A Love Song for Liars (Rivals #1) - Piper Lawson Page 0,35

the revelation about Tyler’s opportunity, still stinging from his dismissal.

“Any attractive costars?” she asks.

I take a sip of soda, my gaze drifting to the guy across from me—the one who’s avoiding my gaze as though it’s his mission in life. “Kellan plays varsity lacrosse.”

A fork clatters against a plate across from me.

Serena leans in, eyes brightening with anticipation. “Who’s Kellan?”

“He’s my prince,” I tell her, spearing a piece of salad.

A thud echoes under the table as if a knee connected with the wood.

“He’s a prick,” Tyler mutters.

Now I have his attention.

My eyes flash. You wouldn’t dare tell them.

He holds my gaze. Try me, Six.

“Kellan,” Haley interjects. “Tyler, is that the guy you had a fight with at school?”

My dad’s head snaps toward me.

“If I wanted to date Kellan“—I interject around the bite of lettuce, hurrying to swallow, and Tyler’s gaze narrows—“that would be my business.”

Dad laughs humorlessly. “Nice try. Until you’re eighteen, I can control where you go and who you see.”

I drop my fork. “I’m already grounded. You can’t ground me twice.”

“Then no musical.”

Shock has my breath sticking in my chest.

Haley sighs. “Jax—”

“Sure. No problem. I’ll tell Miss Norelli I’m out of the musical—which I’m now getting credit for, by the way—because Jax Jamieson declared it,” I say sarcastically, shifting out of my chair and throwing my napkin down on my seat. “My report card’s coming soon. Since you’re more interested in my grades than my life, you can have the next family photos taken with that.”

I stalk out of the room, eyes burning. I nearly run into a startled server bearing a carafe of water and mumble an apology as I trip around tables toward the bathrooms.

I’m halfway down the hall when a low voice comes from behind me. “Annie. Stop.”

I whirl to face Tyler. The dim lights overhead cast his tense face in shadows as he closes the distance between us.

“What’s wrong with you?” His low voice has every muscle in my body tightening, and he comes to a stop a foot away.

I toss my hair over my bare shoulder. “Why do you care? You’ve been avoiding me all night. You should be halfway to New York by now.”

A woman walks down the hall toward the bathroom, attention flicking to us. I step to the side, and Tyler does the same.

Somehow, that brings us even closer.

“Are you mad I’m not on a plane to New York?” he murmurs when we’re alone again. “Or that I’m not paying enough attention to you? You can’t have it both ways.”

There’s a bite to his words, as if the stakes are way higher than our dinner conversation.

Maybe they are.

“I’m mad you didn’t tell me. I care about you, damn it!”

He leans in, a muscle in his jaw ticking in frustration. I breathe through my mouth, ignoring the scent of his shower, the way his dark button-down shirt clings to his muscles, the jeans that hug every inch of his hard legs. “Then pretend you don’t, like everyone else pretends.”

I step back on instinct, but there’s a coatrack behind my shoulders. I hit it, hard enough a few empty hangers fall to the ground.

I drop to the floor to retrieve them. Tyler’s next to me in a second.

“I never asked for you to care,” he mutters, kneeling at my side. “In fact, I’ve done everything I could to avoid this.”

We reach for the same coat hanger, neither of us letting go.

“Oh, really?” I retort. “You hang out with people you don’t like. The only time you show the world what you’re capable of is during gigs with Brandon at frat parties. Instead of putting yourself out there, you bury your talent and ambition and who you are because you’re afraid to take what you want. If that’s not a cry for help, I don’t know what is.”

I wrench the hanger from his grip and stand, replacing the hangers on the rack. My dress has ridden up embarrassingly high, and I work the hem back down my thighs as he stands, too.

“I don’t need the psychoanalysis, Six.” When I look up, his angry expression is inches away. “If you think I’m your boyfriend, you’ve made a big-ass mistake.”

“Clearly.” I brush my hands down my dress one last time emphatically. “I have all the responsibilities and none of the benefits.”

His eyes flash, and I know I’ve pushed him too far.

I’ve never seen Tyler out of control.

That changes tonight.

I know it as the words hang between us for a heartbeat. Two.

“That’s what you want? Benefits?”