Gabriel shifted to look at her. The light at her back made the red turtleneck almost glow. “Really. He didn’t get the shirt over your bra. Honestly, with the light, I bet Taylor couldn’t catch much of anything on her phone.”

“God, she is such a bitch.” Layne made a disgusted sound. “I can’t believe you slept with her.”

Gabriel almost dropped his cup. “What? Who the hell said I slept with her?”

“No one. But . . . in class . . .” She faltered. Even in the dim light, he could see Layne’s cheeks turn pink. “She said—”

“I have never slept with Taylor. Jesus, there’s a locker room joke that—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

“That what?”

He took a quick sip of coffee. “You know that stupid saying in sex ed about how when you sleep with someone, you’re sleeping with everyone that person has had sex with?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s just say I have no desire to sleep with the entire team.”

Layne didn’t look entirely convinced. “Today. In class. She mentioned last year.”

This girl was too smart for her own good. He sighed. “All right, look. I was at this one party, and I was sitting on a couch, and she came over and climbed in my lap. I didn’t exactly shove her away. But I did not sleep with her, and we barely spent ten minutes together. She’s on the cheer squad. I play a lot of sports. She flirts with any guy she sees, including half the faculty.”

Layne settled back onto the tailgate, staring out at the night again.

“Come on,” he said. “She just says those things to get a reaction.”

“It works.”

“I still don’t understand how she tricked you.”

“Maybe I’m just an idiot.”

“Oh, I know that’s not true,” he said. “Tell me. Did that loser just walk over and start assaulting you?”

“No.” Her voice was very small. “He was nice. I liked him. He didn’t even assault me. I told you: It didn’t start like that.”

Gabriel snorted. “Couldn’t you tell he was drunk off his ass?”

“No!” Sudden anger swung her around. “How am I supposed to know when someone is drunk?”

“Layne—”

“He didn’t smell like beer. He wasn’t slurring his words. Or do you mean, he had to be drunk off his ass to be into someone like—”

“Hey.” His voice was sharper than he intended, but it got her to shut up. God, she was crazy if she thought someone would have to be drunk to take a second glance at her. The way she was sitting had the skirt splayed across her lap, leaving a long expanse of spandexed leg stretching into the darkness. Anger flushed her cheeks, and curls of hair fell along one shoulder. Her eyes caught the starlight, making him want to—

“What?” she demanded.