Page 89 of Tricky Girls

‘Unlike you, Tilda, those two aren’t my keepers and I’m not theirs.’ She turns her face to me, breath ghosting over my cheek. ‘You seem pretty under their thumb though. Their bet must be paying off.’

I fold my arms. ‘I thought you said they liked me in a real way.’

I don’t like how her words make me feel. Those girls are the only real thing I have left in my life. Am I using them or are they using me? I desperately hope it’s neither. Ineedthem. Truly, without them I’d have nothing.

‘Yeah, it’s getting to be like that,’ Nic admits. Then she scoffs, realising she actually answered me normally. ‘Why, is that what you want? To lead them on to make yourself feel better?’

‘Don’t make me out to be the bad guy here. Not me making shitty bets. I was happy enough to just be their friend.’

Nic eyes me. ‘Was?’

‘Am.I like them. They’re good friends.’ I glare, hoping she hears my unspoken words.Because you’re not.

‘I know that a little more than you do.’

‘Then why would you tell me about the bet? Doesn’t exactly cast them in a good light. And Iknowit’s not because you’re looking out for me.’

‘I guess I just believe in the truth.’

I laugh at that. ‘Give over! You’re the most evasive person I know. Every time I ask for thetruthof why you hate me, you just get belligerent.’

‘The truth’s staring at you in the face, Tilda. You’re just too—I don’t know,brain damaged?—to see it.’

I stare at her, her face pinched in pain, that little furrow in her forehead, and shake my head. ‘I literally have no idea what you’re talking about. What truth?’

It’s Nic’s turn to shake her head. ‘Nothing. Just fuck it.Fuck it.’

‘See, this is exactly what I mean!’ I tip my head back in frustration, a memory suddenly resurfacing from the deepest recesses of my mind. ‘You know, I visited New York years ago. We were in Brooklyn, down this kind of shady road. My stepsister found a tennis ball and we were playing with it. Then I accidentally hit it into the road, and it bounced off this dodgy as fuck car. All black with tinted windows. Then this gangster guy comes out, all ready for a fight. Just because some kid bounced a ball off his car. Literally couldn’t be reasoned with! Tried to fight my mum’s boyfriend at the time. Wasn’t until my stepsister—she was nine!—stepped in and stuck up for me. His mate had todrag him away. It was scary as hell at the time.’ I look at Nic, her face millimetres from my own. ‘Anyway, you remind me of that gangster. Hating for literally no reason, unable to be reasoned with. Small dick syndrome. You can chill, you know? Won’t kill you.’

Nic just watches me, her face unreadable. Just as I start to think she was actually listening, she asks, ‘You have a stepsister?’

‘What? No. Used to.’

‘And your mum’s not with the boyfriend anymore?’

I frown. ‘No. Not for years.’

‘Why did they break up?’

I shake my head, because why does she care? ‘Because it turns out some people are just pure evil.’

‘Also turns out some people are justfucking liars.’

She pushes me away, hastening her steps to the lodge. I know it hurts her to move that fast but it’s clear by now she excels at stubborn.

I watch her go, wondering what she meant. I run my mind over the conversation, trying to figure out if it’s me she’s accusing. Well, it’s always me she’s accusing, isn’t it? It’s more thewhyI’m interested in. Just like that bloody gangster, there’s nothing to back her up.

Had been a good holiday though. One I’ve not thought about inyearsuntil this moment. We’d never be able to afford such a trip, me and Mum. Getting on a plane for so long, feeling so incy wincy beneath all those towering buildings, all those lights… And of course, my little partner in crime. The sister I always wanted and the one I thought I’d never lose.

Damn. Not thought about her in a while either. Not since the last full moon anyway. Though it’s not reallyher,but the pain from it all. The pain that lingers on, embedded like a splinter.

Thankfully it’s Wednesday and there’s nothing better to get rid of pain than a mad night out at Vipers.

But when I get back to the lodge, it’s locked. Frustration flickers through me as I hammer on the door.Fucking Nic.

It takes a while for anyone to let me in and by that time I’m frozen to the bone and beyond pissed off.

‘Yo,’ Haz says, flicking her gaze my way as she raids the fridge.

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