Page 77 of Say It Slowly

“Oh,” I say. “Cool. You can call me Lux, actually. Ms. Anderson makes me feel like I’m in trouble.”

Hall must be his last name. It sounds really formal when he says it, and combined with the navy blue sweater vest, white button-down, and black slacks, he fits the bill as a butler. He’s older, with bright eyes and a warm smile that gives him a fatherly vibe.

“Can I get you anything to eat, Lux?”

Food would probably be a good idea, but my stomach is too tight to eat. Whenever I’m upset, I usually feel nauseous, and it’s hard to get food down. So I just shake my head. “I’ll just grab some water, thanks.”

He walks to the fridge and pulls out two glass bottles, then turns to face me. “Still or sparkling?”

“Oh, a choice. Sparkling, please.”

With a nod, he reaches into the cabinet and grabs a glass, then pours the bubbly water into it before setting it in front of me.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, something arrived for you.” He disappears into an adjoining room and then re-emerges with an armful of red roses. There must be three dozen, arranged beautifully.

He places them in front of me. “I have to see if we have a vase. I’m not sure we do.”

As Hall wanders, I reach inside the bushel of roses and find the card. I open it, already knowing who these are from.

Forgive me.

A command. Of course. It’s always a command with Roman.

Hall returns with what looks like a crystal fish bowl. “I found something that might work. I’ll just need to cut the stems. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m heading out for a bit. If you see Ash, will you let him know?”

“Of course.”

I’m going to have to walk into Rush House myself and demand my stuff, which is thelastthing I want to do right now. Walking back into that house, knowing that’s where Tyler waskilled, is the dumbest thing I’ve ever considered doing. I should stay as far as I possibly can from that place.

But that fucking stubborn streak inside me comes roaring to the surface. Why should I be the one afraid? I’ve done nothing wrong. If anything, I now have leverageon them.

Plus, I can’t go to class without my backpack or laptop, so I don’t really have much of a choice. Still, just to be safe, I pull out my phone and text Wyn, “I’m going to Rush House. If I go missing, Roman did it.”

The second I walk into the house, I get the vibe that something is wrong. There are about a dozen people crowded in the living room—Wyn, Nathan, a few Debs, along with Jackson, and Lucas.

This place has a weird vibe on an average day, so that’s not the alarming part. It’s the heaviness. The silence as I walk in. Does it have something to do with a very dead Tyler in the basement? Did someone else find out?

“Hey,” I say turning to Lucas. “Where’s Roman? I need to grab my stuff.”

He doesn’t say anything, which is really strange. But what’s weirder is that he looksafraidto say anything. His gaze slides to Jackson, who is leaning against the pool table, pool stick in hand. He sets it down and takes a step toward me.

“Roman said he was going to text you,” Jackson asks.

“Well, he could have, but I blocked him, so I wouldn’t have seen anything come through.”

“He’s down at the police station. Someone called him about a half-hour ago,” Jackson says so stoically that it confuses me. I glance around the room, and everyone is staring at me, almost apologetically. Even Nathan’s face is drawn and solemn, and he’s usually the most cheerful of everyone.

Do they think I went to the police to turn Roman in? I shake my head. “I didn’t say anything. I didn’t go to the police.”

“It’s not about that,” Lucas says softly.

Something is really wrong, and my heart immediately crawls up into my throat. I turn back to Jackson. “Why? Is he okay?”

Considering everything I know about Roman, I don’t know why I care. But I do. The idea that something may have happened to him is hard to swallow. But I’m comforted by the fact that Lucas and Jackson arehere.If something serious had happened to Roman, they would be by his side, no question. So I can’t imagine what they’re being so cagey about.

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