“Oh, that’s perfect then. I’m parched.” I grabbed the can back from Garrett and cracked it open, taking a huge swig of the skunked beer. It took every ounce of facial control I possessed not to twist my features into the look of disgust they begged to show. “Mmmm … yummy.”
“What happened to your no-drinking policy?”
I gave them an ambivalent shrug. “You tried to enforce it and failed. End of story.”
After the night I’d had, a drink seemed like the best idea ever.
“You rebel!” Tabby exclaimed, clinking her can against mine. Apparently, she wasn’t against my push-back-when-pushed attitude.
“Two sassy peas in a pod, that’s what you two are.”
“Which makes you screwed,” I added.
“Completely.”
I laughed at Garrett’s resignation and handed him the can. He nodded and took a swig of it.
“Dear God that tastes like it’s been festering in the sun for days.”
“It probably was.”
I looked over to Tabby, expecting her to chime in, but found her staring off in the distance, concern worrying her brow. I turned to see what she was staring at and found a mob of football players approaching. Donovan was leading the pack—like the alpha wolf he’d become. The usual suspects followed not far behind.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea,” Tabby said, taking my hand in hers. “Do you want to go?”
“Why? I can’t run every time I see him—or the rest of them, for that matter. And even Donovan’s not dumb enough to do something here with all these witnesses.”
“Damn right he won’t,” Garrett said, squaring his shoulders.
“Whoa! Down boy. Try to keep your testosterone in check. That is not a fight you want.”
“Why not? Afraid I’d lose? I’m not exactly tiny, Ky.”
“Right, but you’re not fueled by chemical strength enhancers, either, like ’roid-boy over there. It’d be like going to battle against Juggernaut. Unless you have superpowers I’m unaware of, I wouldn’t suggest it.”
“That would be so cool if you did have superpowers,” Tabby said, tossing her empty can into a nearby bucket. “I wonder what they’d be.…”
“Okay, she is officially cut off, and you are not picking a fight with Donovan.”
“I’m not looking to start something, Ky, but if he goes after you, I’m sure as hell not going to stand by and watch.”
“Fair enough. I appreciate your unwillingness to watch me get my ass kicked.”
I smiled wide, trying to ease the tension coiling in Garrett’s body.
“I need another one,” Tabby announced, scooping her arms around Garrett’s and my waists. She ushered us away from the incoming football players and toward the coolers of beer.
“Do you not understand what cut off means?” I asked with a laugh. Garrett joined in, teasing Tabby as we let her escort us toward the far side of the party.
I looked over my shoulder as we walked, wanting to see if we’d been spotted. The narrow eyes of Donovan staring at me let me know we had. I maintained eye contact, unwilling to flinch first, but when he puckered up and blew me a kiss in a menacing way, I did. I started to look away before catching myself.
I wouldn’t let him intimidate me.
Without thinking, I stopped and turned to face him. Raising two middle fingers in the air, I waved them around like sparklers on the Fourth of July. So much for the looking-afraid/laying-low game plan. By the time Garrett realized what I was doing and intervened, it was too late. Donovan was a bull seeing red. He was all but scraping the ground with his hooves and snorting. Actually, he might have been snorting, but I was too far away to tell.
Looked like someone had taken a few too many pills that night.
Right before he charged, AJ stepped in front of him, grabbing him by his shirt. Donovan wrapped his hand around AJ’s throat and pulled him in closer. For a second, my heart dropped into my shoes. I was pretty certain AJ was about to die.
But then suddenly Donovan let him go with a shove for good measure. AJ stood his ground like the fearless kid I’d once known him to be. The good guy. The white knight. Not the opportunistic pornographer he’d turned into.
“I think maybe it’s time to go,” Garrett said, pulling me away toward the edge of the crowd. As he dragged Tabby and me toward the truck, I couldn’t help but stare at AJ. He hadn’t moved. He just stood there in front of Donovan, silently baiting him. I had no doubt that he had reiterated his earlier threat. The question was why? He’d told me that he would have intervened for anyone that day in the locker room, but that was because I was alone there. There was nobody else to help me. That wasn’t the case tonight. He stood nothing to gain from doing what he’d done, which made me question his motives the whole way to the truck.
“Have you lost your damn mind?” Garrett asked, snapping my attention back to our fleeing group.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
“You know exactly why you did it. You just can’t let shit go, Ky. It’s like a disease to you. Your temper is going to be the death of you one day.”
“I know. I’m sorry guys, I just—”
“How about you just don’t do it again? Maybe try thinking before acting when you’re pissed off?”
“I was fine until he smiled that smug, victorious smile and kissed the air at me. Then I just lost it, and—”
“Started a war?” Tabby said. She’d said it without judgment, but it was clear in her tone that she was worried.
“I started that the day I helped Amy. I couldn’t really make things worse.”
“Yeah,” Garrett scoffed. “That move totally made everything better.”
“I said I was sorry!”
“I heard you. But sorry doesn’t make everything okay, Ky. You should know that better than anyone.” Ouch. I visibly flinched at his words as I stood by the open cab of his truck. He was referring to AJ’s pleas after the photo incident. No matter how many times he said he was sorry that it happened, it didn’t make it better.
