“Oh.” The entire gang. I knew it was just a matter of time before they met up with Rafael, but I hoped it’d be at a better moment. “Well, this is Rafael,” I say, gesturing in his direction. “You’ve met Vanessa.”
“Gentle-touch Vanessa, sure.” Rafael grins. “Off duty tonight?”
Vanessa crosses her arms over her pale gold blouse, neatly tucked into high-waisted black trousers. “Don’t worry, I’ve got my handcuffs on me.”
“And this is Theo,” I rush out. “Sound technician at the podcast.”
“Yeah, we met back in the day,” Theo mumbles, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“Sure, sure. You’re Will’s little brother.” Rafael scoots to the side. “Would you like to join us?”
Vanessa shrugs. “Yeah—”
“Actually…” Theo gestures with his beer toward the entrance door. “Can I talk to you, Scarlett? Outside?”
Stomach immediately knotting, I throw a glance at Rafael, who winks. I can almost see it in his eyes:He’s going to warn you about me. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
I stand and follow Theo out of the pub, the humid air turning my skin sticky. A streetlamp farther down the block illuminates the quiet street, and I glimpse a couple pressed close, the flicker of movement and the faint sound of muffled giggles giving away their very obvious make-out session.
Turning his back on me, Theo inhales but doesn’t say a word.
“Theo?”
“Yeah. Yes.” He faces me, hesitating for a long moment. “Look, I know this isn’t my place. And I know you didn’t ask, but Scarlett—”
Thisisabout Rafael, isn’t it? Already on edge, I cross my arms. “Just tell me what you need to.”
“This guy… I don’t trust him.”
Goddamn it. I hate it when Rafael is right.
“When you came in, that was nothing, okay? We were talking about a bit of a sensitive subject.”
“Wasn’t he gone recently? Paige said he was out of town.”
“Well, he’s back.”
“Since when?”
What does that matter? Theo and I have been friends for—hell, for as long as I can remember. Can’t he just trust me?
“When did he come back, Scarlett?” he insists.
“Friday,” I say, my anxiety spiking when he nods, as if that’s exactly the answer he expected. It feels remarkably similar to answering the phone call from the police when my parents died. Even before they told me what happened, I knew something bad was coming next.
“Here’s the thing,” Theo says, one arm folded behind his head as he awkwardly rubs his neck.
“No.” I stop him. I don’t want to hearthe thing. I want to go back in and know that Rafael is the place where I can hide from what happened tonight with Ethan. If Theo’s right, and there’s athing, well, I plan to ignore it. “Give him a chance, that’s all I ask.”
I walk back toward the pub entrance, but Theo rushes after me. “He’salwaysbeen a player. And now that he’s around you, I can’t help but think that—”
“That what?” I ask, whipping around to face him.
“That he’s… using you.”
Using me forwhat? “Look, I appreciate your concern. I really do. But Rafael has been nothing but supportive and patient. Trust me, I didn’t give him a lot to stick around for.”
“So why was he peeking into your window?”
