Now it was Shawn who could feel his head threatening to explode, if only at the unfairness of the accusation. “I only followed you because you were hiding something from me.”

“Maybe that should have been a hint,” Gus said. “If I was hiding something from you, maybe it was because I didn’t want you to know about it.”

“What kind of person hides things from his best friend?”

“What kind of best friend doesn’t respect his best friend’s privacy?” Gus said.

This was not going at all the way Shawn had thought it would. Gus should have broken down and begged for forgiveness by now. Instead he seemed as angry as Shawn. Now Shawn wasn’t sure where to turn. Escalation was always an option, of course, but he wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish that without sounding like a jilted lover. He could try being calm and reasonable, but that approach just didn’t appeal at the moment. And he’d already tried to blow up Gus’ brain. Maybe, he thought, he should have come up with a plan before he confronted Gus.

But one of Gus’ great qualities was his inability to stay mad for long, and the anger was already easing from his face. That old, familiar guilty look was coming on. Which meant that he would be ready to have a civilized conversation about his elaborate betrayal. Better yet, it meant he’d gone soft, and it would be a snap for Shawn to grind him into the sidewalk.

“Look, I’m really sorry about keeping this from you,” Gus said before Shawn could raise his boot heel to start the grinding.

“You didn’t keep anything from me,” Shawn said. “I’ve known about it all the time. All about it all the time, in fact. As if you could hide anything from me.”

Gus didn’t look like he’d been ground into anything, let alone the concrete. He didn’t even look angry. Shawn studied his face and tried to understand the expression on it. Then he took a step back when he realized it was pity.