Page 40 of A Smile Full of Lies
I closed the space between us and tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet my gaze as I questioned her.
“Why?”
She hesitated, then shook her head like it was obvious.
“Because you’re my friend. Besides that, it would’ve been wrong.”
My jaw clenched. Wrong.Fuck.
“You would’ve solved everything in one move,” I said. “All your problems would have been solved, and you still didn’t use me.”
“I couldn’t,” she said softly.
I stepped closer, close enough to feel her breath hitch.
“The next time you’re drowning? You come to me.”
Ros just stared up at me, her blue-green eyes wide and disbelieving.
“Got it?” My tone left no room for argument.
“Got it.” She nodded. It wasn’t proud or scared. No, it was just quiet and mine.
She didn’t move when I stepped close enough that her chest brushed against mine. She just stood there, wet hair curling against her neck, my hoodie swallowing her up, eyes puffy from tears and exhaustion.
“Let’s talk about why you didn’t use your key to my place,” I said, low and rough. “You have one. You could’ve been here.”
She looked away.
“I didn’t think about it.”
My jaw clenched.
“How the fuck do you forget you have a place to go?”
She hesitated.
“I’d just gotten back from the interview I had this afternoon. The guy interviewing me got… inappropriate with me. It was bad. I wasn’t thinking straight when I got home.”
Something in her voice flickered. It was too flat, too distant.
I stepped closer.
“Where?”
She bit her lip, refusing to answer me.
“Rosalind,” I snapped. “Where was the interview?”
She sighed, defeated.
“Stonewood Living.”
The name hit me like a sucker punch. StonewoodfuckingLiving. My mother’s magazine. I hadn’t thought about it in years. Not since the estate was finalized. Not since I became majority owner by default, even though I never touched it.
“And who interviewed you?” I asked.
She paused.
