Xander kept trying to calm Yvonne down.


    But her emotions were all over the ce just as she started to cool off, the memory of that night would re up, and she''d be seeing red all over again.


    "Shawn managed to drag you away all by himself? Does he even have the muscle for that? Or did you actually want to bolt?" she shot at him.


    He ran...


    Yvonne never would have seen thating.


    If someone told her Dan had pulled a stunt like that, she''d have believed it. After all, that guy had once even faked his own death—skipping town after a one-night stand sounded exactly like his style.


    But Xander?


    She just couldn''t wrap her head around it, couldn''t ept that he would do something like that let alone run.


    Xander gave her a look but said nothing. After all, Lott and Ashley were his closest friends; there were some things you just didn''t rat your friends out for.


    Still, faced with Yvonne''s white-hot fury, he caved. "Ashley and Lott were there, too," he admitted.


    Yvonne stared at him.


    Hearing that Ashley and Lott had been a part of this only made her angrier.


    Ashley and Lott!


    "Unbelievable!" she exploded.


    Those two weren''t just Xander''s friends-they were her friends, too! They''d all grown up together; Ashley was even her ssmate.


    "I treated them like friends! And they pull this on me? I swear, I''ll tear them both apart!"


    She was trembling in fury, feeling like her whole worldtely was just a never-ending minefield, and every single trap was set for her.


    Xander, realizing Ashley and Lott were about to be caught in the crossfire, quickly fired off a message to Shawn: Tell the other two to run for cover, fast.


    Shawn answered almost instantly: "Already called. They''re both out of Ferrond!"


    No wonder. When Yvonne lost her temper, she never held back. Hiding really was their only option.


    Yvonne was so mad she wentpletely silent, withdrawing into herself.


    "Hey," Xander said softly, trying to reach for her hand, "don''t be angry anymore, okay?"


    She yanked her hand away. “Just look at the mess you made."


    He had nothing to say to that.


    "And another thing-" her voice was sharp as knives "—you just stood there and let me beat Dan..."


    Thinking back on it now, Yvonne


    was


    ed. She''d nearly


    Wel


    beaten the guy to a pulp all becatise of this! Content


    And then, in the end, she finds out it had been Xander the whole time.


    Could somebody please tell her what the hell this was all about?


    "I told you,” Xander protested. “You just wouldn''t believe me. That''s not my fault!"


    He''d never denied it—he''d owned up from the start, but every time he did, Yvonne refused to believe him.


    There was nothing he could do.


    Her re could have melted ss.


    Jaw clenched, she looked like she was ready to p him across the face.


    But at the end of it all, her anger came down to one thing.


    "But you ran!" she burst out.


    Xander fell silent.


    “Exin it to me,” she demanded, voice tight with pain and confusion. “How could you possibly run?"


    And honestly, that was the whole


    problem: Yvonne couldn''t picture Xander running away from anything. He just wasnt the type it was beneath him.


    That''s why no matter how many times he insisted it was him that night, she never quite believed it. In her mind, Xander simply wasn''t someone who dever resort to running.


    "The situation got...plicated, and I—” Xander began.


    But before he could finish, Yvonne shot him a look so withering, it cut him off cold.


    "What, sleeping with me suddenly made itplicated?"