“So basically, you smell like feet?”

He laughs. “Hey, you’re the weirdo who likes it…”

Shane kisses me again, but when I pull away, I get an uneasy feeling. A prickly sensation on the back of my neck. Like somebody’s watching me.

I jerk my head around. Tim is standing across the room, staring at us, an unreadable expression on his face. But when our eyes meet, he quickly looks away. Good thing, because I wouldn’t want Shane to know he was staring at us that way.

“So,” Shane says, “you brought Tim, huh?”

There’s disapproval in Shane’s dark eyes. Tim hates Shane, but it’s not like Shane is any big fan of Tim’s either. I need to change that.

“He’s a good guy,” I say, a touch defensively.

“Hmm.”

“Also, Chelsea brought Kayla along for him. For, you know…”

Shane is quiet for a moment. “Okay,” he says. “That’s fine. We have three bedrooms anyway.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Shane doesn’t usually get too worked up over stuff, but you never know. After all, I’ve only been dating him for three months. There’s still plenty of time for his dark side to come out. But so far, I haven’t seen it. Despite Tim’s ominous warnings.

“Hey, Reese!” Shane holds up a hand in greeting. “Glad you could make it.”

I finger the snowflake necklace around my throat as Shane saunters over to Tim. Shane is making an effort because he knows Tim is important to me, and I appreciate that. The two of them start talking, and it looks friendly enough. I can’t hear what they’re saying—Shane is speaking quietly and Tim is responding in an equally hushed tone. I strain to hear them over the sound of Chelsea and Kayla chatting a few feet away from me, but it’s no use. They’re talking too quietly.

But it doesn’t matter what they’re saying. They’re not fighting, and that’s all that’s important.

I consider going over to join them, but before I can contemplate it further, the door to the kitchen swings open with a loud creak. Brandon bursts into the room, carrying two pizza boxes balanced in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other.

“Ready to have some fun?” he calls out.

Shane jerks up his head at the sound of Brandon’s voice. He backs away from Tim as if I’ve caught him doing something illicit, and he makes a beeline for the pizza and vodka. Whatever conversation the two of them were having is apparently over.

Chapter 10

PRESENT DAY