“Is Braden?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I could see him doing it more than you.”
He cocks his head. “And why is that?”
“Because you care about people. You wouldn’t intentionally hurt someone.”
“What if it wasn’t intentional?”
I’m sweating, and my throat’s getting drier. I feel like he’s telling me something.
Almost like he’s confessing.
“What are you saying?” I ask, breathing hard as I grip the railing.
He glances at my hand on the railing, then looks back at my face. “I wouldn’t kill someone. Even if she betrayed me.”
“She betrayed you?” I take a breath. “How?”
“She went back to him, after promising me she never would.”
“You mean Braden.”
“I never wanted to get involved with her. She was Braden’s girl and they were always breaking up and getting back together. But one night she showed up at my door, crying and saying he hit her. She said it was over between them. That she’d never go back to him.”
“Braden hit her?”
“She said he did. He denied it.”
“Did she have any marks?”
“Not that I saw, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t do it.”
“And then what? How’d you end up dating her?”
“She started coming over and we’d talk. One night it became more than that. It’s not like we planned it. And we weren’t dating. We never even went out. We just hooked up a few times and then she went back to Braden.”
“When’d you find out she went back to him?”
“The night of the party. She called me, crying and saying she had a fight with Braden. She asked me to pick her up.”
“But you weren’t allowed at the party. You’re from Legion. They would’ve kicked you out.”
“Which is why I waited outside the house. When Andrea didn’t show up, I went looking for her.” He pauses and looks down. “I never found her. A girl told me she left with someone else, so I went home.”
“I don’t understand. You made it sound like you were involved. Like it was an accident but that you . . . did something.” I chew on my lip, afraid to know more, wishing I’d never even heard this horrible story.
“I never should’ve let her go to that party. I kept telling her not to, but I didn’t try hard enough to stop her. I should’ve taken her keys. Locked her in my house. Anything to keep her from going that night.”
“What are you saying? That you think it’s your fault because you didn’t stop her?” I step closer to him. “Jackson, it’s not your fault. It was her decision to go there that night, and her decision to get drunk and fight with Braden.” I take his hand. “You didn’t kill her. You had nothing to do with what happened to her.”
His eyes lift to mine. “So you believe me?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“A lot of people don’t. They think I did it. The only reason I’m popular at Legion is because I win them football games. If I didn’t play sports, people would run from me.”
“I’m sure not everyone there thinks you did it.”
