Page 57 of Brutal Prince

“So tell me.”

Tiffany sighs and drops her head between her arms. “I told her everything already.” She looks up, frustration outlined by the unhappy curve of her mouth. “We were all fucking wasted. Then the guys started doing coke. That’s when I left.”

“And Jess was still fine when you left?”

Tiffany lets out a tiny snort. “Course she wasn’t fine. She was drunk as fuck. Briar was higher than a kite. Marcus…” She shakes her head, her blond hair swaying. “I’m sure ten minutes after I left, every one of them passed out.”

“Were you friends with Jessica?”

Tiffany shrugs. “She was on the squad, so yeah, kinda.” Tiffany reaches for the joint, which I’d forgotten I was holding, and then clicks her fingers at me for the lighter. She cups her hands around the joint and lights it, hitting it hard before handing everything back to me. “But we never braided each other’s hair or shit like that. Jess kept to herself a lot.”

An antisocial cheerleader? Addy didn’t mention that.

“Who was her closest friend besides Addison?”

Tiffany lifts her eyebrows in thought. She purses her lips and says, “Briar, I guess. It was always just the three of them.”

“Addy was friends with Briar?”

“Yeah,” Tiffany says through a short laugh. She sits back and gives me a faint smile. “Everyone said they were…” She squeezes shut her eyes, clicking her fingers, “—fuck, what’s the word?”

“Polyamorous?”

“Yeah.” Tiffany nods enthusiastically. “That’s it. What you said. Everyone said they were like menaging and shit.”

Another thing Addison didn’t bother to mention, unless it was just a rumor.

“Did you see when Addison left?”

Tiffany nods. “Oh yeah,” she says through a laugh. “Everyone saw when she left.”

“What do you—?”

“She was cussing out Jess so fucking bad.” Tiffany’s eyes are wide as she swipes her hand back and forth. “I don’t know what they were fighting about, but that shit was crazy. They looked like they wanted to claw each other’s faces off.”

My skin prickles and I bring the joint to my lips, pulling at it without even realizing what I’m doing. I shouldn’t — I’m stoned enough — but I need something to help with all these unexpected revelations.

“You know what the fight was about?”

Tiffany shakes her head. “I was way too pissed. But it was probably about Briar. You now, ‘cos they were both doing him?”

No, I didn’t know, but thanks to Tiffany, my understanding of the situation is a whole lot clearer.

And with clarity, comes anger.

Who the fuck does Addison think she is, using me as a pawn in some twisted game? Maybe she killed Jessica, and she can’t live with the guilt anymore.

Or…

Stay away from him.

Was she really protecting me…or was she just trying to protect herself?

“Thanks, Tiffany.”

“Thanks for the weed,” she says, grinning brightly at me. “This day was sucking donkey balls.”

“Better now?” I ask with a laugh.

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