Yes, my body crows.We’re having fun in the bushes.
But, unfortunately, Laney’s all business. She keeps her distance while she launches into the inquisition. “What happened?”
I shrug. “I barely overheard a phone conversation, he realized I was there, and he got pissy. Story of my life with Chandler. He sees me—he gets pissy.”
If I were Laney, I’d be pulling out ayou have that effect on people.
Or maybe that’s what I expect of her after a lifetime of us picking at each other.
Instead, she’s frowning deeper. “What was he talking about?”
“I don’t know. Didn’t care enough to pay attention.”
“Theo.”
“Don’t know,” I repeat. “You know something I don’t?”
She opens her mouth.
Closes it.
And then goes pink in the cheeks again.
I start to smile.
She doesn’t care that I saw Chandler.
She just wanted an excuse to pull me into the bushes.
And look at us, standing inches apart, her leaning into me, me leaning into her…
“I just feel like everyone’s keeping secrets and I don’t like it,” she finally says. “It makes all of this feelwrong. And I don’t want to feel wrong about Emma’s wedding.”
My face accidentally agrees with her before I can stop it.
“You feel it too.” She angles closer, hesitates like she realizes what she’s doing, but then takes a bold step all the way into my space bubble. “You feel like something’s wrong here too. What is it? What’s going on?”
I have so many secrets right now, I can’t even count them. “Laney, this one’s not yours to fix.”
She frowns. “That’s the same thing Sabrina said. But whycan’tit be? This is Emma’slifethat we’re talking about, and I feel like I’ve been asked to sit on the sidelines, and it makes me feel—it makes me feel like I’ve failed her as a friend,” she finishes on a whisper.
“It’s not you.”
“Isn’t it?”
Fuuuuuck. “It’s me.”
“Theo.”
“Not just saying it. It’s me. Chandler’s issue is with me. The secret is me.”
And now I sound like a damn egomaniac.
“How are you the secret?”
Dammit.
Dammit.
