He holds out his arms and I reluctantly allow him to put them around me. After a few seconds, I melt against his chest.

“I hope I didn’t ruin the night,” he murmurs.

“You didn’t.”

I can’t let this bother me. He was just trying to be sentimental and get me a gift he thought I would love. He had no idea I would react that way. I need to put it out of my head and enjoy the evening.

Chapter 35

ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER

We don’t start breathing easier until Tim and Shane’s footsteps disappear down the stairs. Two sets of footsteps, it sounds like. Which means they’re both still alive.

“We need to find a weapon.” Chelsea rifles blindly through Shane’s desk drawer. I can’t help but think about the bat Tim has been wielding as his weapon. “Because eventually, we’re going to have to leave this room.”

I plop down on the bed where Shane deflowered me earlier in the evening. Was that only a few hours ago? It feels like another lifetime. When I touch my fingers to my lips, I can still taste him. I can still smell the sandalwood of his aftershave.

I should help Chelsea look for a weapon. She’s right—we shouldn’t just sit here, twiddling our thumbs. But I can’t help it. My thoughts won’t stop racing.

“Do you really think one of them could be a killer?” I blurt out.

Chelsea pauses in her search. She straightens up. “Oh, Brooke…”

She settles down beside me on the bed and throws her arm around my shoulders. And for the first time this evening, I burst into tears. It all just hits me at once. Brandon is dead. Kayla is dead. And one of the two boys I care about most in the world is responsible.

And I don’t even know which one.

“They couldn’t have done it,” I sniffle. “Neither of them. It’s not possible.” I lift my eyes. “Right?”

“Oh, Brooke…” She squeezes my shoulders, pulling me close to her damp, blood-stained shirt. “I know Shane is your boyfriend, and you and Tim go way back, but look at what happened. There is nobody else here. It had to have been one of them.”

I rub my runny nose. “Who… who do you think it is?”

She pauses. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. You just don’t want to say.”

Chelsea lets out a long sigh. “Fine. It was Tim.”

I lift my eyes in surprise. That wasn’t what I thought she was going to say. “Tim? But…”

“It makes the most sense, Brooke.” She tucks a strand of wet hair behind her ear. “Shane’s right—Tim’s the only one who had the opportunity to go up there and do it. And he was the one who was cuddling up with Kayla all night. Shane barely knew her.”

“But…”