“You’re obviously lying,” he cuts me off, even more exasperated now. “Tell me what’s going on or?—”
“Or you’re going to tattle on me?” I say with a little smirk.
But his answer surprises me. “Exactly,” he says. His jaw is set now, his eyes serious. “So spit it out unless you want me to run to Mom and Dad.”
Is he serious?
“That’s low,” I say, trying not to let my jaw drop.
He gives a jerky shrug. “Don’t care.”
And I swear I could punch him. “Nothing is going on,” I say through gritted teeth. “It’s—I’m—I’m taking care of it, all right?”
“What isit, exactly? A guy?”
I swallow but don’t speak, and he moves on immediately.
“Work?” he says.
Stay calm, stay calm?—
“Or is it money?”
And only a second later, he nods firmly. “It’s money. What happened? Did you get scammed?”
“Of course not.”
He lifts his brows skeptically. “I saw a news story about scammers conning people into buying giant dog beds. That seems like something you’d fall for.”
“What?” I say, bristling. “I would not.”
“I’m going to stand here until you tell me,” he says, and now he leans back against my car like he’s got all the time in the world. “And if you leave, I’m going to follow you home.”
I glower at him, because I know he’ll do it. He’ll absolutely do it.
Our stare down lasts twenty seconds before a gentle breeze forces me to blink. With a growl of frustration at Cyrus’s stupid smirk, I finally answer him.
“I just—I cosigned a loan, okay? And the primary party defaulted. So now I’m paying the rest. It’s not a problem. Why are you making such a big deal about this?” Anger bleeds into my words, because I hate that he’s making me say it out loud.
Cyrus straightens up, his eyes narrowing. “Was it that business guy? The other cleaner?”
I stare at him for a second. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Poppy never liked him.” He says it like Poppy’s bad opinion is all the recommendation he needs.
“Well, like I said—I’m taking care of it. I have a payment plan set up. I’m going to visit Tyler and see what happened. Andyou,” I say severely, pointing at him now, “are going to sit on your butt and do nothing, and you’re not going to tell Mom and Dad, and you’re going to keep your unfavorable opinions to yourself.”
“Do you even know where this guy is?” he says, his voice skeptical and annoyed.
I swallow. If Tyler is still living where he used to…“I might.”
“And if you can’t find him?”
Roman’s face flashes through my mind, and before I can stop the words, they tumble out: “I know a guy.”
AURORA
“I know a guy.”
