“My pleasure,” he said and motioned his head over his shoulder. “Let’s go for the boardwalk. From what I remember, people rarely check it out during move-in weekend.”
“I didn’t take you for a nature trail type of guy.” I followed his lead into the boardwalk. The wood was old and splintered. Trees had overgrown onto the railing, making it feel as if the place was being reclaimed.
“Finding secret places is my specialty,” he reminded me with a low laugh.
I took a deep breath, suddenly nervous to be alone with him. His prediction was right, there didn’t seem to be anyone interested in this trail today. The only sound surrounding us was the rustling of leaves and squeaking of whatever squirrel or bird nearby.
“How have you been?” I asked the same time he asked, “How are you?”
We both laughed. Weston gestured his hand in my direction. “You first.”
“Some days are better than others,” I shared. “Thankfully, my better days are outnumbering the bad.”
Weston nodded with a close-lipped smile. “Perfect. I hoped I’d find you happy.”
“I have,” I confirmed, unable to hide the giddiness in my tone when I added, “Ari moved down for the year. We’re sharing an apartment with Yara. It should be fun.”
“The nervous one and the hacker,” Weston mused. “Sounds like you’ve gotten yourself an interesting pair of roommates.”
I shrugged with a laugh. “Yeah, together we’ll be a handful.”
“Have you… been talking to someone?” He hesitantly met my gaze. “Someone to help with your sadness.”
“I have and it’s going well. She’s helped me so much.” I didn’t feel embarrassment anymore when I spoke of therapy. At first, it had been hard to tell people I couldn’t do things because of my sessions. I would go out of my way to keep the therapy part of my life hidden. But now, my shame faded. Rose and I worked too hard for me to be embarrassed of my growth.
“Good. I’ve been seeing someone too,” he confessed while running a hand across the top of his head. The hair wasn’t long enough to grip anymore, but he still ran his fingers across as if maybe a few strands would catch between his fingers. From the hitch of his voice and the red on his neck, I realized Weston wasn’t at the point of shamelessness.
“Is it helping?” I asked with hope.
Weston paused walking and leaned his back on the boardwalk railing. He faced me with his arms crossed as he replied, “Kind of.”
I stopped walking too, leaning on the railing opposite to him. “I’m glad to hear you’re trying.”
“Yeah, there are a lot of things I need to make an effort doing,” he said. “Starting with this place.”
I took a deep breath. After a year of waiting, I was going to finally get some answers. Get closure. And potentially, get another chance for us.
“What happened?” I prompted when he spent a couple of minutes silently thinking. Maybe he needed a little push. Encouragement to be open. “The night with the coaches. You weren’t on the security footage.”
I watched his jaw tighten. He pressed his eyes shut for a moment. I waited patiently and silently wondered if I should have just kept my mouth shut. His new triggers were unknown to me. I wasn’t sure he’d ever give me the chance to learn them.
“Lawrence had his own idea on how to handle the situation,” Weston finally explained.
“I’ll say,” I murmured.
News stations reported the coaches had been found after two weeks of being missing. Some kids stumbled upon them, beaten, tied up and gagged in the middle of an abandoned factory. The story seemed huge, but after only two days of reporting, stations seemed to lose interest.
I followed the case on my own, of course. I read every online article I could get my hands on, but it was never enough. Somehow, Axe and Bill pulled enough strings to get the story buried. The investigation ended after only three months. Both coaches left. Axe found a job at a high school. I couldn’t find Bill’s new place of employment. Not only was Weston’s name kept out of the case, but Lawrence’s too.
“We split up that night,” Weston continued. “I panicked because he wanted to take them to another location. I got in my truck and left. Went to Anderson City like we’d originally planned. Then, I stayed with my brother in California for a few months. My dad knew I was in trouble when he saw the coverage.”
“What did he do?”
“Told me to drop out.” Weston rubbed the back of his neck. “I did. It made sense. I couldn’t be here. I didn’t deserve to.”
I frowned. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s not self-deprecation, Covee,” he promised. “It’s the truth. I have to earn all this again. I have to… earn you.”
