I can’t be honest.
I want to, but I can’t.
She might think she’s seen the worst of me with the thermostat and clothes-in-the-fountain pranks, but she has no idea. God, she has no fucking idea how far I was willing to go to get rid of her.
Everything I did was to hurt her.
But that was before she saved my life.
She can never know what I did with that money.
“I’m not rich. My father is,” I explain.
She nods. “What was the money for, anyway?”
“I think it was for weed? I honestly can’t remember,” I lie through my teeth.
“Also, why were you on that bridge?”
I laugh at her bluntness. “You said one question.”
“People lie. Get over it.” She grins, blissfully unaware of the irony of the situation.
“What can I say?” I shrug, lying on my back in the grass. “Shit is no fun unless it almost kills me.”
She follows my lead, lying down next to me and whisking her head to the side to look at me. “Yeah, but why Silver Bridge? It was like you knew where you were going. You booked it into the woods and went straight there.”
“That’s where my parents met,” I admit, wedging my arm under my head for support.
Silence.
She doesn’t know what to say, so I spare her the trouble of coming up with a botched version of “I’m sorry your life sucks so much.”
“Those woods, the bridge—that’s where it all started.” I laugh. “Funny, isn’t it? All they fucking do is talk about people dying on that bridge. Meanwhile, it’s the only reason I was born.”
Any other girl would pity me, but we’re talking about the girl who called me out on my shit when I was standing on the edge of a fucking bridge, so I’m not surprised when she skips out on the pity party.
“How did it happen? Their first meeting?”
I grin. “It was the Fourth of July. Every year, kids would meet on Silver Bridge to watch the fireworks.Best view in town.”
She listens carefully.
“She’d just moved here. My dad spent the night getting shitfaced to work up the courage to ask her out. And when he finally got the nerve to walk up to her, he wound up projectile vomiting all over her shirt.”
A small laugh slips past her lips. “Way to make a good impression.”
“Hey, he must’ve done something right, or I wouldn’t be here.” I scoff and fidget with the silver chain around my neck. It’s twisted and uncomfortable as shit.
Gem watches me struggle for a moment before stepping in.
“Let me do it.”
She inches closer, pressing her tits to my arm, and starts to untangle the chain I never take off. My gaze finds her mouth instantly. She sinks her teeth into her plump bottom lip as she focuses on the task at hand.
Not going to lie, she’s fucking cute when she’s serious.
What the fuck did I justthink?