Night of Secrets (Night of Secrets #1)

Chapter 3 - Different Dynamics

When Aart parks the car, I get out, telling Santos, "You're so stupid!"

"Me?" He gets out on his side, too, and we meet at the trunk. "All I said was I can go up to - I don't know - Jax and tell him he's stupid."

"Yeah," I nod. "You can because you're close friends. And it's true." Ty chokes on the water he's drinking, spitting it out on the pavement. We all crack up while Ty tries to regain his composure. I wait for them - and me - to calm down before continuing. "I'm just saying that you can't say that to everybody you meet because you think so."

Santos makes a face. "Why not? It's being honest."

"And rude. What if a stranger comes up to you and tells you you're stupid?"

He presses a hand flat against his chest and leans towards me. "I'd say, 'Thank you for your honesty.'"

Is he serious? I turn to Jax, arching an eyebrow. He smiles, shrugging at me. I turn back to Santos. "That's complete bullshit. Knowing you, you'd probably deck them."

Santos narrows his eyes, nodding. "You're not wrong." I laugh, ducking my head. When I straighten again, I have to push my hair out of my face. Santos smiles at me. "I'm glad we're close enough for you to insult me, Adeline."

I return his smile. "Yeah, me, too, stupid."

Santos rolls his eyes, opening the trunk of the car to get their cooler out. "If you call me stupid, I wonder what you call Dean."

I feel my breath catch in my throat. "What...?" Insult Dean? Has that ever even crossed my mind?

Ty laughs, nodding. "That's a good question. How do you even insult Dean? Or Faye and Cyril for that matter?"

I tighten my hold on my bag. My breathing speeds up to match the pace of my heart. Jax glances at me, already arching an eyebrow, silently asking me what's wrong. I glance away, taking a deep breath. It's not even that bad of a question. I shouldn't be reacting this way. I should just tell the truth.

I swallow and glance back up. "I don't."

"Why?" Aart asks. Interesting... This is probably the first time in a few months that he's said something to me. But it's definitely not the first time that he's looked at me with narrowed eyes. "If your entire argument is it's okay to insult close friends, then why don't you?"

I shrug. "It's... not that kind of friendship."

Aart helps Santos bring down the cooler from the trunk, but he never takes his eyes off me. "If you've been friends for like three years, how is it not the kind of friendship where you insult each other? What kind of friendship lasts three years and you're not close enough for that?"

I think I prefer it when he ignores me. To be fair, it's a valid question, but I don't want to answer it. I don't really know how to without giving away too much information. But his stare is unrelenting, and soon enough, the others are watching me, too. My mouth goes dry, and my mind goes blank. Before I can think of something to say, Jax saves me.

"It's because she's Adeline," he explains. "She'll insult us because she knows we can take it and we know she's joking. But she wouldn't try to hurt anyone if she knew they couldn't take it."

Ty nods, smiling at me. "Makes sense."

That's all the confirmation any of them need to turn away. Except Jax. He raises his eyebrows. I offer him a smile, but that only makes him narrow his eyes. Why does he have to be so perceptive all the time? I glance away, and I know he's studying me even more now, but it's better than taking his gaze headon.