouldn’t be any new cases. But as soon as my shift started, a Doberman was rushed into the clinic foaming at the mouth. His paw was bleeding, glass shards embedded deep in his metacarpal pad.

A clue. Maybe it could finally lead us to the person responsible.

We did everything we could to stabilize him.

I assisted by removing the glass, stitching the wound up, and sending the samples to the lab.

Then, we called the police.

After what felt like hours, the dog was finally asleep, recovering from the ordeal.

I stroked his black fur gently, whispering, “You were so brave.”

His breathing was calm. His wounds were treated.

Beside me, the owner sat crying.“I can’t believe this. I was only walking him for a few minutes, and it all happened so fast,” she sobbed.