It can’t mean what I think it means, and yet, goose bumpsprickle up my arms.
“Here.” Bram reaches for the blanket, draping it around my shoulders. “You should get some more sleep.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think I can.” I keep thinking about Lydia’s suspicions, that Kennedy was seeing an Abbott brother in secret. Maybe Kennedy was acting weird because she liked Bram, and he never reciprocated. It could account for her sneaking onto their property and acting secretive.
But what if that isn’t the only explanation? What if, after so much rejection, Kennedy switched her sights to Henry?
“Bram,” I say, tugging the corners of the blanket in front of my chest, “you seem so sure that Henry isn’t for me. Is that because…? Did something happen between him and Kennedy?”
Bram’s eyes widen. “What? Between Henry and Kennedy? I-I don’t think so. I really don’t think so.”
“You don’t tell each other everything, though.”
“No, but…” Bram doesn’t finish the statement, and a forest of dread crops up inside me.
Somehow, I need to get ahold of Henry’s phone. If only to disprove this wild theory that’s spinning through my head.
“I can drive you home,” Bram offers. “Or…” He averts his eyes. “I can get Henry to drive you, if you’d be more comfortable.”
“No,” I say quickly. “I don’t want to go.”
He nods and gets up, but I reach out to touch his arm. “Will you stay up with me for a bit?”
The barest hint of a smile slides onto Bram’s lips. “Yeah, ofcourse.” He lowers back down and picks up the remote, scrolling for something to watch.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my eyes on the television screen now.
“Sorry for what?”
“For not trusting you.”
He laughs. “Nobody trusts me, Phil. It’s not like you’re the first person to decide I’m dangerous.”
Bramisdangerous, that’s certain. But only in that I can’t trust myself around him. I’m confused about my own feelings. “Itrust you,” I say, offering him a small smile. As his eyes meet mine, though, even sitting beside him on the couch feels different than it has in the past. “And I’m going to help you.” I turn to face the screen again. “I won’t let you go down for something you didn’t do.”
Except if Bram continues to hide the truth from the cops to protect his brothers, there may be nothing I can do. I think about telling him my plan, enlisting his help. It would be easier to get Bram to swipe Henry’s phone. But would he help me? If it meant betraying Henry?
I already know the answer. Bram pulled the fire alarm for Henry, after all, no questions asked. He has continued to keep the whole truth from the cops to protect Henry. There’s no way I can include Bram on this.
Which means I’m on my own.
***
When I wake again, I wake curled up on the couch with the blanketdraped over me, my head resting on a throw pillow. Only I’m not alone this time. Bram is slumped over at the opposite end of the couch. I can’t help but look at his sleeping face, those sharp, beautiful features softened by the wash of blue light streaming in from the stained-glass window. Almost angelic, if I didn’t know him to be a wicked pain in the ass.
The moment I start to get up, he stirs, reaching for the side of his neck. “Holy hell,” he grumbles.
“That didn’t look very comfortable,” I say.
“It wasn’t.”
“You didn’t have to sleep down here.”
He shrugs. “I didn’t want you to wake up alone in this weird place again. The first time you nearly got killed.”
“I did,” I say, though my leg barely hurts anymore.
Bram rubs his arms, the cold having apparently gotten to him. I slide closer on the couch, offering him half my blanket. He accepts, and I can’t help but think how natural it would feel to rest my head on his shoulder.
