Page 6 of A Little Secret

“Yeah. Yeah, I am,” he seethes. “You’re not allowed to be mad at me for hanging out with a group of people, one of which is Mollie when we both know you share a fucking wall with Griffin.”

He’s right. I do share a wall with Griffin. Well, technically, I share a floor slash ceiling with him since I’m currently staying on the second floor of the same house, but toe-mae-toe, toe-mah-toe.

It’s not like I chose to be here, and even if I had, Griffin and I are a different story compared to Drew and @mollie69. We were raised together. We’re friends. We were friends long before I even knew Drew existed.Nothing has ever happened between us other than a few silly Truth or Dare encounters, yet it’s always Drew’s go-to whenever he’s in attack mode, which, apparently, is right now.

“We’ve already had this conversation,” I remind him.

“Yeah, well, you called me, so…”

“Why do you care about Griffin so much?” I say, exasperation tainting my words. “He’s just a friend.”

“So is Mollie.”

“Mollie’s different,” I argue.

“How?” he demands. “How is she different?”

“Because you’ve met Griffin!” I shove my long, dark hair away from my face. “You know him! Hell, you took me to homecoming this year and shared a freaking limousine with him and his date!”

“Yeah, which means I know how he looks at you?—”

My irritated laugh cuts him off. “He doesn’t look at me!”

“Yes, he does,” Drew yells. “He looks at you like he wants to fuck you, Finley, and then you go and post pictures of you and him together. How do you think it makes me feel, huh?”

Is he serious right now?

My nostrils flare, and I take a deep breath. “I post pictures of me withallmy friends,” I point out. “Mollieonlyposted a picture of you and her!”

“Seriously, Finley?” he spits. “We’re gonna argue semantics right now? Do you have any idea how infuriating you are?”

I grind my teeth and push to my feet, pacing my room like a caged bull. “By the sound of your voice, I’m going to sayvery.”

“Yeah,” he grunts. “Very. But my point stands. If I can’t be mad at you for being best fuckin’ friends with yourhockey boy, then you can’t be pissed at me for going out with Mollie as friends.”

“So, what?” I toss back at him. “You’re saying I can’t be friends with Griffin?”

“Yeah, you know what? That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he rushes out.

My lips part on a gasp, and my spine straightens.

Is he serious?

Damn you, mouth!

My heels dig into the plush carpet, and I take another deep breath. “Drew.” My tone is softer now as I try to steady my breathing. I feel…blindsided. Off-kilter. Sucker punched.

We’ve had this conversation too many times to count. I know it. He knows it. But cutting someone out? Someone like Griff? Someone I’ve known my entire life?

His silence hangs in the air while my lungs struggle to work.

“Drew, you can’t be serious,” I force out.

“You know what?” He pauses. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fuckin’ serious. I don’t want you living with him. I don’t want you talking to him. I don’t want you being friends with him.” The words are spoken like a lash, whipping against my skin, making me flinch.

“Drew, I can’t…I can’t cut him out of my life.”

“Why not?”

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