Read Online The Devil You Know by Trish Doller - Free Book Online

the party last night, there aren’t a few of them who’d like to tie him to a tree.”
    I want to defend Jason, but there’s probably a waiting list of volunteers. “I guess you’re right. Yesterday I’d have been one of them.”
    â€œSo would his brother.”
    â€œNo way.” The idea is so absurd I have to shake my head. “Jason was basically tortured last night. Justin would never do that.”
    Matt shrugs. “Everyone has their breaking point, Cadie. Maybe he humiliated Jason as punishment for embarrassing you.”
    â€œNo. I don’t believe that.”
    He doesn’t say anything more, so I change the subject. “Even after a wash, I still feel pretty gross. I’m ready to go home and shower.”
    â€œDoes this mean you’re not going to Disney World with us?”
    â€œHaven’t decided yet,” I say. “But if I’m hanging out with you guys today, I need a change of clothes.”
    Matt smiles, and the rabble of butterflies that seem to have taken up residence in my stomach since I met these boys from Maine go on a fluttering spree. My mind travels back to last night, to what Noah said about Matt liking me. My skin doesn’t feel crowded to near-bursting the way it does when I’m around Noah, and maybe if I’d stuck around at the party with Matt … I don’t know. Maybe.
    â€œThanks for helping me this morning,” I say.
    â€œIt was the least I could do.” The wattage on Matt’s smile amps up, and the butterflies do another crazy little dance. “So maybe you know this already,” he says. “ButBar Harbor, where we live in Maine, is part of a national park called Acadia.”
    â€œI’ve heard of it.”
    â€œWhat you might not know is that back in the sixteenth century it was a much larger area that included parts of Canada and was named Arcadia because it was considered an unspoiled wilderness, a kind of utopia. Later, the French dropped the letter
r
and it became Acadia.”
    â€œI didn’t know that part.” The geography nerd in me loves this trivial tidbit of information, especially since it relates to my name, and I can’t say I’m not a little charmed. “Acadia, huh?”
    â€œYep,” he says. “The sunsets there are some of the best, especially when the sky turns red over Cadillac Mountain. “You should see it.”
    â€œI’m adding it to my mental to-visit list as we speak.”
    â€œPut Disney World on the list, too,” Matt says as we reach the campsite. “Because I really hope you’ll come with us.”
    Noah sits on a log beside the fire, drinking coffee out of a blue-speckled camp mug and prodding at the smoldering wood with a stick. Lindsey is hunched over her own steaming mug at the other end of the log, her hair tangled around her shoulders. She looks tired, and it occurs to me that it’s still really early. Barely seven.
    â€œHey.” Noah hands me his mug as I sit down beside him. I take a sip, then hand it back. Our shoulders and upper arms press together as if they’re made of Velcro, and I want to kiss his sleepy face. “Where ya been?”
    I tell him about Jason.
    â€œThat’s some messed-up shit,” Noah says. “Any idea who did it?”
    â€œNo one’s talking.”
    â€œMy money’s still on the brother.” Matt pours himself some coffee. “He didn’t look happy when you two left the party last night.” He gestures toward Noah and me with his mug. “And he was pretty pissed off at the river yesterday.”
    â€œSo was Noah.” Lindsey’s face turns pink when all three of us look at her. “I didn’t mean—oh my God, I’m sorry. I don’t mean you would do that. I meant that I don’t think Noah or Justin would hurt Jason.”
    â€œI wouldn’t.” There’s a sharp edge to Noah’s denial.