Page 102 of Never Your Girl

Not even his own family.

33

Bridger

The house buzzes with activity as I sit on the couch, staring at my cell like it holds all the answers to the universe. It doesn’t, but my fingers itch to open the campus chat app anyway. My thoughts are a jumbled mess of Holland, the messages, and the scene with Garret earlier.

Steele drops onto the armchair across from me with a bottle of beer. He takes a slow swig of his drink before speaking.

“So,” he says, his voice hushed so no one overhears our conversation. “You make any decisions about what we saw earlier?”

I force my gaze to his. “Nope.”

He arches a brow when I don’t elaborate. “Okay then. Let’s hear what she had to say about it.”

“She didn’t say anything.”

A faint scowl creeps onto his face, but it’s more bewildered than angry. “What do you mean she didn’t say anything? Like, exactly what were the words that came out of her mouth? Sheesh. This is like pulling teeth.”

With a huffed breath, I admit, “I didn’t ask.”

His body jolts upright. “Are you shitting me, right now? Please tell me you’re not just going to bury your head in the sand and ignore what we both saw this afternoon.”

Unsure how to respond, my hand rises to rub the tightness at the nape of my neck as I focus on the video game playing out across the screen, wishing it were possible to get lost in it. Even for a few mindless minutes. “I don’t want to talk about it. Can we just drop it for tonight?”

He shakes his head before guzzling down half the bottle.

“You do realize that you’re sleeping with the enemy, right?” There’s a pause before he continues. “You need to point-blank ask what the hell she was doing with Garret fucking Akeman.”

My jaw tightens. Even though I don’t necessarily believe it, I mumble, “You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

“Sure, I am.” Steele leans forward so his elbows can rest on his knees. “Somehow I must have forgotten that Garret is a stand-up guy with nothing shady going on.”

I shoot him a glare. “What are you getting at?”

Steele shrugs, but his eyes remain sharp. “I’m just saying this entire thing with Holland started because you suspected her of being behind the messages. You spend a little time with this girl and now you think she has nothing to do with it even though she’s hanging around with Garret Akeman. Know what I think?” He doesn’t give me time to respond. “I think they’re both in on it.”

After everything Holland and I have shared, I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to believe that her hatred for me could run that deep.

That she’s been lying to me this entire time.

Or worse, that I’ve been played.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mutter.

“Don’t I?” Steele leans back, taking another sip of his beer. “Look, man, I get it. She’s hot. She’s got that whole I hate the world vibe going on that you apparently find irresistible. But you’re not thinking straight. The messages, Holland Tate, and Garret Akeman are all connected. That girl is a bigger part of it than you want to admit.”

Sadness and anger twist together inside me, tightening like a painful knot. “She’s not behind the messages.”

“How do you know?” Steele presses, refusing to let it go. “Because she said so? Or because you want to believe her?”

My phone digs in my palm as I clench my fist. “Because I know her, okay? She’s not like that.”

Steele snorts. “You force her to spend a little time with you, and your attitude where she’s concerned does a total turn around. I don’t know if that girl has a unicorn pussy or what, but you’re blinded by whatever this thing is between you two.”

Unable to sit here for another minute and listen to him, I rise to my feet. “You don’t know her like I do.”

“And you don’t know her like you think you do,” Steele counters, his tone softer but still pointed. “I’m just saying, don’t let your feelings for her blind you to the facts in front of your damn face. Hell, I’d love for her to be innocent. But if she’s not, you’re gonna be the one left picking up the pieces. You need to think about that.”

---