Page 92 of Hold

Jake took a big breath. For a moment it seemed he might go back on his decision. Then he said, as if pushing it out of him hurt, “Zachary Benedetto.”

Tyrone nodded. “Anyone else with you?”

“Ethan Standish. Andrew Gallagher.”

“Ethan whose house you were at tonight?”

“Yeah. His big brother set up the party. Their parents are away.”

Now that he’d started talking, Jake’s voice was becoming a monotone, the words losing emotion. She supposed it was a way to distance himself from them so he could get them out.

Tyrone excused himself for a moment, paused the tape, and left the room.

Jake kept his eyes on his hands. His knee had started jiggling, creating a rhythmic sound as money in his pockets shifted against itself.

“I’m so proud of you,” Thea whispered, squeezing his other knee. “And so pissed at you.”

Jake snorted. “Story of my life.”

“Pretty much.” She inclined her head to his. Heads touching, Thea’s hand still on Jake’s knee, they breathed.

“You’ve been very angry,” she said.

“I was,” he said, his voice vibrating through her head. “I knew getting in with Zach would be trouble, but… I guess I wanted trouble. I’m sick of being the responsible one.”

Thea sighed. “You can take a break without resorting to vandalism. You could have talked to me about it.”

“You were busy. And stressed. There wasn’t much you did have time for but school and Benji.”

That wasn’t true, but it was to Jake. “I’m sorry, honey. You know I think about you constantly, don’t you? Even if I don’t have time to talk to you sometimes?”

He thought about it and said, “I guess so.”

They were silent again. Then Jake said, “I like Liam.”

Thea’s throat closed up. “I like him, too.”

“He was great with Dad the other day. He even pushed me out of the way so I wouldn’t get hurt. That was cool, right?”

“Yeah.” Now she couldn’t speak above a whisper.

“Then will you please start talking to him again? He defended you the other day. He’s not that pissed or he wouldn’t do that, would he?”

“I guess not.” How hard would Thea have to grovel to make up for what Liam had seen? But now she knew she would. She knew that Jake had seen Liam’s value better than she had and had acted on it. “I’ll talk to him, baby.”

“Okay.”

They stayed in position, heads touching, breathing slow and even, while Thea looked for words, until Tyrone came back.

He started the tape again and said, “Okay, Jake. Anything else?”

For the first time, Jake looked at her. Or at least in her direction. “Before we got to the party, we walked from town through the graveyard, and… some of the guys pushed over some of the gravestones.”

“Which guys?” Tyrone asked.

“Zach and Ethan. It’s usually them.”

“Did you join them?”

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