Free Secret Life (RVHS Secrets) by Bria Quinlan Page A

of guys juggling a soccer
ball between them.
    “How not exactly?”
    The ball bounced to him, and after some fancy footwork I
couldn’t even follow, it soared in a smooth arc across the circle to another
guy before Chris broke away from the group.
    “Very not exactly,” I admitted.
    She leaned back on both hands, shaking out her tawny hair
behind her, waiting for me to continue.
    “He ran to my house this morning for something about school,
and then when he found out I was coming here he basically just got in the car.”
All true. Go me.
    “He went to your house. Just showed up. For something about school? Without
his car? But, with his
backpack with his swimsuit and stuff?” Leaning forward, she wiped her hands off
on her shorts. “And then made you bring him here?”
    I was going to cave. I hadn’t even started our tutoring deal
and I was going to spill my guts to the person he asked me not to. To the only
person whose opinion he seemed to truly care about.
    “Hey ladies.” Saved
by the man himself. Awkward. And that wasn’t
just because of the tacky Kiss The Cook apron they’d
just put on him. “We’re taking a count. Hot dog or hamburger.”
    I glanced at Amy. If she was ever going to let the
accusations fly, now would be a great time. Perfect actually because then it
would be on him to smooth it out. I might be an Accessory To Lying, but at least I wouldn’t actually be lying. Didn’t getaway car drivers
get less time? Or was that just when they cut a deal on Law & Order?
    She watched me watch her for a long moment before turning
back to Chris.
    “I’ll have a cheeseburger, lots of cheese.”
    He grinned, relief flooding his features as he pushed that
mass of blond on top of his head out of his eyes. “A girl
after my own heart.”
    As soon as the words left his mouth, the grin faded. We all
froze like some bad claymation cartoon for a moment before he stuttered out, “About the cheese.”
    Amy reached out and patted his foot with her hand. “I know.”
    It was an odd moment. The backwardness of it sent me
reeling. How was I supposed to come back to school this year with all my own
crappy changes and deal with the universe tilting on its axis like this?
    Chris watched Amy until she turned toward me. His gaze
shifted finally to me in obvious reluctance. And there it was again, a bit of
concern as he studied me…some for me, some maybe for himself, wondering what
tense moment he’d stumbled into.
    “Cheeseburger. Normal
cheese.”
    Was there a more insane conversation going on in the
tri-county area?
    “Right. Two
cheeseburgers. One extra cheese, one normal cheese.” With a head bob at each of us, he headed back to where the guys clustered on
the deck. Ah, males and the call of the open flame.
    Amy’s gaze followed him as he moved around the pool to the
grill Ben was supervising. It lingered there a moment before turning back to
me.
    And then I was the worried one. “Is there something I should know?”
    Amy’s brows squished down, nose squished up to meet them.
“What do you mean?”
    I glanced toward the grill again. Chris’s back was to us as
he helped Ben with the …well, whatever it was men of all ages did around fire
and raw meat.
    “That thing you just did,” I said. But wow, it sounded like
an accusation. I guess it kind of was. My gaze slipped toward the open part of
the yard where Luke tossed a ball back and forth with a guy I dated two years
ago. “You just totally scoped Chris walking and then kind of did the
linger-on-him thing once he was over there.”
    We both turned to look at Chris, barefoot, shirtless and
with baggy shorts just hanging off those hipbones.
    “Honestly, Rachel.” Amy quirked a brow at
me. “Are you really worried about that?”
    Yes. Yes, I was. Amy had emotionally killed herself over and
over again because of that guy, and now he was hers for the taking. I should
know. I spent six years picking her up from her Chris-obsessed-funk over and
over…and