“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” he complained. “I just needed to ask her something. Saw you and thought maybe you might ...”
“I haven’t seen her today.”
Was that disappointment behind his eyes? I couldn’t fathom what sort of question he had for Jaz, but he wasn’t eager to share more. He just gave Lulu a look, then continued down the aisle, tossing out a mumbled “Fine. Later.”
I stared at his broad back as he walked away, and part of me wanted to chase him back down and demand that he tell me what he needed to ask Jaz.
“Breakups are always rough,” Lulu mused.
I glanced at her. “Pardon?”
“You know. All the drama, all the feelings. They’re rough.”
“Whosebreakup?”
Pretty Paul broke up with someone? What did that have to do with Jazmine?
Lulu blinked at me, looking genuinely unsure about answering. But she eventually said, “Um, Paul and Jaz?”
All my muscles turned stony as shock washed over me. Lulu was wrong. She didn’t know what she was talking about. Paul was bad news. Scum of the earth. We hated him. Jaz...
She wouldneverdate Paul. That was absurd.
But the way Lulu looked at me—biting her bottom lip like she was waiting for the truth to dawn on me—made me realize that maybe it wasn’t so absurd after all.
Holy shit.
Thiswas what she’d been keeping secret? This was what shewhispered about with Seb at the cottage when she thought I couldn’t hear.
My thoughts felt as if they were buzzing inside my head, and that buzzing was getting louder and louder...
I couldn’t stand there another second. Mumbling goodbye, I rushed past Lulu to the parked Corvair, fumbling my keys with shaky hands until I forced myself to focus. All I knew was that I had to get out of there. I barely saw Lulu looking dejected on the sidewalk as the Corvair screeched away from the curb.
My best friend had dated the absolute worst person in town? And hadn’t said a word about it to me? I just couldn’t make it make sense in my head.
But.
Somethingwaswrong with Jaz. She wasn’t her normal, confident, happy self. And she had been keeping something from me.
I felt sick to my stomach. I sped through town, far too fast—I knew it, but I couldn’t stop myself, even after I swerved enough to scare myself while patting down the seat to find my phone. I wasthisclose to calling Seb to ask him for a confirmation or denial when I remembered his advice to me about Jazmine:
You should ask her. Talk to her.
He was right, of course. I knew that now. Instead of continuing through the traffic light and going home to the cottage, I made a last-minute sharp turn into the marina.
If Jazmine was going to lie to me about who she was seeing, she could do it to my face.
Chapter 12
The Neelys lived at the edge of the marina inside a two-story, bright blue building. Administrative offices for the marina were on the first floor, and their home was above it. I parked in one of the visitor spots and took a moment to wipe my face and fix my makeup, wishing I didn’t smell like my uneaten sausage roll, which was currently dripping grease onto the front seat.
Screwing up my courage, I headed around the side of the building, where a set of steps hugged the wall and ended on a little deck. The Neelys’ front door was here, and when I stepped into the porch light, I heard muffled laughter and music inside. I rang the doorbell.
You can do this... You must do this.
After a few moments, the door swung open and Jaz’s sister, Patty, blinked at me.
“Paige,” she said, smiling big. “This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”
