Page 285 of What We Bury

“Everything. Nothing. I don’t know. It’s the same fight we’ve been having for weeks, except this time I couldn’t—” She grabs a tissue, twisting it in her hands. “I needed space. I told him I needed space, and he acted like I was the one being unreasonable.”

“Space from what specifically?”

“From him. From the Brock thing. Hisneeds.All of it.” She blows her nose.

“The Brock thing? I thought Brock called his parents and everything was okay.”

Amy gives me a look like I’ve missed something obvious.

“Okay?” she repeats, dragging the tissue under her nose. “Sage, Brock’sparentscalmed down after he left them a voicemail. But Tyler was still losing his mind. He kept saying it didn’t sound right. That Brock wouldn’t just ghost him.”

Wouldn’t just ghost him.

A tiny cold wire pulls tight in my chest.

“Tyler and Brock were that close?” I ask carefully.

She shrugs, but it’s jerky. Defensive. “They’ve known each other forever. Since high school. Tyler acts like Brock’s some sort of God. They were weirdly codependent about it. Like, constantly in each other’s business. Tyler used to drop everything when Brock called.”

I keep my face neutral. “And lately?”

Amy laughs, bitter and wet. “Lately . . .” She shakes her head. “He won’t let it go, Sage. He won’t accept that Brockleft. He keeps saying something happened, keeps pushing me to question you, keeps saying you know more than you’re telling?—”

“I’ve told him everything I know,” I say, and the lie is so practiced now it barely registers.

“I know. I’ve told him that. A hundred times. But he’s—” She stops and takes a breath. “I overheard him on the phone the other night with his friends. And it sounded like . . .” She blows out another breath, shakier this time. “It sounded like they were planning something. Like they were going to come here and corner you. Intimidate you into talking. Tyler said something about ‘making her understand the consequences of lying,’ and I just?—”

She breaks off. The tissue is shredded in her hands.

A chill runs down my spine.

“That’s when I told him I wanted space,” she says. “I can’t be with someone who’s talking about threatening my friend.” Her eyes find mine, red and raw. “I’m sorry, Sage. I don’t know why he’s like this.”

“Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault.”

“It feels like my fault. I brought you to that party, and Brock was there and we kind of pushed you onto him, and now Brock’s gone and Tyler’s unhinged and you’re—” She gestures at me. “Did you move out?”

“Not really. I’m just . . . I’ve been staying at Holden’s with the guys.”

Amy goes still, the Tyler misery sliding off her face.

“Wait.Stayingstaying? You moved in? With all of them?”

“Not officially. I just realized we’ve been taking over the apartment lately. And Holden has a house . . .” I let the sentence trail and shrug. “I don’t hate it.”

“Oh myGod.”Both hands press to her cheeks, delight cutting through the puffiness. “It’sserious.You’redomesticwith five—” She glances at the door, drops her voice. “—five very large, emotionally complicated men. Sage.”

“It’s definitely complicated,” I say, the understatement of my life.

“I have so many logistical questions. And they’ve been running through my head since the pan-cock breakfast so I’m desperate for answers.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

She sits up straighter, suddenly brighter. “After you’ve been with all five of them—can you evenwalk?”

I laugh, and it’s real, and I love her a little for pulling it out of me. “Some days, no. We’ll leave it there.”

But she’s watching my face now, her own smile fading, because Amy’s known me long enough to hear the thing I’m not saying.