I chuckled at Trey’s impatience. “Sorry. Had to set the scene.”
“He obviously thought you wanted to fuck him,” Trey said, shaking his head. “Was that what you were going for?”
“Not even close,” I replied, and we both devolved into a fit of laughter.
Fuck, it felt good to get this off my chest, like the two-ton weight had been lifted, and I could take my first full breath in years.
Once we collected ourselves, Trey asked, “Then what happened?”
“Well, before we could plan to hang out, the press got wind of Sutton pressing charges, and the media shitstorm blew up in my face. Or so I thought.”
In the wake of the story breaking, Ryan went underground, and I thought I’d missed my chance. But then I realized his disappearance from the public eye—not even his family, according to them, knew where he’d gone—could work to my advantage.
So I’d texted him, telling him if he needed anything at all, I’d be more than happy to help. Likely desperate for some sort of human interaction after nearly a week off the grid at that point, Ryan had taken me up on my offer.
“He said he hadn’t told his parents where he was going because he didn’t want them to have to lie to the police.”
“I’m confused,” Trey said. “How did he evenknowhe needed to go underground?”
“Someone in the police department tipped off his dad, I guess.” I rolled my eyes. “Rich people shit, you know.”
Trey snorted. “Do I ever.”
“Anyway, he sent me the address for this super remote cabin, and I genuinely couldn’t believe my luck.”
“I have to ask, Lane…did you go out there with the intention of killing him?”
“Of course not!”
I truly hadn’t. I’d merely wanted to beat the shit out of him, to make sure he’d think of my fist smashing in his face every time he thought about harming anyone else again. I told Trey that.
“He sent me this giant list of supplies. Food and beer and shit.”
“Condoms and lube,” he smirked.
“Fuck you,” I said with an eye roll.
“What happened?”
“I fucking lost it,” I said with a snort, shaking my head.
When I’d seen that fucker’s face, I’d barely been able to control my rage. But I’d played nice for the sake of appearances, not wanting him to run or spook and call in reinforcements.
After I’d finished unloading his supplies, I searched for a way to get him out of the house. The last thing I wanted was any evidence of my having been there. We were deep enough into the mountains that I could rely on snowfall to cover my tire tracks.
“He offered me a beer, clearly misinterpreting the tension in my body as nervousness over what he thought was a hookup. I declined, but there was a moment where I thought,what the fuck am I doing? I almost just left. Let it go and let the police deal with him.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Icouldn’t. Every time I thought about Sutton?—”
“You really love her, don’t you?” he asked without a hint of judgement.
I nodded. “I have since I was nineteen.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “None of us knew.”
“You weren’t supposed to,” I said with a shrug. “Everything was so new. We became really good friends in our first year of college. One day, things…changed.”
