His earlier words echoed in her mind:“You can trust me. When you’re ready.”
At the time, she’d told him that she did trust him, and that still held true. She just prayed that when he knew the full truth about what she’d done, that he wouldn’t walk away.
She took a deep breath in for courage and then slowly exhaled. His brown eyes remained locked on hers, remained steady.
“I’d just turned sixteen,” she began. Her stomach twisted with nerves and gut-wrenching memories. “At that point, Axel had laid down some pretty strict rules for me, and I was pushing every boundary I could.” Looking back, the rules were simply a big brother trying to keep his youngest sibling safe. But at the time, they had been stifling and unfair. “It was the weekend before Halloween, and there was a party I wanted to go to. Axel said absolutely not. When he went to his room for the night, I snuck out. Earlier that day, I’d parked my car on the street so no one would hear it start up—I thought I was so damn smart—and went to pick up Sarah, my best friend.”
Her insides squeezed, and she blinked back tears. So much heartbreak. So much regret. “In the back of my mind, deep in my gut,” she continued, “I knew it wasn’t a good idea. I’d just gotten my driver’s license, so I knew I wasn’t supposed to have passengers for the first six months, but I didn’t care. I was so tired of all of Axel’s rules. Be home by ten. Dress like a nun. No boyfriends. No makeup. No fun.”
Idiot. She’d been such a fool.
“Sarah and I made it to the party—some house in the middle of nowhere between Blanchard Bay and Bellingham.” She recalled some Maroon 5 song blaring on the speakers, and the smell of too many clashing perfumes and colognes and spilled beer combining into a nauseating aroma. It should have been an omen. “There were kids from our high school there, and a ton of kids we didn’t know. We were there for about an hour when my brother texted me.”
Goosebumps rose over her skin at the memory.
Axel
If you don’t get your ass back home this instant, I will drive out there and pick your ass up my damn self.
He’d included a screenshot of her location on their phone tracker.
Shit, shit, shit!
And just so you know, Sarah’s mom called me and asked if she could drop anything off for brunch tomorrow. You know, since Sarah is apparently here for a sleepover. What the fuck, Freya?
Oh, shit!Bile rose in her stomach, and she frantically glanced around looking for Sarah. Spotting her across the room with a couple seniors from their school, Freya rushed over.
“What’s up, girl?” a familiar-looking guy said, handing her a shot glass of who knows what. “Bottoms up!”
Setting her can of beer on a table, she slammed back the shot and winced.Ugh. Whiskey. Gross.“Thanks,” she said with a pained smile and grabbed Sarah’s hand. “I need to talk to you.”
Pulling her friend to the side, she showed Sarah the texts from her brother.
Sarah’s green eyes widened. “Shit. Did Axel say I wasn’t at your place?”
She shrugged. “You know as much as I do.”
“Shit, we have to get out of here.” Sarah pulled her toward the front door and stumbled.
Freya grabbed her friend by the waist, concerned. “How much did you have to drink?”
“Just a beer and a couple shots.” Sarah frowned. “Are you okay to drive?”
Freya nodded. “Only had that shot just now. The beer was nasty, so I was only holding it.”
“Oh no,” Sarah grumbled, hesitating in the doorway.
Crap. The rain had started to really come down.
Grabbing Sarah’s hand, she squeezed. “Ready?”
With a squeal, they raced to her car and jumped inside. Freya quickly started it up, cranked up the heat, and grabbed her phone.
We’re heading back now. I’m sorry.
Have you been drinking?
She grimaced. They were in the middle of nowhere and it would take at least half an hour to get back to Blanchard Bay.
