“Where were you?” I countered, noticing he was dressed in yesterday’s clothes.
He smirked. “That’s for me to know…”
“Don’t you have someone else to annoy?” I scoffed, trying to calm my racing heart.
“When it’s so much fun getting under your skin? Nope.”
“Whatever, Max. I’m going to my room.” I moved around him, toward the stairs. But he grabbed my arm. “Don’t touch me.” A lick of fear ran down my spine.
“Or what, Harleigh Wren?” He stepped up to me, contempt shining in his eyes.
“Why do you hate me so much?” The words tumbled from my lips.
“Hate you? I don’t hate you, I pity you. Trying to fit in a place that will never accept you. It’s sad really. You’re pathetic, Maguire. Nothing but a piece of trailer trash who doesn’t belong here.”
Tears of anger stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall, reminding myself that Max was just a spoiled kid who had grown up with Michael and Sabrina, two emotionally stunted people, for parents. Although they couldn’t be held entirely responsible for his vile personality, I didn’t doubt it had a big impact.
“Trust me,” I snarled, “I want to be here about as much as you want me here.” Shoving past him, I stomped upstairs.
But his voice gave me pause. “I wonder what Dad would think of you spending the night with Phoenix Wilder.”
No.
No.
My blood turned to ice as I glanced back at him and forced my expression into complete neutrality. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No? Huh.” Amusement glinted in his eyes. “I must have gotten it wrong then.”
A beat passed. The air crackling around us.
He knew.
Somehow Max knew.
Had Nate told someone about last night? His brother? Or Marc? I didn’t think he would betray me, but what if he’d accidentally slipped and someone told Max?
Before I could figure out what to say, how to fix it, he shrugged and said, “Well, I’ve got shit to do,” and walked off as if he hadn’t just dropped an undetonated bomb at my feet.
I all but ran up to my room, slamming the door behind me. This place had always felt like a prison. Cold. Unforgiving. Soulless. But I’d tolerated it, found peace in the little things. The roof terrace, Celeste, my bedroom, the huge yard.
It had been enough, a means to an end. Get through senior year, get my diploma, and then run far, far away from Darling Hill.
But now that I knew what lay beyond the gates, now that I knew Nix was out there, waiting for me… This prison, this gilded cage, suddenly felt like a small room, the walls pressing in on me, taking the air with them.
And I knew it wouldn’t be long until I suffocated.
But if Max knew, if he’d somehow seen me with Nix…
Things had just got a hell of a lot more complicated.