“I’m not kidding! Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?”
“Ha.” He stared down the road toward the highway beyond and all the cars flying past. “Surely you know it’s not easy to talk about the most humiliating parts of your life.”
“We’re friends. We’ve always been friends. You can trust me.”
“I can trust you?” He spun around to face her. “This is how you convince me I can trust you? By tricking me into coming here and making a fool out of me in front of everyone?”
“I didn’t make a fool out of you! No one knows.”
“I guarantee Marlene’s going to call. We used to sleep together, FYI, so she has my number and she won’t drop the subject. So either I’ll have to tell her I don’t have a diploma or I get to be the asshole who doesn’t want to help these kids!”
Worse than that, Charlie had shown him one more thing he’d never be able to do. He could hate her for that alone. But there were other things to be angry about, thank God. Plenty of things.
“Walker, I didn’t know that about Marlene, obviously. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. But you can get a GED. You don’t have to—”
“We know each other so well you think I should trust you with my secrets?”
She closed her mouth and eyed him for a moment before responding. “Yes. I do.”
“Okay, Charlie. Here’s another secret. I saw Nicole yesterday.”
The pleading look disappeared from her face and Charlie stood straighter. “What? You saw her where?”
“In my apartment.”
“Oh.” Her chin went up. “I see.”
He felt immediate regret for the way her face stiffened and he shook his head. “She wanted to tell me something about you.”
“Yeah, right. What could Nicole possibly know about me?”
He stared hard at her, willing her to give him a little truth. But she offered nothing. “Is that the way you want to play this?”
She lifted her hands as if she were an innocent woman with nothing to hide. “I have no idea what you mean. The only thing I know about Nicole is that she’s a married woman you were messing around with.”
He smiled at that and huffed out a harsh laugh. “Yes. Another terrible secret. Do you have any secrets you’d like to share with me? Since we’re such good friends? Because I heard some secrets about you, Charlie.”
Fear flashed in her eyes. Real fear. She’d finally realized he knew something.
When she looked away, he knew it was all true. She wasn’t the Charlie he’d thought she was. Maybe she never had been. Maybe she’d done well in school by cheating and working the system. Maybe she’d gone to Vegas because that was the natural place for someone to learn all the inside tricks.
“Wow,” he huffed. “Just... I can’t believe all the shit you’ve been giving me. How I need to improve my life. How I can do better. You’re just...unbelievable.”
“What did she tell you?” Charlie asked quietly.
“Why do you want to know? So you can counter it? How about you just tell me what the truth is, and I’ll let you know if it matches up?”
Her lips parted, but she only shook her head and took a step back. One tiny step that told him she wanted to hear his secrets but she’d protect hers with everything she had.
“You were arrested for embezzlement,” he started. And Charlie froze.
* * *
THIS DIDN’T MAKE any sense. Why was this happening now? Here? And why did it have to be happening with Walker? His blue eyes were cold as ice as he stared her down.
“That part is true, right, Charlie?” he bit out.
She whispered the only thing she could think to say. “The charges were dropped.”