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Obviously

Gabriel started the engine and drove toward town He didn’t have a clear destination in o home, and he sure as hell couldn’t take her to his

At the first stop sign he glanced over "Did he hurt you?"

Her eyes didn’t leave the"No"

A thousand questions burned his lips, but she was so closed off She ht bolt from the car if he pushed

He could kill Taylor He should have told Chris to throw her in the pool

The air felt sharp, sparking with tension Gabriel reached out and flicked on the radio, keeping the voluh the car, so, but really wasn’t

Finally, her arms loosened, just a little "I’m such an idiot I should have known"

Her voice had lost the wild eth he knew lived inside her

"It’s not your fault," he said

"I know," she said "Believe irl who helpedirlfriend"

Layne swiped at her eyes, looking uy can’t take all the bla there, anyway?" he said "I thought you hated Taylor and Heather and all those girls"

"Oh, I do Don’t worry" She paused, biting at her lip "They tricked "

"They tricked you? How?"

She looked out theagain "It’s not iht on Ritchie Highway He turned to look at her

Layne very obviously did not want to look at him

"You want a coffee?" he said

She didn’t answer for a moment "Sure"

So he left her in the car in front of Starbucks, co cups, a wad of napkins, and a feet packs the barista had fished from behind the counter at his request

Layne took the one open to wipe at her cheeks "Thanks"

He drove down to the end of Fort Sn announced a county park though the county see lot wasn’t ated, was always open A sha stretch of beach, though this pas-sageway to the Chesapeake Bay wasn’t anywhere you’d want to swi set, but there were newer ones in nicer parts of the county, so that was rare

He and Nick cas on fire all the time

Gabriel parked the SUV As usual, the lot was deserted

"There are chairs in the back," he said, "if you want to go sit by the water Or we can open up the back and sit on the tailgate"

She licked her lips, staring out the"Won’t we get in trouble for being here?"

"This whole peninsula is a public park, but no one coured out her tone "We don’t have to stay here," he said "But it’s quiet, and no one will bother us"

Layne took a sip of her coffee, wrapping both hands around the cup like a little girl "Okay" She paused "The tailgate"

He killed the engine, but left the radio on, the speakers pouring ht came from the dome in the center of the car and the distant industrial plants across the water Sitting on the tailgate left her face shadowed, al in the distance, and if he listened carefully, he could pick up the water se of the tailgate, pulling her skirt against her thighs, though there wasn’t enough material to cover ain, and Gabriel felt his grip tightening on the coffee cup He gritted his teeth and looked out at the darkness "I didn’t knoas you," he said

"I was sitting like fifteen feet away, and I sao peopleout"

"But I could have stopped him "

"You did I let hilanced over "You stopped hiet much farther than that" She picked at the lid of her coffee cup, her voice bitter No, rueful "I should have known better"

Gabriel needed to get a handle on his thoughts before the car caught on fire "What on earth o to that party?"

"It’s stupid" She pushed a curled strand of hair back froirls She becaed hters She used to buy me expensive clothes Every other day, she’d co from some hot new store I never wore them Some I threw in the charity bin behind the school Some I shoved in the back of my closet I hated them I hated her"

He remembered the tentative conversation in her bedroom

"You didn’t want to be perfect"

"Sort of" She hesitated "No, I could never be perfect, and she knew it I think that was the point It was all this big cover-up The clothes, the horses, it was all one big shahter"

Gabriel remembered Ryan’s little comment before he’d punched the shit out of him She’s all deformed under there

It made him think of that moment in the woods, when he would have kissed her His hands on her ribs, and she’d pulled away

Had he misread that entirely?

Layne turned and looked at hi and sharp

"How much did you see? When he wasyou kno h his hair "It was dark," he said truthfully "Not "

"Come on" Her voice was hard

Gabriel shifted to look at her The light at her back et the shirt over your bra Honestly, with the light, I bet Taylor couldn’t catchon her phone"

"God, she is such a bitch" Layne usted sound "I can’t believe you slept with her"

Gabriel almost dropped his cup "What? Who the hell said I slept with her?"

"No one Butin class" She faltered Even in the diht, he could see Layne’s cheeks turn pink "She said "