How dare he act like our relationship was all one-sided, like I was some groupie obsessed with him, following him around and begging him to love me. He’d been the one who had kissed me first, after all. The other night he’d held me in his arms and told me I was the only one he wanted, yet he still wouldn’t admit to being with me. No matter what he said to me in private, he would continue to tell the world he was single and flirt with every girl in sight. I thought I’d uncovered the real Jared, the one behind the stage smile and the player reputation, but that was all a lie. Maybe Kyle had been right all along; Jared didn’t want a serious relationship and this was a way for him to keep his options open while sleeping with me. He was just like my father, living two different lives, destroying everything with his secrets and lies.

“I think she went out here,” Hector said, around the corner.

I stiffened, straining to hear if they were coming closer. There was nowhere for me to escape, and I didn’t want to talk to any of them at the moment.

“Leave her. She needs some time to cool off.”

Thank you, Kyle.

“This is what she does,” Jared said. “She runs away when she’s upset.”

“You are together,” Hector said. “I knew it!”

“No—”

“Then what was that back there?” Kyle interrupted, his voice quiet but sharp as a blade.

“I don’t know. She kissed me. Why don’t you ask her?”

“I don’t need to ask her. It was written all over her face when she walked off!”

“It’s nothing, I swear. Can we let it go already?”

“Stop lying to us!” Kyle suddenly yelled. I’d never heard him yell before, and it made me jump. Kyle never got upset. He was always the one who kept the peace, who calmed the other guys down, but not tonight.

“Fine, we hooked up!” Jared said. “Happy?”

“I fucking knew it!” Hector said. “First Becca and now Maddie!”

“This is nothing like what happened with Becca!”

“No? You slept with her and then dumped her, nearly breaking up the band in the process. How is this any different?”

Wow, when Hector put it like that, it was obvious I really had become a copy of Becca. Despite what Jared had said, he hadn’t changed one bit.

“How could you do this?” Kyle yelled. “She’s my friend!”

Jared said nothing in response. I peered around the corner and saw him staring at the street, head down and hands shoved in pockets, while his brother raged at him.