Page 161 of Holding On

"You told me not to talk about him."

"Yeah, but—"

"Mike's been hanging out with him too."

My jaw drops and Max laughs.

"You should see your face. I should get a picture." He takes out his phone but I grab it from him.

"How do you know this about Mike?"

"He was at Ethan's party last weekend. Heather was there too."

My jaw drops again.

Max grabs his phone. "Sorry, but I need a photo of this."

He holds his phone up but I swat it away. "You're telling me that Mike, my own brother, has been lying to me?"

"He didn't lie. He just didn't tell you."

"Same thing."

"Not really. Where did he tell you he went last Saturday?"

I stop to think. "To a party."

"There you go. He didn't lie." Max lifts the basket from the fryer and shakes it, then drops it in the hot grease again.

"He should've told me. You BOTH should have."

"We were just following your rules. No talking about Ethan."

I glance at the break room. "Did Tina know this was going on?"

"No, but she does now. I just told her." He motions to the dining room. "You better get back out there. Ethan's waiting for his hot sauce."

I start to leave, then stop. "How do you know it's for him?" I narrow my eyes at Max. "Did you purposely give him an empty bottle so I'd have to fill it and go back out there?"

He laughs. "You're being paranoid. Just go give the guy his sauce."

I race back to the dining room, stopping at Ethan's table and setting the sauce down.

He glances at me. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He sprinkles the sauce on his chicken, then takes a bite, like I'm not even there. What the hell? Did he seriously just come here to eat chicken?

I should go back in the kitchen and not come out until he's gone. That would be the smart thing to do. But instead, I sit across from him.

He says nothing. Nothing! Just eats his stupid chicken.

"So you're not going to say anything?"

He glances at me. "You said you didn't want to talk to me. You asked me to leave you alone."

"And yet you're here. Where I work."

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