Page 99 of Heart of Thorns

I smack my palm to my forehead. “That makes sense.”

“This guy didn’t come ride to the rescue either, so he’s not one of those guys who creates an incident just so he can save the day.” He frowns. “I think I’ve been watching too muchCriminal Minds.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, well, it’s probably going to come in handy while we figure this out.”

“Just call me Special Agent Derek Morgan.” He strikes a pose holding an imaginary firearm. “Iamthe handsome one out of the two of us.”

“Great.” I stand. “Hone those skills, Morgan, because we’re going to be profiling our teammates at practice until we figure out who our arsonist is.”

And we’re going to keep Briar as far away from this as possible. The arsonist already knows her face. He got into her room, left a threatening note. He warned her to leave it alone, to stop searching.

Well, as far as he’s concerned, she has stopped.

But me and Rhys have only just begun.

CHAPTER 31

BRIAR

“Is Thorne meeting you there?”Marley puckers her lips in the mirror a few times, then turns toward me.

I shrug. “Not sure.”

Lydia makes a face at Marley, but unbeknownst to her, I see it in the mirror. She shakes her head, as if she’s telling Marley not to ask me about Thorne. Which means that Lydia is much more observant than I give her credit for.

He hasn’t been back over to our place since after dinner with his parents, and our texts have been short and to the point. Aside from a few of our PT sessions, we haven’t really spent much time together. He’s not shying away from touching me when we are together, but something is off.

I’m starting to second-guess my decision to tell him about the arsonist.

Did I scare him off?

Or is it that I’m too invested in our fake relationship? Sure, we’ve broken some rules along the way and we can’t keep our hands to ourselves, but I need to remember that we’re still in afakerelationship.

When Marley, Lydia, and I show up to the warehouse, I pull my phone out to text Thorne.

It feels wrong not to text him.

But it doesn’t feel right to text him either.

Fuck.I’m confused.

I decide to text him anyway. Because regardless of what I’m feeling, we’re still boyfriend and girlfriend to our peers and his parents. That was our deal.

Me

I just wanted to let you know I’m at the warehouse party with Lydia and Marley.

I shoot him the address because it’s not at any of the typical party spots and I’m not sure if he’s been to one of these. One of the lacrosse players likes to engage in cage fighting on the side, and that’s tonight, apparently.

Thorne doesn’t text back.

I pretend not to be disappointed and let Lydia and Marley tug me along with them toward the cage. I glance around nervously. The warehouse isn’t too far from campus, and there are several windows, all within my sight, so I take a deep breath and try to remain calm.

That only lasts ten seconds into the fight, though.

Because as if I wasn’t already feeling antsy, I spot a few football players.

My spine stiffens.

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