“By the end, yes,” I say. “He wasn’t the same person I knew, and I resented going anywhere with him.”
“Fucking hell,” he says. “Why didn’t you tell me you were getting threats from him?”
“Why would I?” I question. “You and I … we’re not … I don’t even know what this is, but it’s not your responsibility to fight my fights, and besides, I’ve known you all of two seconds, and the majority of that time, we’ve been at each other’s throats. Plus, you made sure I had front row tickets to the blowjob of the century and that kinda killed the vibe.”
He cringes, guilt flashing in his dark eyes and a part of me loves that he hates himself for doing that to me. “I don’t care, Killjoy. If someone is threatening to fuck with you, I want to know about it.”
“Let me get this right,” I say, a smile pulling at my lips. “You can fuck with me, but no one else can?”
“Damn straight,” he says, pressing my phone back into my hand.
A moment of silence passes between us before I find the nerve to continue. “Look, the guy I thought I knew, the one I got to know, he would never have hurt your sister,” I tell him. “But this guy, this stranger who’s messaging me with all this anger and ugliness, the guy who tried to hurt me at the party on Friday night, I believe that guy did exactly what you’re accusing him of doing.”
Tanner steps into me, his hand curling around the back of my neck and using his thumb to press under my chin to raise my gaze to him. “You’re with me?”
My mind swirls with images from that night, little snippets I’ve been trying to remember while also taking me back to the conversation I had with Orlando, needing me to create a bullshit alibi. “I’m with you,” I whisper. “I’ll stand with you right to the grave. I want justice for your sister, and if the cops aren’t going to do it, then it’s up to us. I just … I wish I could remember everything clearer, but it’s all so foggy. I feel like I’m letting you down … letting Addison down.”
His thumb rubs back and forth across my jaw and he shakes his head. “That’s not possible,” he murmurs, his voice thick with emotion.
“How did you know it was him?” I ask. “Did someone come forward?”
Tanner nods and his hands tighten on my thighs. “His name was put forward to the police. They haven’t given us any details about the case. All they’ve said is that he claimed he wasn’t there that night, which we both know is bullshit, but I don’t need their evidence, I just know it was him.”
My brows furrow and I meet his stare. “What are you talking about?”
He shakes his head. “This is ugly, Bri. I don’t want to have to tell you this.”
“I can handle it.”
He swallows and takes a hesitant step back and my heart pounds, fearing what’s about to come out of his mouth. “A few years ago, there was a party at that piece of shit lake house in Hope Falls.” I nod, knowing the one. “Riley and I went, and I met this girl and—”
“You fucked her?”
Tanner nods, hesitation in his eyes. “Yeah, it was Colby’s older sister.”
My eyes bug out of my head, my back stiffening as pieces start to fall into place. “Rachael?” I gasp. “Everybody knows the story from that night. She was caught cheating on her boyfriend with some Bradford rich kid and ended up being labeled the school slut. She eventually dropped out of school and apparently went to live with some uncle out of state. I heard she didn’t even bother completing her school year and never graduated.”
Tanner presses his lips into a hard line before indicating toward himself. “Bradford rich kid.”
“Holy fuck. That was you,” I say, having heard this all from Colby at the beginning of our relationship, knowing just how much he despised Tanner for what happened. He never told me his name but would always say how he would destroy him if he ever got the chance. “He’s always blamed you for what happened to his sister, but you weren’t the one cheating on her boyf—wait. You would have only been a sophomore.”
“I know,” he murmurs, the corner of his lips pulling into a cocky smirk. “But Colby doesn’t see it that way, and now my sister is breathing through tubes because I fucked some random girl at a party two years ago.”
Reaching out, I take his hands and pull him back into me, my eyes expressing everything I don’t know how to say. “He really did it, didn’t he?” Tanner nods and curls his hand around the back of my neck before dropping his forehead to mine. “This isn’t your fault, Tanner. This is all on Colby, and now that I know, there’s nothing stopping me from helping you destroy him. Whatever you need, I’m all yours.”
“Don’t say that,” he warns me. “I might just take it literally.”
A thrill shoots through me and I quickly squash it down, knowing we’re not nearly done with this conversation. “You need to know that Colby hired Orlando to represent him.”
Tanner nods, his gaze darkening, telling me this single piece of information has already made plenty of rounds through his head. “I know.”
“He asked me to falsify an alibi, stating that Colby was with me during the time of your sister’s attack,” I explain. “I refused to do it, but you need to know that with Orlando working his case, he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure Colby’s name is scrubbed free of this, and we can’t let that happen.”
Tanner shakes his head, anger blazing in his dark eyes. “I’d sooner lay my life down than allow Colby Jacobs to walk free. He will pay for hurting Addie,” he vows, “even if I have to take the law into my own hands.”
My hand slips up the front of his shirt and curves around his waist before pulling him in closer. As he hovers over me, I tip my head forward to his chest. “I feel like such an idiot for not seeing it,” I tell him. “Colby was different around his football friends, but I figured it was the usual, trying to look like a man’s man in front of his friends, trying to be cool, and now I wonder if that was the real him all along and he was just playing me in the hope of me spreading my legs.”
Tanner cringes at that last comment. “I owe you a proper apology,” he says. “I never should have suggested that you were at fault for my sister getting hurt because you weren’t giving it up to him. That was a low blow for me.”
“It was,” I agree, “but you were angry, and while that’s no excuse for your behavior, I understand it.”
“Let me take you out this weekend.”
A laugh bubbles up my throat and he grins back at me, amused by my reaction. I push him back a step, giving me space to push away from the desk. “You and I both know that’s the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
“Couldn’t be any worse than any of my other ideas.”
“Your last idea nearly killed me with a flying chain,” I remind him. “And for the record, Orlando was pissed, but don’t worry, I threw you right under the bus.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else.”
Stepping around him, I walk to the door before he can convince me to do something he and I are really not ready for. Pausing, I glance back. “For what it’s worth, your contribution to my essay sucked. You need to work on your adjectives. You called yourself sexy fifteen times. Fifteen, Tanner. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it before, but there’s this crazy thing called a thesaurus. You should look into that.”