“She totally did. I didn’t even know who she was, but she made sure to introduce herself and explain how her lawyer told her I have no case, so I may as well give up and not bother.”
Fox’s lips peel back into a sneer. “That snake bitch. She’s got her bloomers in a twist over something that isn’t even happening!”
“She said sheknowsI’ve wormed my way into Oliver’s home because I’m a sneak and a liar looking toscam that poor doctor. She said his friends—you guys—think I shouldn’t be at the house either.”
Alana’s mouth drops open. “Well?—”
“And ya know what? She’s right! I’m a nobody who came out of nowhere, and now I’m practically living at your friend’s house. I have no one to vouch for me, not even collateral to hand over to put your minds at ease. And every time Ollie so much asnudgesme out of the safety of my own company, I freak out and make an idiot of myself. Why would you follow me in here and be nice whenthisisn’t okay?”
The bathroom door swings open a second time, then Eliza strides in with her bright blue Darling eyes, dried blood on her bottom lip, and a fist-sized bruise coloring her upper chest.
“I saw your text, by the way.” I release a heavy, noisy breath and shove my fingers into my hair. “I didn’t mean to, but he left his phone on the counter while we were cooking last night. You texted, and it was just… it was right there.This isn’t safe, Ollie.There are places for people like her to go.”
“What?” She swings her gaze to Alana. Then Fox. “Why am I in trouble?”
“She’s burning off some energy,” Fox quips. “She’s embarrassed about what happened out there, and Bitchy Barbara stopped by the house today and gave her a mouthful.”
Eliza’s eyes widen. “Shewhat?”
“So she’s got the Cliff thing, and the Barbara thing, and the Eliza text thing.” Alana counts each one on her fingers. “Now she’s ready to fight, all because we were being nice to her.”
“Oh, you’re one of those, huh?” Smirking, Eliza releases the door and wanders across. Her abs ripple—she has rippling abs!—and her fists flex.Release. Flex. She sniffs, but it’s not the girly sniffle I’m so friggin’ known for. It’s the kind of sniff that creates a clot to stop a nosebleed. Because she’s preparing to risk it all again. “You’re having a crappy month, and it hurts your feelings ‘cos I’m looking out for my brother. My friends—the nicer people in our group—are doing that thing they do, but now you’re popping off at the mouth and pissing off your only allies?” She clicks her tongue. “Not very smart.”
“Ollie deserves better than to deal with this mess.” I drop my hand to my side. “And Barbara’s probably right; maybe I am a sneak bitch taking advantage of a really nice guy.”
“Agree to the first: Ollie deserves better. Optimistically disagree with the second: Ireallyhope you’re not here to screw with him. If the memory loss story is bullshit, then you’ll have no trouble remembering how I laid the champ out a few minutes ago.” She purses her lips and stops just two feet away. “If the memory loss is real—and even when I’m a bitch, I’m inclined to believe it is—then I’d say you have no damn clue how you got here or what you were running from. And since we’re talking it out, you should know my concern isn’t about you screwing him over.”
I swallow the nerves in my throat. “It isn’t?”
“No. Believe it or not, but I actually like you. And dammit, I know my brother likes you, too. He’s smitten; that’s just who he is. I don’t think you’re running a con, but hell yeah, I’m concerned about whoever,whatever, chased you onto the road that night. I think the person who scares you probably wears the same stank-ass cologne Cliff is currently showering off, and I think they hurt you. A lot. Which is why you’re scared to hell and back. If we take away the emotion, this all makes complete sense: battered woman escapes a dangerous relationship, flees into the night, runs onto the road, meets Bitchy Barbara. None of that is your fault, Rose. But that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about my brother, too. Because he’s the guy who’s gonna step in and save you.”
“We’re nice because you deserve nice friends,” Fox inserts. “I’mnice because, unlike them,” she looks to Alana, then Eliza, “I wasn’t bred in this backwards ass town, which means I don’t shun a stranger just because she’s not from around here.”
“And you didn’t make an idiot of yourself,” Alana adds. “Shoutingnoat Cliff isn’t a big deal.”
“I shoutnoat him daily,” Eliza quips. “He’s like an eager puppy you sometimes have to swat on the nose.”
“I cried in front of them.” Groaning, I tip my head back and stare up atthe ceiling. My cheeks tingle where tears tickle the flesh. “Literally the first time I meet them, and I scream and cry like a total loser. It’s humiliating.”
“Fox walked face-first into a glass door two weeks ago.” Alana snickers. “Smooshed her lipstick and bent her nose a little bit.”
“This town is trying to kill me,” she snarls. “And look—” She shoots an accusatory hand in my direction. “She’s an outsider, and she nearly died two seconds after she got here. You can’t tell me this isn’t a curse on anyone whose parents aren’t, at the very least, cousins.”
“My parents aren’t cousins,” Eliza declares. “Not for at least, like, three generations.”
“And my parents weren’t cousins either,” Alana adds. “But my mom was a local, and my dad wasn’t. He skipped town so fast, my mom hadn’t even finished her first ‘Alana is the worst daughter in the world’ lecture.”
“You didn’t embarrass yourself.” Eliza steps left, forcing herself into my line of sight. “You just cemented your reputation as weird, like the rest of us. Also, do you like my brother?”
“Do I—” I blink. “What?”
“Eliza!” Alana growls. “Chill.”
“Do you like my brother? I’m aware we’re not in middle school anymore, and boys and girls are allowed to be friends without everyone else making theooh la lasounds. But I see you and him together, and I know he likes you. He’s trying really hard not to, especially because, as your doctor, he’s not supposed to cross that line. And because he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable while you’re vulnerable. But he brought you to his home, and he’s fighting all of us, literally, when we tell him to ship you away again. He brought you to our gym,knowingwe would make it into a big deal.”
“None of that means…” I dig my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and take a step back. “That doesn’t mean?—”
“It’s not like he’s shy, which means he doesn’t mind bringing a new Becky around for us to meet, since we know it’s not serious. But he doesn’t look at them the way he looks at you.”
