Page 109 of Skeletons in the Closet

“Something’s wrong, Guns. The pretty lady is having a nap, and I’m… Where are my glasses?”

“Tallus?”

“Help me… Help me, D. Something’s really wrong.”

Diem cursed a blue streak on the other end of the line, and I heard a door slam. He understood. He was coming.

I couldn’t manage more words, and sleep dragged me into her clutches much faster than I liked. The soft carpet under my cheek felt good, so I closed my eyes.

The last thing I thought of before falling asleep was:There’s something yucky on my face.

24

Diem

Ipulled down the Jeep’s vanity mirror and examined the silver scar along the side of my jaw. The more gruesome one. The one Tallus had traced the other day when he’d wanted to kiss me. Clean-shaven, it stood stark, a distinctly different shade than my skin tone. Although my facial hair didn’t grow over the old injury, some scruff helped hide it. It was why I went several days without shaving. It was why I rarely used a razor.

What the fuck had I been thinking? I swiped my hand over my face, irritated at my stupidity.

Tallus saw through me. He was never fooled, no matter how much I tried to conceal myself from the world. Some days I feared he saw the ugly truth beneath my skin.

Usually, I didn’t care what other people thought. I was used to being the Hunchback’s rejected sidekick. The freak. Yet I’d woken up that morning, desperate to make myself presentable. To clean myself up like I was someone worth knowing. Someone worth looking at.

Had Tallus even noticed? Had he cared? Was I wearing this uncomfortable shirt for nothing?

What a joke. I was a fucking idiot.

Pathetic waste of space, trying to impress a guy when I’d done nothing more than push him away time and again. I didn’t want to get close to him. I didn’t want him to see any more than he already saw.

Or did I?

“Fuck.”

I slapped the vanity mirror back in its place and scowled at the creative arts building. This was taking too long. Tallus had been inside for over thirty minutes. He was likely gabbing away, making a new best friend, batting his lashes at the pretty art teacher, even though Tallus was gay.

He liked attention. He soaked it up. The you-want-me-but-can-you-have-me look lived in his eyes. Men and women, old and young, fell for it too. He wore it like a second skin. Nothing stopped Tallus from putting on a show.

I bet he wore that seductive face at the bar. I bet it got him laid every damn weekend. How could it not? Who could resist it?

Great, now I sounded like a jealous fucking lover. I needed to get over myself.

I cracked my knuckles and cursed, powering down the window to let in the fresh morning air. It didn’t help cool me off. The day was warming fast, the sky a crisp, cloudless blue. June was doing a fine job preluding what I knew would be a sweltering summer.

Where the hell was he?

I made a mental note of what I needed to do today. Contacting Faye was at the top of the list. It was time I told her I had doubts about her husband’s infidelity, although I wasn’t ready to explain our suspicions. If we could confirm Noah, Beth, and Olivia knew David Shore had killed Roan back in 2010, then I’dhave to talk to Doyle—much to my dismay. I hated cooperating with the police but knew when to cut my losses.

My phone rang. I glanced at the screen, praying it wasn’t Birdie telling me Nana wasn’t doing well again, and I frowned. It was Tallus.

I answered with an impatient grunt I was sure got my point across.

His voice came through the speakers in the Jeep since I was hooked up with Bluetooth, but he didn’t sound like himself. “You’re like, grr, I’m a bear.”

“What the fuck are you calling me for?” I squinted at the front doors to the building, expecting him to come flying out at any second, his usual strut and with a smirk a mile wide on his beautiful face.

“I’m not scared of you, and you’re not ugly, and I just wish you’d touch me.”

“What… What are you talking about?”

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