Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 151765 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 759(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 506(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151765 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 759(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 506(@300wpm)
Alex and Trenton moved in closer to him.
“I knew,” I said, my voice hoarse. “You guys knew I knew, but I didn’t know that he was still cheating. Your mom asked me to wait. I didn’t say anything because she said she wanted to do it, but she never did, and I . . . I should’ve said something. I’m sorry.”
Were they mad at me? They could’ve been.
As if reading my mind, Clint sent me a sad smile. “Not mad at you. Don’t go there, okay?”
Right.
My throat was thick with emotion, but right. I jerked my head in a nod. “Thanks.” My voice was still hoarse.
“I don’t think I want to go to college.” That was Trenton.
“What?” Clint asked.
“You what?” From Alex.
Trenton held up his hands. “I thought we were sharing. I’m not saying I’m not going. Just saying I don’t want to go. Sharing circle here. Clint said his thing. Then Rams. I thought it was the right time to do mine. Don’t be so harsh, you know, considering the other truths revealed tonight.” He motioned toward the house and Scout before dropping his hands back down by his side.
Alex shot him a glare before shaking his head. His shoulders hunched forward. “I told Ciara and Leanne that I’d take both of them to Homecoming.”
Everyone’s eyebrows went up.
He let out a deep sigh, his head falling down even more. “I said it when I was having sex with them at the same time.”
“Holy shit.” Clint’s hands went in the air. “I gotta walk away on that one.”
Trenton was eyeing his brother. “Both of them?”
Alex nodded.
“At the same time?”
Another nod from Alex.
Trenton’s eyes rolled. “That’s not really something pivotal to share here.”
Alex huffed. “It is for me! I don’t want to take them both to Homecoming. Do you know how expensive that’ll be?”
Trenton’s lips twitched.
Cohen let out a laugh.
Even Scout grinned. “They won’t do that to you.”
Alex sent him a look. “You think?”
“It was a heat-of-the-moment thing. No way will they think you’re taking both of them to the dance.”
Cohen added, “But you’ll have to choose, and I gotta say, your ass will be in a sling from the one you don’t choose.”
“Thanks,” Alex muttered, shooting him a dark look.
Cohen shrugged, grinning. “I’m taking Kira to Homecoming.”
“That’s the truth you’re sharing?” Trenton griped. “You need to do better than that.”
Cohen thought on it. “I really, really want to do something to Macon Rice for what he did to Amalia. It’s not enough that I already beat the shit out of him, and it’s not enough that he’s in jail. I drive by his house all the time. Sometimes, I park and watch his place, wondering who he loves that I could hurt so he’d know what it feels like?” He asked Trenton, “That good enough?”
“Plenty, and holy shit, dude.”
Scout glanced Cohen’s way. “Don’t do anything that’ll put you in jail. That’ll hurt Amalia even more.”
“I know.”
Clint grunted. “But also, ditto.” He gave me a pointed glance before looking back at Cohen.
I felt that look, felt it all the way to my toes. It knocked me back.
I said, almost to myself, “I can’t believe I saw Max’s brother tonight.”
“He wasn’t backed by his frat. It’s not much, but it’s something.” Scout moved over so he was closer to me.
“It’s not enough.” Clint cursed. “It’ll never fucking be enough. I’d take any of the Prestiges without a pulse and buried six feet down, and it wouldn’t ever be enough. How’s that for another share from me? I daydream about taking a shovel and beating the fuck out of that kid, and then when he’s dead, I’m still wailing on him. I can’t stop. I fucking breathe that fantasy at times.”
“Clint,” I whispered, half horrified, and half heartbroken.
His angry and blazing eyes flicked my way before looking away. The emotion in there zapped me all over again. “Can’t help it, Rams. That’s how I’m built.”
There were no words because I couldn’t take back what happened.
I couldn’t make it unhappen.
I couldn’t bring my dad back.
I couldn’t stop myself from falling for a guy like Max in the first place.
I could only hope and wish and heal and do something so others wouldn’t do what I did.
That was what I’d do.
I’d make amends that way. Or try.
Alex had come back and said quietly, “You gotta share something Scout.”
“That true about your dad?” Trenton asked him.
Scout moved so he was right by me and I could feel the tension coming off him. “We’re estranged. I don’t want to talk about my dad.”
I looked up, tipping my head back.
He tipped his head down, his eyes finding mine.
I said it softly, “You should tell them.”
I meant about his family because I didn’t think it was his dad that the fraternity guy was referencing, but it wasn’t for me to say. It was my place to prompt him, to give him a nudge because he was allowed support. That much I knew.