He slows the treadmill to a stop, grabbing a towel to wipe his face. "For what?"
"For the fight. I should have handled that differently."
"Yeah, you should have." He steps off the treadmill. "But I shouldn't have accused you without proof."
"You had proof. Bree told you I was flirting with her."
"Bree told me a lot of things." He tosses the towel aside. "Turns out most of it was bullshit."
"What did she tell you?"
"That you were unhappy with Sutton. That you felt trapped. That you'd been venting to her about your relationship problems." He looks at me directly. "Was any of that true?"
"No. I never talked to Bree about Sutton. I barely talked to Bree at all."
"That's what I figured after I thought about it." He leans against the wall. "She played us both, man. She told me you were jealous of us dating. Told you I was accusing you of leading her on. Made sure we'd be pissed at each other."
I think about the fight and how Holden came at me so aggressively. "She wanted us to fight."
"Public drama. Makes the whole thing look more real." He shakes his head. "She's been playing this game for weeks. I just didn't see it."
"Neither did I. Not until it was too late." I sit down on a nearby bench. "What else did she tell people?"
"That you were getting close again. That you'd asked about her when we first started dating. Said you seemed uncomfortable when we'd be together in front of you. She told me not to kiss her because it was rude to rub it in your face." He sits beside me. "She'd position us so you'd have to walk by. She made sure we were in your line of sight. Then she'd tell me you were staring."
"I wasn't staring."
"I know that now.” He shrugs. "It seemed plausible. You and Bree have a history."
"We don't have a history. She kissed me at a party four years ago, and I pushed her away. That's it."
"She made it sound like more."
"She was manufacturing moments," I say slowly. "Making it look like we were close from the outside."
"Yeah, and posting about it strategically." Holden pulls out his phone. "Look at her Instagram. She'd post cryptic things after seeing you. Make it look like you two had been together."
I scroll through her recent posts and shake my head. “I really thought if I ignored her, she would just go away.”
Holden stands up. "Sutton thinks you cheated. Everyone thinks you cheated. Even some on the team.”
“I didn’t. I wouldn’t.”
"Man, I'm sorry,” Holden says. “I didn’t even really like her. She’s hot, but damn, she’s annoying.”
"It's not your fault. Bree's good at this. She's been manipulating everyone."
My phone rings. My dad's name flashes on the screen.
I consider not answering, but that'll just make him call more.
"Yeah?"
"Declan. We need to talk about this photo situation."
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Do you have any idea what this is doing to your image?"
