Truly, Madly, Deadly

Chapter Five

FIVE

Sawyer watched Ryan as he gingerly settled Chloe into his car. Chloe gave a slight wave when he pulled away from the curb, and the gash on her eye caught the light from the streetlamp. Sawyer shivered and hugged her arms.

“Here,” Cooper said, pulling off his zippered hoodie and settling it over her shoulders. “Better?”

Sawyer nodded. The sweater would have helped if the chill hadn’t been bone deep.

“Can we get going now?”

Cooper nodded. “Yeah, of course.” He dug in his pocket for his keys and Sawyer touched his wrist gently, her fingers cold on his warm skin. “Are you okay to drive?”

He smiled. “Only had half a beer and that was”—he squinted at the clock—“over an hour ago.”

“Didn’t seem that long ago.”

“Well, there was the thing with Chloe, and before that—” Cooper bit his bottom lip in a way that shot fire crackers through Sawyer’s system. “The thing with us.”

Heat—and guilt—pulsed through Sawyer. She had been making out with a guy—a guy who was not Kevin—while someone was trying to murder her best friend.

What kind of girl are you? Her insides roiled.

“Ready?”

Sawyer nodded, and when Cooper rested his arm across her shoulders, she slid out of the half embrace. She hoped to make it seem as nonchalant or as innocent as possible, but the hurt look in Cooper’s eyes was unmistakable.

They drove in awkward silence until Cooper’s car hit the freeway.

“I’m really sorry about your friend.”

“Chloe,” Sawyer offered.

“Chloe. Have you guys known each other long?”

Sawyer smiled, remembering. “Remember when I said I was friends with Maggie?”

“I remember, but I still don’t believe it.” Cooper grinned in the darkened car, but his eyes sparkled sweetly. Sawyer punched down the warmth that rose inside of her.

“It was the three of us. Best friends. We were five—Maggie didn’t know how to be evil yet.”

“Ah, there’s the missing piece.”

Sawyer started to feel more comfortable, letting her shoulders sag forward as she sunk into the car seat. “We met at dance class. Nothing special, but we used to do everything together. Everything. The three of us.”

“So when was the huge falling out?”

Sawyer frowned. “I don’t really know what started it. We were in junior high and Maggie started to get popular. Chloe ended up having to quit dance class, and Maggie just kept nagging at her to tell everyone why. It was like she wanted to prove to everyone how cool she was by throwing Chloe—our best friend—to the wolves.”