“—other gang members.”
“They don’t seem so bad. Why do you care who I go out with?” I push.
“I don’t. But I know Damon, and he will fuck you and dump you.”
I tilt my head. “And how’s that any different than Leo?”
“Touché, but Leo won’t get you pregnant and ditch you.”
“What?” I ask, feigning ignorance and shock.
She nods. “Someone I know was with him a few years back. They were hot and heavy, but when she turned up with a bun in the oven, he told her to fuck off.”
I shake my head. “No way. No guy is that callus.”
She laughs mirthlessly. “He is. Trust me. He will toss you aside like you’re trash—nothing more than a stranger. Then he’ll find his next victim.”
“Why would he do that? I don’t believe you,” I tell her defensively.
“You should—believe me, that is. Why would I lie about this?” she asks.
“Because you lie about everything. I can’t trust you. Look at the where we are and why we’re here.”
She nods. “I suppose you’re right, but I know for a fact everything I told you about Damon is the truth.”
I stare at her—hard.Do I push it? Do I take it easy?
“Who did he do that to?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I can’t tell you that. It’s a secret I won’t betray.”
I move to stand up. “Then I can’t believe you. There’s no proof.”
She grabs my wrist. “Don’t go out with him, Jillie.”
I look down at her hand and she removes it.
“Tell me who he did that to? If I know the story, maybe I’ll believe you.”
“I would take a lie detector test to prove it, but I don’t have one. I don’t want you to make the same mistake,” she tells me, sounding almost a little desperate.
I sit back down and look at her hard again. “Didn’t they use protection?”
She nods. “They did but nothing’s one-hundred percent.”
I look up at the sky.How am I going to get her to admit it’s her?“How come I never heard about this? Audrey and Isla would’ve told me.”
She dusts off non-existent dirt on her mini skirt. “No one knows because it’s been kept quiet.”
“How? People would definitely talk. This is the sort of gossip teenagers live for, right? Those vindictive bitches out there would throw one another under the bus for this juicy tidbit,” I hypothesize.
“Not if it’s legally sealed,” she reveals. She jerks upright, realizing her slipup.
“What?” I whisper.
She shakes her head. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
“I can’t forget. Your dad’s a lawyer, isn’t he?” I question.