As much as I hated to admit it, Garrett was right.
“I was wrong,” I said softly, trying not to choke on my guilt. “I need to get control over my temper. I know that. It’s just—it’s really hard, and there’s just so much shit going on that I wanted to punch that look off of Donovan’s face so much it physically hurt.”
Garrett stood there holding the passenger door and sighed. He let it go and closed the distance between us to give me a hug.
“It’s okay, Ky. Just try to direct your wrath a little more carefully, would you? Maybe keep your eye on the prize?”
I nodded in agreement, then wiggled out of Garrett’s embrace to climb into the truck, closing the door behind me. As I buckled my seat belt, I saw Garrett walking away from the truck back toward the party. A jolt of panic shot through my body, until I realized that he wasn’t going back there to go after Donovan. He was going after the person approaching the truck.
AJ Miller.
For a second, I couldn’t move. I just stared out the windshield watching Garrett physically stop AJ from coming closer to his truck. The two stood inches from one another, Garrett’s hand on AJ’s chest. Finally, my brain kicked in and I threw the door open, trying to jump out, only to be thwarted by the seat belt.
“Stupid safety device,” I grumbled, unbuckling it.
“Maybe you should—”
“Not now, Tabby.”
I launched myself out of the truck and started running toward the boys. It looked like a standoff that had been a long time coming, and I wanted no part of witnessing it.
“Garrett! It’s time to go.”
“Yep. Be there in a sec.”
“No. Now!”
“Ky,” AJ started, “I told you to be careful with Donovan.”
“She knows that, asshole. She doesn’t need your lecture.”
“Really? Does she need yours? Are you choosing sides again?” AJ’s tone w
as laced with hurt and anger. Tabby came to stand beside me, holding on to my arm. She’d wanted to know the history between Garrett, AJ, and me, and it seemed like she was about to find out before the weekend.
“I chose a long time ago, AJ,” said Garrett. “I don’t need to choose again, because unlike you, I don’t betray the people I care about.”
“That’s exactly what you did, Garrett. You turned your back on me! We were like brothers. We grew up together.” AJ’s face with flushed with anger and frustration. “How could you just flip on me like that?”
“How could I not after what you did?”
“I DIDN’T DO IT!” he shouted, getting all up in Garrett’s face. “You know me—you know that I’d never do anything like that to anyone, let alone Ky. She’s the last person in the world I’d want to hurt!”
“So she lied about the whole thing? Is that what you’re saying?” Garrett punctuated his question by shoving AJ.
“I always understood why Kylene thought what she thought, Garrett. She was scared and violated, and the evidence was damning. I get that. Never once did I blame her for feeling how she felt. But you? How could you not even give me a chance? How could you not hear my side?”
“I did hear your side!”
“Guys, let’s just drop this—” I said.
“Holy shit…” AJ’s face went slack with shock—genuine shock. “It all makes so much sense now.”
“What does?” Garrett asked, clearly irritated.
“Why you went AWOL after she left. Why you cut ties with your old friends—your old life.”
“What in the hell are you talking about, AJ?”
“I was always the third wheel in your mind, wasn’t I?” AJ stared at Garrett, silently demanding an answer. He got nothing. “I can’t believe this. I knew you loved her, Garrett, but not like that.” I couldn’t help but pry my gaze from AJ to look up at Garrett. His fists were clenched at his sides, while his body coiled, ready to pounce on AJ at any moment. AJ was getting to him, which made me question if there wasn’t a kernel of truth to the accusation. “You didn’t want to really hear my side because you wanted it to be true. If it was, it gave you the opportunity you’d been waiting for to swoop in and claim what you thought should be yours.”
“Shut your fu—”
“Tell me I’m wrong!” AJ shouted. “Tell me you didn’t pine for her while she was gone, wallowing in your new bad-boy-rocker persona. That you thought you’d missed your shot to be with her.” Garrett remained silent. “And then her life goes to shit, driving her back to this godforsaken town, and all is right with the world. You just take up your rightful place at her side like nothing ever happened. How convenient for you, Garrett.”
“You asshole!” Garrett snapped, grabbing AJ by his shirt. “You want to know why I turned my back on you? Because as much as you said you didn’t do it, and as much as I wanted to believe that, your actions told another story. You stood right alongside the others and held strong while she was balled up in the corner of her room, crying. You didn’t do anything to stop the whispers about her in the halls or the laughter that followed her wherever she went. You didn’t step up when someone said she deserved it or asked for it or felt guilty for being a whore and was trying to make herself a victim when really she’d wanted it all along.” Garrett shook AJ for a second, tossing him back a step or two. When he lunged to grab him again, I caught his arm and held him back. “This town turned on her and you did nothing, AJ. NOTHING! You sat back and kept quiet and gladly slipped into the quarterback position when I quit the team because I couldn’t stand to be near any of those assholes. Not after the things I’d heard them say. But you? You were all too happy to fill those shoes, weren’t you? So don’t turn this around on me and make it into something it isn’t. I love Kylene the way I always have—as a friend. And that’s why I did what I did. Because I know what it’s like to be loyal, unlike your shady ass.”
