Page 30

WAVERLY

“W hat?” I screeched.

“Shh.” Keene held up a finger in my direction without taking his attention off Gates. “We’re making a deal here.”

“Gates,” I warned in a deadly voice. “Don’t you dare.”

But my snitch of a brother only grinned mischievously. “She keeps a stuffed cow on her bed,” he reported without even missing a beat.

Keene’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “For real?” When his gaze skidded my way, I scowled back, silently daring him to mock Bessie. Grinning big, he returned his attention to Gates. “Well now, that’s just adorable. I said embarrassing . Try again.”

“She named it Bessie,” Gates added.

Keene yawned and lifted a hand to pat at his mouth in disinterest. “Aren’t all cows basically named that? Come on, Baby Frank. I want something good here.”

“Gates Montgomery Frank,” I growled. “I swear to God, if you tell him one more thing, I will hurt you.”

“Ooh, she’s pulling out the middle name,” Keene chortled. “You must be getting close to something juicy. Come on. Spill it.”

Gates darted his gaze between me and Keene, and I could tell he was coming up with a handful of things to say; he just didn’t know which one would be the best. I pointed at him, and he smirked, turning back to Keene. “She still has a curfew.”

Keene sniffed. “Whatever.”

“I’m serious,” Gates insisted. “Midnight for weeknights. One on weekends.”

Keene’s eyebrows lifted, and he sliced me a curious glance. “For real?”

When my shoulders slumped, unable to deny it, he pulled his head back, clearly surprised.

Gah, I was never going to hear the end of this.

But Keene only turned back to my brother, shaking his head sadly. “Honestly, that’s something your parents should be embarrassed about. I mean, putting a curfew on a—” Glancing over at me, he asked, “Exactly how old are you?”

“She’s twenty,” Gates answered for me.

Letting out a low, sympathetic whistle, Keene shook his head. “Yeah. That one’s on Mom and Dad right there. Not sure how they can even enforce that since she’s a legal adult. But whatevs.” He lifted his hands as if it were nothing. “This still isn’t telling me something embarrassing she does.”

“Okay, how about this?” Gates demanded, hoping to impress Keene. “She hangs a chart in the bathroom to keep track of her cycle. And her next period begins in two days.”

As I curled my hands into fists, envisioning my nails gouging into my little brother’s neck instead of my own palm, Keene blinked at Gates once before wrinkling his nose. “Dude. A quarter of the women on this campus are getting their period next week. How is that in any way newsworthy?”

Sinking in defeat, Gates scowled at me as if it were my fault Keene wasn’t affected by my menstrual cycle, even though I felt like I was slowly dying of mortification. Then he turned back to my ultimate crush, determined to humiliate me until I literally died on the spot.

“Well, she—she?—”

“Okay, just stop.” Keene held up a hand, pausing him there.

“You clearly suck at this. I mean, you’re so bad at it I actually feel sorry for you.

” Holding the last few dollars out toward my brother, he winced.

“Here. Take this pity cash and go away so I don’t have to keep being around your pathetic-ness anymore. ”

Unaffected by Keene’s insults, Gates lit up, his eyes growing eagerly wide as he snatched the cash. “Cool.” As he started away, he waved heartily over his shoulder. “Thanks, Keene.”

He didn’t even acknowledge me.

Smiling proudly, Keene waved back. “Later, Butt Nugget.”

I shook my head, unable to understand how boys could insult and call each other the worst names while laughing and smiling as if it were the biggest compliment.

Suddenly, Keene spun to me, and his grin turned into a smug smirk. “So… Bessie, huh?”

I narrowed my gaze, even though my face heated with absolute humiliation. “I will hurt you.”

“Whoa, hey.” He lifted his hands in surrender, even as he kept the mischievous smile in place. “No need to get violent.” Leaning toward me, he lowered his voice. “Or is that just your upcoming period talking?”

Nostrils flaring, I picked up a nearby book and lifted it to wallop him in the side of the arm. But as soon as I started to swing it forward, it was tugged from my hand.

By nothing.

As it clattered to the floor, I jerked back in surprise and gaped down at the hardback. When I looked back up at Keene, he appeared to be frozen with guilt.

“How did you do that?” I demanded.

He lifted his hands innocently. “I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who dropped the book.”

“I didn’t drop it,” I cried in dismay. “It was pulled out of my hand. I felt it being tugged free.”

