I was beyond mortified. "It's not funny."
"Wanna bet?"
"Okay, fine," I said. "Maybe it's a little funny." I tried not to wince. "So, are you gonna say it?"
His eyes crinkled with amusement. "Say what?"
Now Ididwince. "You told me so."
Chapter 28
Bryce
Harper looked so chagrinned, I had to laugh. "Hey, you said it, not me."
"Yeah, but only because I beat you to it." She sighed. "He told me, you know. That Drake guy – the one who stopped by to see Gwen, he told me flat-out that the cat was his grandfather's. But did I believe him? Nooooo. Notme."
I was curious. "But why not?"
"It just seemed like a lame excuse, you know, like 'the dog ate my homework.' And my aunt made no mention of the guy's age."
"And you didn't ask?"
"Iwantedto," Harper said. "But she's all the way in Switzerland, and I knew she was upset already." Harper glanced toward her phone. "Even about the photo, I phrased it more as curiosity than anything. If you want the truth, I totally downplayed it."
I recalled our conversation from Monday. "Because you didn't want to worry her."
"Right. But look at the downside. Sure, I spared my aunt, but I didn't spare Gwen – or that Drake guy."
"Aw come on," I said. "You couldn't have beenthatbad."
"Wanna bet?" Harper scoffed. "You should have seen me. Orheardme. I gave Gwensucha hard time – and more than once, too." Her shoulders slumped. "Actually, I've been givingbothof my roommates a hard time." She gave a little groan. "Oh, my God. And I just thought of something."
"What?"
"What if theotherguy isn't so bad either?"
"You mean the guy seeing your sister?"
"Yeah,him, her old boss. The other day, you pretty much said so, right?"
I shook my head. "All I said was that you didn't know for sure."
"Yeah, but Lexie isn't stupid."
"You never said she was."
"Yeah, but Ithoughtit – at least related to him. And I still don't know what's going on because nobody will tell me." She gave a snort of derision. "And whywouldthey? I've been such an ass."
She looked so distraught that I reached out and gathered her in my arms. "Hey, you were just trying to look out for them."
When her only reply was a muffled groan, I smiled against her hair. "Hey, you wanna hear theotherthing I first liked about you?"
Into my shirt, she asked, "What?"
"You weren't afraid to admit you were wrong."
She pulled back to study my face. "When?"
