“Say no more. I understand. You can trust me, Cathy.”

“Cat.”

He tilted his head. “What?”

“I go by Cat now.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “You can trust me, Cat. I promise.”

I hesitated. Could I trust him? I had only known him that one summer, and we’d only spent minimal time together. I remembered him as being kind, willing to talk to the likes of me even though not an outcast himself. A few more fuzzy, pleasant memories surfaced, and I found myself relaxing. Of course it wasn’t a threat. He was a nice guy. He would probably be good for Audrey, much better than her continued liaison with that Neanderthal Nick.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll help you with Audrey.”

“Thanks, Cat,” he said, face cracking open in a genuine smile. “That’s really nice of you.”

My gaze drifted across the room to where Audrey still stood in conversation with Connor. Her body was angled toward his, one hand toying with her long hair as she laughed about something. Connor smiled down at her, his expression covetous. Of course. If nothing else, putting Max in front of Audrey might dissuade her from flirting with Connor all night.

“Come on,” I said, grabbing Max’s arm roughly. “Let’s go say hi.”

“CAT, HEY,” AUDREY SAID, dropping the lock of hair and beaming at me like she hadn’t just been making eyes at the man she’d invited to be my date. “Connor and I are talking about the exhibit. What do you think?”

I looked to Connor, who didn’t meet my eyes. I wondered what he had said to Audrey about the show. To me, he had said that framing women’s deaths as art was a gross practice. From the way Audrey was smiling, I doubted that was what he had said to her.

“It was really something,” I said noncommittally. “Audrey, I think you met Max earlier.”

“Sure, hi,” she said, then glanced down at her phone, thumbs moving as she responded to a comment on Instagram.

Max shot me a pleading look; Connor had yet to make eye contact with me.

If you don’t do something, you’re going to have to stand here and watch Audrey and Connor flirt all night, a small voice said nastily in my mind.

“Max and I were just catching up, and I think you guys have a lot in common,” I said, my voice sounding false to my own ears.

“Yeah?” Audrey asked, looking up and scanning Max’s body appraisingly.

I glanced over at him, trying to see him through Audrey’s eyes, and blanched. What had I been thinking? This would never work. Max Metcalf, earnest and slightly disheveled, wasn’t Audrey’s type. She went for men like Nick, choosing swagger and vanity muscles over things like intellect and character.

A person never forgets camp.

But what if that had been a threat? Max looked harmless, but what if he wasn’t? What if he told Audrey or, worse, Connor about that hideous summer? Panic flickered in my chest. I couldn’t give Max any reason to make good on that threat. It could jeopardize everything I’d worked so hard for. If all I had to do to protect my future was push a date on Audrey, I was more than happy to do it.