Page 71 of The Best of Us

Because what?I swiveled around at his lack of follow-through. “Because what?” I asked out loud that time.

“Just forget it.” He pushed away from the counter, stood, and walked into the living room, forcing me to follow. “Anyway.” He shrugged off whatever had bothered him. “I had hoped we’d move here one day, then Mom landed the job, so Lennon and I took things to the next level once I was here.”

God help me, did I want to know what that level was? Probably not.

“And like hell am I breaking up with her.” He whirled around, a dare to object in his eyes. “So you can forget that. I love her.”

Love?Such a big word for akid. I kept that part to myself, not looking to antagonize him further.

“Just tell me you’re always safe. You use protection, don’t you?” I couldn’t believe those words came out of my mouth, but I had no choice but to check if that was the level he was referring to.

“Don’t worry, I know condoms aren’t one hundred percent, and?—”

“I’d strongly advise you don’t finish that sentence,” I warned, working to keep my cool and not go full-on dad mode about sex and safety when he’d known me for all of five minutes.It’s my fault.

“I only met her brother and the rest of Jamie’s friends last month. She was worried her brother wouldn’t like me. I didn’t know they were part of a gang until then.” He smartly changed the subject away from sex, and I was grateful.

“When? How?”

“We were all chilling at a club for her brother’s birthday.”

“A club? You have a fake ID?”

“So. Who doesn’t?”

His nonchalance was aggravating, and the sharp, stabbing pain in my chest grew with every word he spoke.

“You’ll be handing that ID over to me today.” I curled my hand tight around my phone, using it to try and ground me, to keep me from verbally unleashing on him the way my old man did back when he found out I’d done the same at his age.Payback, all right.“How often were you sneaking out while your mom thought you were in bed?”

“I hope you’re not suggesting you’d have done a better job than her at keeping an eye on me. Don’t you blame her if that’s what?—”

“I’m not accusing her of anything. In fact, I’m relieved to see you have some sense and are defending your mother and taking ownership for your poor choices.” That was something, at least.

He stared at me quietly, and I’d take the lack of a flippant or nonchalant response as a win.

“Just keep talking,” I said after a frustrated sigh. “I need to know how deep you are in this mess.”

He puffed out his cheeks before letting the breath sail free. “Jamie made it clear I wouldn’t be able to continue seeing Lennon if I didn’t help him occasionally.”

“So, he calls the shots about her life, not her uncle?”

“Pretttttty much. Lennon says everyone lives off Dylan’s dime, but Dylan’s clueless about what Jamie is up to. I haven’t met Dylan, either. He’s always traveling for work.”

Right, Dylan’s independently wealthy.But was he really not part of their crew? Maybe not. Daniel only mentioned Jamie when we’d interrogated him.

“I don’t know much, I swear.”

That wasn’t necessarily bad, but I was concerned that he still knew just enough to endanger him. “No clue who Jamie answers to, then?” I had to take a stab and ask.

“Sounds like you know more about Jamie than I do.” He grimaced. “So no, I don’t know. I didn’t even know there was a ‘someone’ Jamie answered to,” he added with air quotes. “There. Satisfied?”

Hardly.“Where are Jamie and Lennon’s parents? Why is she living with her uncle and brother in the first place?”

His brows pinched along with his mouth.

“What is it?” What was it he didn’t want to tell me?

He rolled his eyes, and I knew I wasn’t going to love what he had to say. Or maybe he was irritated that he had to say it in the first place. “Lennon and I met in a chat room on that app. A chat room for kids without parents. Well, in my case, without a dad.”

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