Page 96 of Five Brothers

She smirks, props her knee against the bar and crosses her arms over her chest. “Iron?”

I growl under my breath. “Shit. How did you hear about that?”

“Liv.”

“Iron told her?” I blurt out.

“Trace told her.”

“Ugh.” I finish inputting her order and twist back around, feeling her smug smile on me.

“So, was it him, then?” she presses. “On the couch? It was Iron?”

I fill a glass with ice and make myself a drink. “Could’ve been. I never asked him, and it was good, but … I don’t think it was, honestly.”

A blush warms my cheeks after admitting that to her. I don’t want to feel ashamed, but Clay’s only slept with one person. I don’t know why it matters that I’ve slept with more, but it matters to some people, and that matters to me. What’s Liv thinking about all this?

“I don’t know.” I take a drink, leaning down onto the bar again. “I’m getting more confused. Maybe I’m remembering a feeling ora scent that night that wasn’t really there to begin with. Maybe I’m remembering it as more than it was.”

I was in such a hard mood that night, and maybe it felt better than it otherwise would have.

But it wasn’t just about what I was feeling. It was what he was doing.

“Whoever it was,” I tell her, lowering my voice, “it was like he was talking to me without saying anything.”

It was fucking. But he was intimate.

“Shit.” Clay breathes out.

I nod. “Yeah.”

Exactly.

“Well, then,” she says. “You have to find him.”

I smile, and she smiles back, and I make another round of drinks.

Marymount Academy dismissed at noon today, but there are students still lingering in the parking lot. A few drift through the halls. Thanksgiving is in two days, and has always been my favorite holiday, a sentiment no one around me ever shared. There’s no stress to look a certain way, like on Halloween, or pressure to shop, like on Christmas. It’s just staying at home with a houseful of people and some really good food. This year will be a shitshow with my family falling apart, but I’ll try to make sure the kids can’t tell. We’re supposed to go to my grandparents’ house, but the invitation wasn’t extended to my mother. I’m sure my father will stay away so he doesn’t have to face us.

“Krisjen, hey!” someone calls out.

I look up, spotting Cate Laurel, Emaline Truax, and Antoinette Viega, juniors last year when I was a senior. They walk toward me, down the hallway.

Cate comes in for a hug. “What’ve you been doing? We miss you.”

We never hung out.

I glance at the girls’ locker room behind them, hoping my former coach is still in there.

“Oh, just working.” I smile, thankful I put on some lipstick. My clothes look like shit, though. “Waitressing.”

Toni’s face falls. “Why?”

I chuckle to myself. “What are you all up to?” I ask instead. They’re out of uniform, with fresh makeup on. Definitely not going home.

But Cate cocks her head. “Are you still hooking up with Trace Jaeger?”

I lift my eyebrows.