“Well, it wasn’t me,” he insisted. “I was sitting all the way over here. How the hell could I touch it with four feet of space between us?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, distracted by my thoughts as I bent down to retrieve the book and turn it, looking for trick strings.

As I straightened again, a riot of cold air breezed across the back of my neck, making me arch my spine and shiver from the sensation before I blasted Keene with another scowl. “You had to have done something .”

“Yes,” he deadpanned. “I used my powers of telekinesis to jerk the book from your hand.” Lifting his eyebrows, he sent me a get-real look. “I mean, really? Do you honestly think that’s what I’d use my powers for, if I had any?”

Since I had no answer for what had really happened with the book, I set it back where it had been lying and sulkily mumbled, “Well, I didn’t drop it.”

“That time of the month must really turn you into a klutz, huh?”

Hissing, I turned a savage snarl his way, and he started to laugh, only for it to be wiped immediately clean when he glanced toward the entrance of the library.

“Ah, shit,” he gasped before swinging his legs from his side of the counter to mine and dropping down to sit on the floor by my leg, where he hid himself out of sight.

I blinked at him, too startled to even think about scolding him for entering an employees-only zone. And I shifted my attention to the exit, only to find Parker Ohrley striding inside.

Remembering Xander’s earlier phone call, I zipped my attention down just as Keene looked up.

He said nothing, didn’t beg me to keep quiet about his location, he just looked up at me with so much torment in his gaze I melted.

I shifted protectively closer, even though I had no idea why. It wasn’t like I could hide him any more than he already was. But I moved close enough that he reached out and took hold of a handful of my pant leg as if thanking me for my support.

A small quiver of all the emotions I held for him bubbled up to the surface, and I glanced up as Parker noticed me and started in my direction.

“Waverly,” he greeted with a sober nod, but his gaze went back to searching the first floor. “You haven’t seen Dugger come through here today, have you?”

I swallowed and shook my head before I was able to wet my mouth enough to form the lie.

“No, sorry.” And then, because I didn’t want Parker to start wandering the floors and stay longer, I kept lying.

“I’ve been here since we opened this morning and haven’t seen him come through at all.

It’s extremely slow today, too, so… I would’ve noticed. ”

It was starting to feel like I was babbling, so I shut my mouth abruptly.

But thankfully, Parker seemed too distracted to notice. “Fuck,” he muttered, wiping a hand through his hair. “I was sure he’d come here.”

He looked miserable.

Feeling bad for fibbing to someone who’d literally saved my life, I bit my lip and winced. “It was a pretty bad fight, huh?”

As Parker zipped his suddenly alert gaze my way, I spotted Keene on the floor from the corner of my eyes looking up at me in surprise as well.

Not particularly wanting this kind of spotlight on me, I crept back a step and explained, “Xander called and told me about it.”

“Oh.” The tension in Parker’s shoulders released before he nodded in understanding. “So she warned you about?—”

“Yep,” I blurted, bobbing my head adamantly before he could mention anything about me being Keene’s mystery girl. “She told me everything.”

“Okay, good.” He nodded and patted the countertop twice before motioning to me. “Hey, if he comes through here, call me, would you?”

“Sure.” I kept shifting my head up and down. All the while my pulse was racing, and I thought I was going to start hyperventilating at any second.

But seriously, how could some people lie as much as they did? Doing it felt like I was going to suffer from heart failure.

This was not fun.

“Thanks, darlin’.” Parker tried to smile, but he looked too sad to really make it work.

I stood there silently as I watched him turn away and stalk back out of the library.

And I kept watching him until he was well and truly gone.

Then my knees lost their rigidity, and I sank down to sit next to Keene.

We stayed there quietly for a moment with our backs to the checkout counter shelves and our knees bent in front of us.

Finally, Keene glanced over. “You already knew about our fight?”

I nodded. “Xander told me.”

He went back to facing forward again, not responding to that. But the laughing, teasing Keene he’d been a moment ago was gone. Jaw tense, he glared at the back wall, stewing on his memories.

I gulped guiltily, knowing this was my fault.

Parker—the guy I’d just lied to and betrayed, the guy who’d gotten my rapist put behind bars, the guy who’d carried my dying body into the hospital after I’d ODed—had kept his silence to Keene to protect my secret.

Now, they were both hurting and upset, and I could stop it, here and now.