Page 40 (1/2)

The tension in her shoulders slacked, but her head dropped Aliven up

"I love you more than myself," I told her, "more than my own family, for Christ’s sake I don’t want to take another step in this world without you next to me"

And as much as I hated to admit that, it was true

I loved my mother and my brother But if it ever came between the three, I would always pick Tate

When she didn’t turn around or say anything, I dropped my hand to her shoulder "Tate"

But she whipped around, flinging uarded

I was still the eneht not to trust ht now I can’t stand the way you’re looking at ain Please…let’s try to fix this together" My voice was cracking, and the luer

"Fine" She reached into her pocket and took out her phone " I’ll play along"

Play?

"What are you doing?" I asked, narrowingyourbuttons on her screen

"Why?"

"Because she installed a GPS tracking app on your Android when she bought it You said you lost your phone? Let’s find it"

Chapter 37

"School," Tate almost whispered as she slipped her phone back in her pocket "It’s at school"

"Son of a bitch" My uess that explained how she found ht," I said more to myself

So my phone was at school I left it at the party, so that meant that someone from our school had taken it, and they had it on

Well, that was dumb

It still didn’t solve the question of how soTate andand hard

The balcony

Could sout isted with acid, and I was charged

That was the first tiotten on top She was brave and beautiful, and I was rocked

To think of so us Watching her

Refocusing, I looked at Tate, whose eyebroere arched in Scared

But she’s not a runner anymore

"I see that look in your eye" I inched closer and spoke quietly "It’s the look you get when you want to bolt The look you get right before you decide to stay and fight"

"What a

Us, da, Tate"

Her eyes were red fro evened out, and her lips settled in a resolved line

"Let’s go" She turned and walked to her truck, swinging open the door

Thank God I let out a long breath

Maybe ouldn’t find my phone Maybe I wouldn’t be proved innocent in her eyes Maybe taking her back to school, with all of those eyes, was a huge-ass ain, and that had me so happy I’d dance in public anytiestured to the Boss parked behind her truck

Baby, I don’t even care I shook ives rades"

Her eyes pooled, but she blinked the tears away and took a deep breath

"Stop at your mom’s firm and pick up her phone," she instructed, as we’d need my morabbed my mother’s phone and hurried away from her questions, I sped off to school to find Tate in the parking lot waiting forher hand, but she immediately yanked it away

My heart dropped into my stomach

"Tate"

She wouldn’t look atat the school

"Don’t askback tears "I don’t think I’ to have any idea how to answer that for a while"

She ran a hand through her long, blonde hair and took a deep breath before walking towards the school

God, I hope this works

The ot, and whether or not I was guilty, this ht be the straw that broke the ca the line between fighting back and shutting down

Co up beside her, I stayed close but didn’t touch her

Everyone was still in class but not for long The bell would ring soon, and we’d be like anie at the zoo

Eyes all around and nowhere to turn