Page 26 of Vicious Sentiments

“What kind of scum of the earth would—”

“The world’s full of it. You know that.”

“But to her? She doesn’t deserve that.”

“No one does.”

Another silence comes and I inch closer to the door.

“There’s a lot of fragile girls out there,” Margo says.

“But she’s special.”

“How, Jules? Why her?”

“She’s… Jesus, Ma…”

I push my ear against the door.

“She’s not just some broken girl. She’s… She’s…”

A moment tics by while he struggles to find the words, and finally Margo speaks.

“I know. I know.”The floor creaks and I think she’s pulled him in for a hug. “But you have to wait till—”

“I’ll wait,” Julian cuts her off. “But she’s still mine.”

Margo sighs.

“Tell Dillon to stick to his own fucking hallway in the meantime.”

Chapter Eighteen

Despite last night, I let Marney drag me with her for a walk with Dillon. Apparently, it’s a rest day in his marathon training but he still does some activity. I’m guessing that Marney is trying to warm me up to Dillon, so when she pulled me around the corner and begged for me to go, I said okay.

We go out the back french doors and follow some steps down to the beach. It’s getting nippy outside, but the sand is giving off warmth and I’m tempted to take off my shoes and walk barefoot, never having felt sand. But both Marney and Dillon have on sneakers, and I don’t want to seem like the girl enthralled by a beach. To them, it’s probably not even a blip on their radar, but for me, I can’t stop craning my neck to look at the waves.

I just can’t believe there is such an expanse. In Bridgerock, the mountains surrounded the town, making it feel like there was no way out. The ocean though, feels massive, open, and freeing. I feel like I’m breathing deeper than I ever have.

Marney is walking backwards and rambling to Dillon and me about a ballet recital with her arch nemesis—her words—and she’s freaking out about it.

“I can’t believe we are going to be in the same set,” she groans. “She doesn’t care about the rest of us and thinks the whole show is going to be for her. She spins into us all the time and the instructor doesn’tsay anything.”

“Spin back into her,” Dillon says.

He’s wearing joggers and a shirt with the sleeves cut off where the sides dip down and show off glimpses of his abs. He clearly puts work into his physique, but if I know anything about men, it’s that they don’t need to be any stronger than they are. But so far, he hasn’t been aggressive towards me or said anything rude, even though I know that my presence upsets him. I’m thankful for that, at least, but every time he looks at me, his face crumples.

“I’m not going to stoop to her level,” Marney sneers and Dillon laughs.

“It’s just doing to her what she’s doing to you.” He shrugs. “But if you want to—” He raises his nose in the air and mock flicks his hair back. “—Not stoop to her level…”

I can’t help but snicker at the imitation and he smiles at me for a moment. And then, as if thinking better, lets his face sag.

Sigh.

“Margo says you do to others as you want done to you,” Marney says, “I don’t wantherspinning intome,so I’m not going to spin into her.”

“Fair enough.” Dillon frowns in thought. “What do you think, Hailey?”

---