Page 63 of The Devils They Are
"Hey," I reply, finding it easier than expected to feign friendliness with her.
Soph stops next to me, stretching her arms above her head. "I'm so happy the rain has finally disappeared. I just dyed my hair on the weekend."
My eyes fall to the tied-up strands, smiling at the freshly touched up pink tips. "Does pink fade as quickly as red?"
"Argh, yes," she groans. "I've stained too many pillowcases. My brother gives me shit all the time about it."
"You have a brother?" I ask, intrigued. "I didn't know that."
She nods. "We're twins actually. Though he loves to remind me that he's older—by a whole seven minutes." Her eyes roll, making me laugh.
"If you are twins, does that mean he's a senior too?"
"Yeah," she confirms. "You probably know him."
Given that I barely know everyone from Willowbrook, her statement makes me suspicious. Sensing my skepticism, Soph pauses, offering a sheepish, apologetic smile.
"It's Tai."
"Tai?" I gape at her. "As inTai Beckett?"
Pain crosses her face as she scrunches it in response. "Are you mad at me? I promise I'm not as big as an asshole as he is."
I just stand there and stare at her wordlessly. To be fair, I have no idea how to feel. Betrayal is the first thought that comes to mind, but I quickly remind myself that neither of us owe the other any loyalty.
Anger is next, or at least it would be if I felt anything at the moment. The underlying numbness that I'm harboring seems to work in all scenarios. But I take the opportunity to voice the question that has been bugging me.
"Is that why you borrowed those library books?" I ask dryly.
Sophia blinks at me, pure confusion on her face. Either she's a really good actor, or she has no idea what I am talking about.
"The biology book?" she mutters. "What do you mean?"
I've always learned that you can't judge a book by its cover. And to her credit, she hasn't given me any reason to doubt her genuine friendliness these past few weeks. Hell, she even helped bring down Rylan. But while that still doesn't mean she's innocent, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt depending on how she answers the next question.
"Your brother was the one who had my bag that first week," I tell her. "The cheerleaders gave it to him after they stole it. And your dear twin destroyed my textbooks. When I went to the library to borrow a copy, someone had suspiciously already checked them out that day."
My eyes stay on her face, unwavering as I watch for her reaction. Perplexity stares back at me, before her face twists in anger, mouth falling open with realization. "That asshole."
"Yes, but you're gonna have to elaborate."
Sophia groans, rubbing her template. "He told me he left his copy at home and asked to borrow mine. His classes for those subjects are earlier in the week before mine, so he asked to take mine and suggested I borrow the books from the library in case he forgot to bring them back to school. He's a forgetful ass sometimes. Shit, Bexley—I swear I had no idea. I'm going to smother him with my pink-stained pillow tonight."
Now that I'm looking at her closely, really closely, I can see the similarities. I'm not sure why I missed them before. While they both appear to have dyed hair, they have the same hazel eyes—even the random little spots of caramel in the irises.
Shit. This wasn't on my bingo card for this week, but it's a nice distraction from my own thoughts for a little while.
"Hey, Spencer! Who did you fuck to get the shorts?" someone calls out.
My body tenses as I slowly turn, spotting the hoard of males heading toward the locker room. To my surprise, Rylan isn't with them.
"Your father," I yell back without missing a beat. "He's disappointed in you, by the way. Wishes you'd been swallowed."
The guy gawks at my response while the group mock him and laugh, fucking me with their eyes and wolf-whistling. A few make quiet remarks about my shorts—which fit me perfectly to my displeasure. Rylan was spot on with his guess, and after hearing Sophia's confession, I'm now back to questioning his motives again.
I hate that I let him get close to me. Even removing the sex from the equation, I let him see parts of me that I normally keep hidden.
Blindsided by our supposed trauma bonding, I had let my guard down. And today is a reminder as to why I can't trust anyone.
