Page 48 of No Place Left to Hide

He turns for the freezer, and I catch Jena looking at anything but the carnage on the paper towels. Jena’s never been the best with blood, which works in my favor because I have a much more important job for her.

I lean close and take her hand. “While I deal with this, can you please shut down the party? I think we’re done for the night.”

Jena looks at me and then, realizing her mistake, the ceiling. “Are you sure? We might be able to salvage it.”

“The damage is done. I just want to clean up and be done with it.”

She nods emphatically and backs away without another word, making her way toward a group of guys from the soccer team. “Come on, party’s over. Go drink a protein shake or something.”

Luckily there aren’t many guests left after Claire’s little truth game, so kicking out the stragglers will be a quick job.

This party shouldn’t have happened in the first place, and now it’s all about the damage control. Next steps spin in my head, ordering and reordering themselves according to importance. Priority number one is getting everyone out, in case Claire calls in a noise complaint or something from the driveway. The nearest town is several miles away, so even if she’s already made the call, everyone should be gone before the cops get here. At worst, they’d find a couple friends hanging out, which isn’t a crime and not even worth writing a report.

Unless, for instance, there’s drugs in the house.

Unfortunately, investigating that is going to have to wait. The highest priorityshouldbe finding whatever Claire might have stashed, but I’m not about to look with classmates watching. Once the house is empty, I’ll find it, and then I’ll clean this place from top to bottom. It’ll be like this party never happened.

I watch everyone trickle outside, grabbing their phones from the basket one by one, and disappointment sours my stomach at what could have been. I wish there was a way to go back and start this night over. It was supposed to be so special.

A finger appears beneath my chin and turns my face back toward the kitchen. Dylan smiles at me, and my disappointment evaporates.He wets a paper towel and dabs the blood from my face and hands like I’m precious and delicate. His fingers ghost across my cheek, and goose bumps appear up and down my arms.

He hands me a fresh wad of paper towels and I swap out the bunch under my nose. There’s a graveyard of bloody Bounty in the sink, but this latest one comes away more pink than red.

“I think it’s almost done bleeding,” I say. I catch sight of my reflection in the dark window over the sink. Mascara runs down my cheeks. Oh no. I try to cover my face with more paper towels. I should have gone to the bathroom and locked the door to deal with this alone.

I catch him staring at me, eyebrows pinched together.

“I look awful,” I say, trying to keep the panic from my voice.

He shakes his head. “You’ve never looked awful a day in your life.”

“Damn straight!” Jena shouts from the living room.

I laugh under my breath, but I tuck my chin. My mother would throw a fit if she found out anyone saw me like this. “You’ll change your tune when I swell up like that girl fromWilly Wonka. This is going to be so embarrassing.” My voice wobbles at the end of my sentence and I press my lips together.

Dylan swears under his breath. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You didn’t ask to get punched in the face. You didn’t even invite her. I did.”

I frown. “What?”

Dylan runs his hands up and down his cheeks. “I’m really sorry, Brooke. This is all my fault. I didn’t know you two had this much hostility or I never would have told her about the party. If I hadn’t, tonight might have been totally different.”

Sothat’show she found out about the party. I knew someone had to have spilled the beans, but Dylan was the last person I expected. Ididn’t even know he and Claire were still talking post-breakup, much less inviting each other to parties.

I should be mad, considering all that happened because of his invitation, and I probably would be if this were anyone else. But he’s looking at me with those big regretful eyes, and Dylan never intentionally causes problems. He clearly didn’t mean for all this to happen. I’m more upset that he wanted her here in the first place.

“It’s not your fault. You’re not responsible for Claire. Even I didn’t think she’d take itthisfar. I was expecting drama and maybe a broken entertainment system or something.”

He sighs. “I can’t believe she hit you. Claire has always been a lot of things—”

Bossy, rude, opinionated, entitled, bitchy…

“—but I’ve never seen her attack someone like that. When we came back in the house, it was so calm in here I thought she’d left the party. I didn’t realize you two were outside until someone started shouting, and by then you were flat on your back.” He scrubs his hands over his face again. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

I dab at my nose one more time and almost nothing comes away on the paper towel, so I drop it into the sink and turn to face him fully, grabbing his forearms until he meets my eyes. “Dylan, you didn’t do this. You wouldn’t have invited her if you knew how the night would end. Claire crossed that line all on her own. You didn’t push her over it.”

His beautiful chestnut eyes gaze into mine. “You’re going to have black eyes on the first day of school.”

I can see it so clearly in my head: I walk through Waldorf’s front doors looking like a raccoon, and everyone averts their stares, whispering about how Claire lost it. I’ll have to invest in some expensive concealer before then. I don’t want him to worry about that, though,so I shrug. Like it doesn’t matter. Like I won’t freak out when I wake up tomorrow looking like I lost a fight with a badger. “I’ll spin it. Besides, Jena will probably tell everyone I bruised my face saving a baby in a runaway stroller or something. She’s a great hype woman.”

---