Page 73 of The Truths We Seek

I wake up sweating and disoriented. It takes me a minute to work out that I’m in my room. Something hits me and I groan, realizing that Tina is thrashing around next to me, whimpering in her sleep.

Two guesses what woke me up.

I shake her gently, calling her name, and she startles awake, sitting up, shouting “No!”

The door to my room bursts open and Rory flies in half dressed and half asleep, making her scream even louder.

“What happened?” he demands, gaze bouncing around the room.

Tina shakes beside me, burying herself back beneath the blankets.

“Just a bad dream,” I tell Rory as I climb out of bed and move toward him. “Are you okay?”

He double checks the room before relaxing and looking down at me. “I couldn’t sleep so I camped outside your door. Guess I must’ve eventually dropped off and then woke up to shouting. Sorry.”

I quirk a brow at him and press my lips together while taking a breath so as not to laugh. “You slept out there in just a pair of jeans?”

He shrugs before pulling me against him and kissing the top of my head. “I got hot, then cold, and this is how I ended up.”

“Fair enough,” I say softly, giggling against his chest. My stomach growls and it occurs to me I haven’t eaten since lunch time yesterday.

Oops.

“You want to go get dressed and I’ll meet you in the kitchen?” I offer as I pull back from his embrace.

He frowns when he hears my stomach, though I’m not sure if it’s from that or me basically dismissing him so I can make sure Tina is okay. His face softens when I point at the bed and my hiding friend. “Sure, I’ll get Carlos to start cooking. What do you guys want?”

“Omelet, like normal,” I answer.

A muffled, “Sounds good,” comes from beneath the blankets and I stifle my laughter again.

“Got it,” Rory says, kissing me quickly before leaving as abruptly as he entered.

Once the door is closed I turn back to the bed. “Coast is clear,” I tell Tina, who groans again.

A moment later, she sits up, blankets pulled up to her chest still, even as she fidgets. “Sorry. About everything. Waking you. Nightmares. Everything that happened yesterday. I…” She falters and I move back to the bed, taking her hand as I do.

“Nothing to apologize for. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of nightmares.”

She looks down into her lap, unable to meet my gaze. “If you’d never have met me—”

“Then I wouldn’t have an awesome friend.”

“Then you wouldn’t have killed someone.”

I take a deep breath, because I haven’t quite processed that part yet, but I also wouldn’t have done anything differently. Maybe that’s why there isn’t an extra weight on me today like I thought there would be.

“I don’t regret it.” I tell her honestly. “And if it got out, well, I’d claim self defense, but I have a feeling the guys have already dealt with it, and nobody’s going to think anything other than he’s fallen off the face of the Earth, like so many scumbags do.”

God knows no one seems to have come looking for Trent, and if the boy wonder of Reddale isn’t being looked for, I doubt anyone is looking for Matthew.

“But—” she starts and I cut her off again.

“No buts. It’s done, I don’t regret it. You’re alive. That’s what is important here.” Part of me wants to ask why she called me, not the police, but I’ve been her. I already know why she didn’t call them.

“What happens now?” she asks, wide-eyed. Sometimes I forget that she’s so much younger than me. That bit more innocent. The only upside is she didn’t suffer for as long.

“Now, we go have breakfast, find out from Rory if there’s anything we need to know, but other than that, it’s life like normal.” The words sound far more confident and resolute than I thought they would, like I actually know what the fuck I’m doing right now. But winging it is all I’ve got and she needs me to be strong.

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