Page 177 of Cross Checked
He looks at me. “How much does Bliss want shared?”
“Nothing specific,” I say immediately. “Her story belongs to her. You don’t ask. You don’t dig. You don’t look at her like she’s breakable.”
Briggs’s face changes at that, and for once, all the humor is gone. “I would never.”
“I know.”
“I mean it, Mercer.”
“I know,” I repeat, softer this time, because I do.
Briggs has been Bliss’s friend longer than I have. He’s loud and stupid and schedules parties like he’s running a small corrupt government, but he loves his people without makingthem prove they deserve it. If he’d known, he would’ve gone to war for her years ago.
That’s probably another reason this sucks.
Because none of us knew. And Glory Days used that.
Rider tosses his tape into the trash. “So, what do we call this? Watch rotation? Buddy system? Secret service but hotter?”
“Awareness,” Ryan says.
Briggs makes a face. “That’s a terrible group-chat name.”
“We are not making a separate group chat,” I say.
Briggs freezes.
“Absolutely not.”
Rider slowly turns toward him. “He already made one.”
Easton sighs. “Of course he did.”
Briggs pulls his phone halfway out of his locker. “In my defense, it’s called Glory Daze and Confused.”
For three seconds, nobody moves.
Then Ryan closes his eyes like he is praying for strength he doesn’t believe in.
I stare at Briggs. “Delete it.”
“It has a great logo.”
“Delete it.”
“It’s just a placeholder.”
“Briggs.”
“Fine.” He taps his phone dramatically. “Art dies again.”
Rider leans over to peek. “You used a photo of a VHS tape?”
“Because he’s stuck in the past.”
I shake my head. “That’s unfortunately clever.”
“Thank you.”
