Page 36 of Inseverable (Carolina Beach)

“You have a lot of nerve being here,” Mason says, the muscles along his hefty shoulders tensing.

Sean steps forward, hovering over Hunter as he offers to kick his ass.

Blakeney trains her tightening stare to my right where Becca is leaning close. It’s Becca’s way of letting me know she has my back, and that she’s seconds from clawing Blakeney’s eyes out.

“We’re here to talk to Trin,alone,” Blakeney tells her.

“Don’t you think you’ve done enoughalonewith this limp dick?Oh, wait, it’s not so limp is it? Giving how you straddled it more than once when your bestfriendwasn’t around.”

Blakeney’s stare sharpens with rage, but when she returns her attention to me, her voice is soft. “Please, Trin. Just give us a moment.Please,” she says.

I take a small breath, knowing this moment has been coming for far too long.

“Okay,” I mutter at the same time Becca insists I don’t owe her a damn thing, and may or may not have called her a whore.

I take Becca’s hand and squeeze it. “I’m all right,” I assure her, even though we both know it’s a lie. “I’ll just be a moment.”

My friends don’t seem happy. Not that I blame them. We always swore we’d protect each other from harm, and we always have as much as we could. Just last summer, someone had to rip me off Becca’s boyfriend when I found out what he did to her. And if Hale, Mason, and Sean had found out what happened, I doubt that piece of trash would still be alive.

For a long time no one moves, but then Hale clears his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “All right, Trin. If that’s what you want. Come on y’all. We’re here if she needs us.”

As my friends edge back, warm fingertips trail down either side of my arms. I crane my neck, unsure who’s touching me.

Callahan stands directly behind me. He was with me this whole time, and I didn’t even know it.

He glides his hands down, stopping above my elbows, keeping his voice low as he stares Hunter down. “You sure you’re all right?” he asks. I nod because that’s all I can really do then. “I’ll stay close,” he promises.

He’s not only trying to reassure me, that rumble in his voice is directed at Hunter as a warning. Hunter keeps his attention trained on Callahan as Callahan returns to the bar. Blakeney’s focus is on Callahan, too, except she’s eyeing him in a whole different way than Hunter.

Really?Really?

She catches me watching her, and offers me a smile which I’ve seen a thousand times, and which I now recognize as phony. Keeping her smile, she motions to the small empty booth behind her. “Shall we?”

“After you,” I say.

She slides into the booth that will keep her back to the glaring group also known as her former friends. For as tough as she always acted, she can’t handle their scrutiny. At least not now. I slip into the opposite side, staying close to the edge so Hunter knows he’s not welcome to sit beside me. The last thing I need is to be boxed in by these two. As it is, despite the open walls, I feel the room closing in around me.

Blakeney smiles. “You look good, real good, Trin.”

“Yes, you do,” Hunter agrees, nodding approvingly.

He takes me in, letting his stare linger as it passes along my body. To be honest, I don’t care if he likes the way I look or not. But Blakeney does, her lips pressing tight the longer he examines my features. A year ago, I may not have noticed her reaction. But knowing what I know now, I’m more aware of subtle changes in her expression and posture.

If I wasn’t so blinded by what I believed was love, and true friendship, maybe I would have suspected something sooner. Maybe. Like I said, I notice a lot more now.

For starters, unlike me and Becca, Blakeney always strove to be the center of attention. She laughed at all the right moments, moved her hips as she walked just so, and knew what it took to snag a long glance her way. Me and Becks, we just did our thing. And come to think of it, that seemed to work out fine. Or so I thought.

“My momma was telling me you did a half marathon in the spring,” Hunter says. “I bet you had to train real hard?”

“What do you want?” I say, causing Hunter to straighten. While he doesn’t scowl, my no nonsense tone does catch him off guard.

I fold my hands in front of me, waiting for them to tell me they’re engaged or even married. It wouldn’t surprise me. They make the perfect couple after all.

“We’re here to apologize, Trin,” Blakeney begins. “About everything.”

My spine stiffens. Okay, wasn’t expecting that one.

Hunter starts to say something, but Blakeney’s clasp to his arm quiets him. She notices my stare shift to where she’s holding him and pulls her hand away. She probably thinks it bothers me to see her touch him. Yet it doesn’t. Unlike the day I walked in on them.

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