Page 86 of Tell Me Something True

Again, Verity did the leaning and whispering thing, this time with Willow whose eyes got wider and wider.

What the hell was she telling them?

Then he remembered towering over Tabitha on the street. How he’d wrapped his hand around her throat. Had nudged her head back.

How he’d thought about sliding his cock into her mouth.

Fuck.

“And now, I can’t ever unsee it,” Verity whispered of her newly acquired, brother-induced mental anguish. “It’s like, trapped in my brain.”

Willow put her arm around Verity’s shoulder and gave her a side hug. “Give it time. Eventually, the horror will fade.”

Verity snorted. “More like one of my brothers will do or say something else to replace that trauma with something even worse.”

“It’s hard to be you,” Urban said, giving Kat’s earlier dry tone a run for its money.

“I know, right?”

“Once you’ve sufficiently recovered from your trauma,” Kat said to Verity, “maybe you could fill us in on what this woman is like?”

Miles narrowed his eyes at Kat. “Her name’s Tabitha. And why do you want to know?”

“Just curious about my new neighbor,” she said evenly, as if her question was born of simple, innocent curiosity.

He didn’t buy it.

There was nothing simple or innocent about her.

“Miss Tabitha’s nice,” Ian said, proving that no matter how often you thought kids weren’t paying you the least bit of attention, if they were within ear shot, they were picking up at least a few details. Usually the ones you didn’t want them to know. “She bought us pizza and wings for lunch. And she taught me how to play a new card game called Spit. But you don’t spit for real,” he assured his mom. “That’s just the name.”

“Good to know,” Kat said.

“I mean, I was only around her a few hours,” Verity said with a thoughtful frown, “and I wasn’t a fan of hers, at all, the first time I met her. And now that I know she and Miles had been together before, her behavior that morning is even more confusing. She can be nice, but she wasn’t the first time we met. And she can be sunny and cheerful, but also quiet and watchful. I get the feeling she’s really uncomfortable around people she doesn’t know.”

“In other words,” Willow said with a smile, “she’s human.”

“Yeah. I guess. She ate lunch with me and Ian, taught him that card game but somehow avoided, evaded, or outright ignored any question I asked her about herself. And she wouldn’t give me any details about her relationship with Miles other than that they’d been together when they were younger, it didn’t work out, and they went their separate ways.”

“Maybe she’s just shy?” Willow asked.

“She’s not.”

It took a moment for Miles to realize those words had come from his mouth.

Shit.

“Really?” Verity drawled. “Do tell.”

“She’s not shy,” he said again, straightening and flexing his fingers on his thighs. Trying to get them to stop tingling. Hoping they didn’t cramp up. “She’s careful.”

It was one of the first things he noticed about her. The wariness in her eyes. The vulnerability.

“She’s sunny and cheerful,” he continued, flexing and curling his fingers again and again, “when it suits her and her purpose. When she needs to distract someone from asking too many questions or keep them at arm’s length. She’s quiet because she’s guarded. And she’s watchful because the only way for her to feel safe is to size up the people around her. And then become who they want her to be.”

He was with me because I was pretty and malleable and convenient.

Realizing the only sound was Hozier’s “Movement” playing over the speakers, he looked up. Caught Urban and Toby sharing a loaded look. Saw the concern in Willow’s gaze. The speculation in Kat’s.

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