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Mia, who hadn’t said a thing during the last five minutes, suddenly let out a snort "And why do you think that is, Tiff?"
The blonde shifted on the hard wooden bench, visibly ill at ease "I don’t like bein’ the center of attention, is all"
Jackson felt Mia’s body stiffen with disbelief, and he quickly rested his hand on her thigh and gave it a reassuring stroke
Unfortunately, his atte her down didn’t work
"And you think Jackson likes it?" Mia shot back "Do you realize how huoes people look at him like he’s either a sexual deviant or a rast--you think that’s fun for him?"
"Mia," he said quietly
"No," she burst out "I can’t stand the way they’re just sitting here, acting like all this shit isn’t their fault" She glared at the other couple "Well, guess what, dum-dums, it’s directly your fault"
Shane and Tiffany recoiled
"Mia," Jackson started again
Her hands trembled as she wrapped them around her beer bottle "Don’t worry, I’et what you’re sayin’," Tiffany told Mia in a wobbly voice "I o, and Shane shouldn’t have done what he did But we’ve moved past it We--"
"Okay, I’m not done," Mia interrupted in another explosion of incredulity "You’ve ee, hoonderful for you, Tiffany You accused your boyfriend of rape, a lie that led to hioes on, huh? You justhappily ever after Doesn’t matter that Jackson is treated like a pariah by everyone in town, or that he and your husband haven’t spoken in years--as long as you’ve -lations, Tiffany"
Deafening silence crashed over them Jackson noticed in dis their way, and even though the jukebox belted out an up-te, a flurry of whispers could be heard over the ht a sigh to Jackson’s lips
His brother, whose expression had rehout Mia’s entire tirade, wasted no tiave Jackson’s leg a little push "I want to leave too," she said tersely "I can’t spend another second with these people"
He’d never felt so helpless in his life as he followed Mia out of the bar Her petite body radiated anger, and he didn’t knohether to be touched or upset He shared in her frustration--he’d always resented the fact that Tiff and his brother had come out of that dreadful situation unscathed, while he’d been hung out to dry But he’d held his tongue for his parents’ sake, to spare them from another potentially violent altercation between the two sons they desperately loved