“You have no idea what loyalty is,” AJ growled under his breath.
“Fine! Maybe I don’t. But what I do know is this: I heard the guys that were there that night talking about what happened when you weren’t around—when they didn’t know I was in the locker room with them. I heard all about how you fed Ky booze all night until she was good and drunk and ready to pass out. How you bragged about how memorable the night was going to be. I guess memorable to you means taking pics of your topless girlfriend when she’s passed out in a hot tub. The only comfort I find when I think about that night is that you didn’t do anything else, because then I would have had to kill you.”
“You sick bastard,” Tabby gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth. Then she shocked the hell out of all of us. She took three determined steps forward and slapped AJ Miller square across his face. She caught him just right, creating a snapping sound that seemed to echo forever. “Get out of here. Now.” Her shocked tone had left, replaced with an icy snarl.
AJ’s sad eyes fell on me.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and to remind you not to mess with Donovan. That’s all. I’m sorry I dredged all this up, Ky.” I said nothing in response. “Just remember that my story has never changed. I’m not sure Garrett can say the same—not if he tells you the real truth about that night.” He turned and walked back to the party, disappearing into the crowd that had all taken an interest in what was going down.
“Let’s go,” Garrett said, heading back to the truck. I could hear the anger still lingering in his tone. With my mind reeling, I looked over at Tabby, who was wincing as she shook her hand. I knew that slap had hurt her almost as much as it had AJ.
“I’m going to have to teach you some moves if you plan on pulling stunts like that more often.”
“I just—I just got so mad!”
“Yeah. I know the feeling.”
“Did he—did AJ really do what Garrett said?”
I shrugged.
“That’s partly why I left town just over two years ago. We said it was because my dad got a promotion—and he did—but we would have left regardless.”
“No wonder you hate it here so much. I’m sorry I made you come tonight.”
“Nobody can make me do anything, Tabby.”
“Okay.” She hesitated, looking at me with a thoughtfulness I was unfamiliar with. Then, without warning, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me fiercely. She hugged me with the understanding that only another female could have. Someone who understands what it is like to live under the threat of sexual exploitation. Someone who knows what it is like to have society view you all too often as an object and not a person.
Garrett honked the horn at us. Tabby released me and wiped the corners of her eyes, then walked back to the truck and climbed in. She was far more complicated than I gave her credit for. She was sunshine and unicorns and Einstein all rolled up into one lanky redheaded package. But there was a fierceness in her that was easy to overlook, even if you had borne witness to it. She was a fighter. A force to be reckoned with.
And one hell of a friend to have in your corner.
I jogged back to the truck to join the other two, trying to process everything that had happened that night. It was a lot to ask of my brain. My head started to hurt minutes later as the three of us drove home in relative silence. Garrett dropped Tabby off, then brought me back to Gramps’. I was halfway to the house when he killed the engine and jumped out.
“What?” he said, as though I’d already begun my interrogation. “Meg was very clear: you are not to be alone at home, so … I don’t see Gramps home. I’m staying.” I shook my head and laughed as I walked up onto the porch. Thankfully there were no little presents waiting for me there. I already knew that I wouldn’t be getting much sleep that night. My unanswered questions would never allow that to happen. But who needed sleep anyway? I could sleep when I was dead.
And if I couldn’t find a way to shut down the escalating situations around me, I wondered if that eventuality would be far sooner than later.
TWENTY-FOUR
I slept in late that morning, exhaustion having kicked in. I came out to find Garrett gone and Gramps’ truck in the driveway. He seemed to have gotten home from work later than usual—and he still had to go back in for overtime that day. I felt guilty when I thought about how hard he had to work at his age. He was getting ready to retire when everything went south for my dad. Once Gramps saw the writing on the wall, he knew he’d have at least one extra in his home sooner or later, and he kept his job. Knowing that I was a strain on his finances made me feel horrible, so I tried not to think about it any more than necessary. I hoped my job at Meg’s would be enough to help out.
Once I was cleaned up, I headed to Columbus to meet with Striker.
I was a few minutes early, which was fine by me. I was hoping I could track down the cybercrime guy Meg had mentioned to me—the John or Jim who had looked into my case two and a half years earlier. With any luck, he still worked there. With a miracle, he’d remember something about the investigation.
I pushed through the glass double doors and walked up to the security desk. The officer working there smiled at me. He clearly had no idea who I was.
“Hi, I’m supposed to meet Agent Striker in a few minutes, but I was hoping you might be able to help me with something while I wait.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I’m trying to get in contact with someone from cybercrime—he has a J name. Like John … or Jim…”
“It’s Jim,” a familiar voice said. I cringed before turning to confirm what I already knew. Agent Dawson was headed my way. Again.
“Great. Thanks for clearing that up.” I returned my attention to the man at the security stop. “Could I get his number, please?”
“I’ve got this, Bill,” Dawson said, taking me by the arm to usher me away. I didn’t want to cause a scene by yanking out of his grip, but damn was it hard not to. When he put a few yards between us and anyone else in the sizeable lobby, he started in on me. “What do you want to talk to Jim about?”
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