Page 61 of Tell Me Something True

She did. Absolutely.

And she’d rather put that spider Ian was so fascinated with in her hair than say it in front of Reed.

“Could I speak with you for a minute?” she asked Tabitha. Now she was the one who sent Reed a pointed glance. “Alone?”

Titus chose that moment to bounce over and give Verity a head bump against her thigh, his entire body vibrating in excitement.

At least someone there still liked her.

“Actually,” Tabitha said, “I should start unloading my stuff.”

And she turned and took off down the sidewalk at a fast clip.

“Guess I’m not the only brat here,” Verity muttered.

“It’s still just you, princess. She’s scared of Titus.”

Oh. Of course. That actually made sense, what with Tabitha keeping her distance from Reed and his dog and the wary glances she kept giving Titus.

Without a word—when you had no defense, the best option was retreat—she turned and walked toward the blonde, Titus trotting after her until Reed snapped his fingers. “Titus. Stay.”

Titus immediately obeyed.

This time, when Verity reached Tabitha, the blonde was opening the truck’s passenger side door. Not wanting to give her another chance to brush her off, Verity dove right in.

“I’m sorry.”

At her words—blurted, rushed, and overly loud as they were—Tabitha stilled, then slowly faced her.

Verity forced herself to hold the other woman’s gaze. “I’m sorry for not giving you the key before and for causing you any problems with the rental place. And I’m really sorry for being so rude to you.”

Tabitha nodded, expression unreadable, and Verity couldn’t tell if that nod was an acceptance of her apology or just an acknowledgement of it. “Thank you for saying that.”

Okay. Acknowledgement it was.

Which was fine. She couldn’t force the blonde to forgive her. She’d done the right thing by apologizing, had owned up to her mistakes, and admitted her bad behavior.

Her brothers would be very proud of her.

“I was only trying to protect Miles.”

Tabitha tipped her head to the side, something in the way she studied Verity unsettling.

And weirdly familiar.

“It’s very important for you to share your thoughts with others, isn’t it?” Tabitha asked. “To give your opinions?”

Not everyone cares to know what you think or how you feel about every goddamn thing.

What? Was she stuck in a time loop, destined to have the same conversations with people over and over again?

“Honest, open communication is important to me,” Verity corrected.

And not because of the reasons Reed had accused.

You want to prove how special you are. How smart. How much better than everyone else.

Jerk.

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