“Okay.” I figured I was about to get a detailed lesson on Brazilian waxes and prepared myself.

Brit twisted toward me and when she spoke, her voice was uncharacteristically low. “Last night at the party, when that guy tried to dance with you…”

Uh-oh. My stomach shot straight to my toes. “Yeah?”

“What happened between you two?” She wetted her lips. “I saw him grabbing you.”

I looked away, swallowing against the sudden nauseous feeling. “That’s all he did. He just surprised me and I overreacted. I feel like a total idiot.”

Brit sucked her lip in-between her teeth as she watched me. “Not that some guy grabbing you is cool, because it’s not and although it freaking happens at parties all the time, it’s really annoying.” She paused. “Why did you overreact?”

Shifting in my chair, I slid my hands over my thighs. “Like I said, I was just surprised. He caught me off guard.”

“He caught you off guard…” she repeated and then took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m going to be real with you. That’s what friends do, right?”

Unease rose swiftly, snaking its way through me. “Right.”

There was a pause. “I saw your face, Avery. You were scared out of your mind. It wasn’t just being caught off guard or because you don’t go to parties. And I’m not trying to be ignorant by saying this, so please God don’t take it that way, but that’s not a normal reaction.”

Not a normal reaction. Didn’t I know that? I glanced at her and all of a sudden I wanted to tell her the truth—tell her everything. The need was inexplicable and rode me hard. It came up, making it to the tip of my tongue. Years worth of silence hung in the air between us. Brit waited with an open look etched upon her face and already, before I even opened my mouth, I could see it in her eyes and in the taut pull around her lips. She wasn’t stupid. She suspected something, maybe even the worst. Sympathy. Maybe even pity shone in her eyes.

“Did… did something happen to you, Avery?” she asked quietly.

The need to tell her, to tell someone deflated like a balloon with a tiny pin prick in it. My gaze shifted to the window and beyond, to the congested street outside. I shook my head. “No, nothing has happened to me.”

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Brit didn’t bring the conversation up again after that morning in the coffee shop and like Jacob had promised, the following day, he’d been excessively excited—jumping, clapping, doing a little dance—over the upcoming date with Cam. One would think Jacob was actually going out with him.