His taunts are disturbingly familiar. Rich certainly hasn’t grown in fourteen years.
And Sawyer still hangs out with him.
“Rich.” Sawyer’s voice is low and patient, but dripping with severity.
As an adult who’s lived in the real world, away from Blue Ridge, I would view what’s happening here as some idiot (Rich) who doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, and a nice guy (Sawyer) who’s putting him in his place.
But as the person who grew up here, around these exact men when they used to torment me, my paranoia only rises. Rich was never sly like Sawyer, always openly derisive. But they were always on the same page with one another. My body is tense, bracing for the inevitable.
Ethan changes the subject. “How was your meeting,Richard?”
“Productive,” Rich answers carelessly, wedging his chair between Ethan and me. He turns, crowding me. “I hear you’re a substitute teacher.” Somehow he makes my job sound dirty.
I force myself to meet his eyes. There’s nothing there, not even the malice I expect. Just a wall. “Yup.”
His eyes may be blank, but his grin is like the devil’s. “You’re chatty.”
The same server drops off some chips and appetizers. Sawyer reaches for the leg of my chair and drags me toward him until it’s flush against his. Our thighs touch. His shoulders are so broad he has no choice but to extend his arm over the back of my chair. I look up at him, but he’s staring at Rich, jaw clenched. The muscles in his neck protrude. And I get a whiff of?—
I'm transported back in time and even though it shouldn't, my heart pounds a little faster.
“Do you still swim?” The quiet words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
He looks down at me, surprised. “Most mornings, after I work out.” His voice is low, for me only. “Why?”
Heat crawls up my neck. “Chlorine.”
Iswearthe pulse in his throat stutters, but he presses his mouth into a straight line and nods once before returning his gaze to Rich.
“So where’re you staying?” Rich asks me before crunching loudly into a chip.
My eyes cut to his. “Emerson Avenue.”
He whistles, brows raised. “You shackin’ up with some?—”
Sawyer is on his feet, finger in Rich’s face. “That’s enough.” People in nearby seats nudge one another, and I consider crawling under the island of tables.
I hate that Rich’s words hit their mark, but they’re the perfect imitation of what I heard at Everett Academy, pressing on a bruise that hasn’t healed yet. Somehow, the worst of both my worlds have melded.Trash, meet slut.
Rich looks at Sawyer. “Seriously? She’s been back in town for, like, a second. I’ve been by your side for years, and you treat me like this?”
In answer, Sawyer falls into his chair, arm snaking over my shoulders, lighting my skin on fire beneath my clothes.
Rich scoffs. “Dude. It’s BrieQues?—”
“Nope.” Ethan grabs the collar of Rich’s neatly pressed button-down, ignoring his protests, and drags him toward the back hallway where the bathrooms are.
Sawyer’s arm drops from my shoulders, and I’m suddenly cold even as I try to process what just happened.
“Listen,” he says, “I’m sorry. Rich has no sense. No empathy. He’s a complete nitwit. If he crosses the line again, I will personally evict him.” He licks his lips, and I can’t help tracking the movement. “But if you want to leave right now, I get it. I’ll order some tacos to go and bring them to you. You won’t have to see him again.”
My heart beats slow and heavy in my chest.I should take him up on his offer. Leave right now. I know I should.
So why don’t I?
Sawyer’s thigh brushes mine. That unique-to-him smell wraps around me. I watch the fist in his lap grow tighter with every passing second.
Then I remember something Rich said.
