up awhile?”
My throat tightened and I shrugged. I wouldn’t have been able to get words out even if I could think of any.
“I’ve never lost anyone like that myself,” Marlene said, “but my best friend lost her mom in a drunk-driving accident last year. I know she’s kind of a mess on holidays, so I imagine it’s tough on you, too.”
I let out a shuddering sigh. “You could say that.” I tried to return Marlene’s kind smile, but I doubted I did a very convincing job of it.
“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. I just wanted you to know that you can talk if you want to.”
For all the time I’d spent lately wishing I had someone my own age to talk to—someone other than Luke, who came with other complications—Marlene was still basically a stranger to me, and I wasn’t inclined to open my heart to her. However, I wasn’t inclined to lie down and be alone with my thoughts, either, and I wished I were better with small talk.
“Thanks,” I said. “But I don’t think talking about it is going to help right now.”
“Like I said, that’s fine.” She flashed me another smile, and I could see no hint of hurt or irritation in her. “But we don’t have to talk about gloomy stuff if you don’t want to. If I’m being annoying and you just want me to shut up and let you sleep, let me know. I promise I won’t take it personally.”
“You’re not being annoying,” I hastened to assure her. “I just kind of suck at small talk.”
Marlene laughed and waved off my concern. “I talk enough for three people. At least that’s what my folks say. I’m always happy to have an audience that actually listens to me.”
I laughed, despite the heaviness in my heart.
“You’re a hell of a lot easier to talk to than Luke’s last girlfriend,” Marlene continued with a roll of her eyes. “I mean, I talk a lot, I know, but it’s not always about myself. I actually find other people interesting too.”
I didn’t know which part of that statement to react to first. When my dad had bad-mouthed Piper, I’d always been quick to leap to her defense, but my feelings for her were such a jumbled mess right now I couldn’t even tell if I wanted to defend her. So I tackled the easier subject first.
“I’m not Luke’s girlfriend.” I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks, knew Marlene would have no trouble seeing my easy blush. But one kiss—okay, a whole bunch of kisses, but all in the space of just a few minutes—didn’t make me into Luke’s girlfriend. “We’re just friends and neighbors is all.”
Marlene raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. “Oh really?” she asked, with infinite skepticism.
The heat in my face intensified. “Really.” I wanted to be Luke’s girlfriend, but even if I could convince myself that he was genuinely interested in me that way, there was still the issue of Piper. Obviously, he didn’t want her the way she was now, but I would still feel like I was betraying my best friend if I took advantage of what had happened to her to steal her boyfriend.
“I’ve known Cousin Luke since we were both in diapers,” Marlene said. “I’ve never seen him look at a ‘friend’ the way he looks at you.”
I blinked in surprise at that. I’d never noticed Luke looking at me in any special way. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Marlene had caught me looking at him like some love-struck puppy, but not the other way around.
“He’s still technically with Piper,” I said, but it sounded lame even to me.
“Even if Piper hadn’t gone off the deep end, there was no way they were going to be together much longer. Luke was too loyal to dump her, but believe me, he was getting tired of some of the shit she pulled.”
Marlene was obviously another entry on the short list of people who didn’t like Piper. The pre-night Piper, that is. There wasn’t much to like about what Piper had become now.
Marlene gave me a long, speculative look that made me want to squirm. Then she said, “I’ll tell you a secret, but you have to promise you won’t tell Luke I told you. He’d kill me.”
It sounded like this secret was one that wasn’t hers to tell, and if I were being honorable I’d have urged her not to share it. If Luke had secrets, that