Miles shrugs. "He was okay. But the fucker left so I hate him. He's off winning games for another team. He's a fucking traitor. And so are you for dating him."
"I'm not a traitor. And Jackson isn't playing anymore so it shouldn't matter."
"That's right. Jackson's out." Kade smiles. "We could actually win against Legion this year."
"Unless they drop the charges," Theo says, pulling a protein bar from his pocket and ripping off the wrapper.
"They're not dropping the charges," Kade says. "He's the only one they're looking at. And it happened at his fucking house. Who else would've done it?"
"Jackson didn't do it." I shove my tray aside and lean toward the guys. "If he was going to kill her, why would he leave her body behind his house?"
"He dumped her in the ocean," Miles says.
"Yeah, but everyone knows the body will end up washing up on the shore, especially if it wasn't taken very far out. Whoever did this wanted the body to be found there."
Dante stops shoveling food in his mouth and looks at me. "Shit, that actually makes sense. So who do you think did it?"
"Jackson did it," Kade says, like it's obvious. "She's just covering up for her boyfriend. Trying to save him from jail."
"That's not what I'm doing." I glance at each them around the table. "Think about it. If you killed someone, would you leave the body on your property where you know it'd be found?"
"When you kill someone you're not thinking straight," Miles says. "He probably panicked and dumped her in the ocean because he didn't know what else to do."
"Jackson's rich. He could've hired someone to get rid of the body."
Miles laughs. "Yeah, I'm sure you can just call up a service and have that done."
"His dad could," Dante says, his mouth full of food.
My eyes dart to Dante. "What do you mean?"
"His dad's in the mob," Dante says, like it's no big deal.
"Wait—what?" I lean across the table. "Are you joking?"
"He's not in the mob," Kade says.
I lean back, sighing in relief.
"He'sconnectedto the mob."
I turn to Kade. "No, he's not. He's a movie director."
"Who has connections to the mob. How do you not know this? Jackson never told you?"
"No. Because it's not true. I've met Roman. He's in town right now, staying with Jackson. Who told you he's connected to the mob?"
"It was in the tabloids," Alyssa says, rolling her eyes. "Like three years ago. Someone saw that story and spread it around school that Jackson's dad was in the mob. It's not true. The guy's are just messing with you."
Miles laughs. "But did you see her face? She fucking believed us."
"I believe it," Dante says. "A lot of that shit in the tabloids is actually true."
"I thought it was true when it was going around school," Theo says. "Now I'm not sure I believe it."
"It's not fucking true," Kade says. "If it was, then Novak would've done what Rumor said and got rid of the body."
"Okay, can we stop talking about this?" Alyssa shudders. "I don't want to talk about dead bodies and killing people. Kristen was our friend. We shouldn't be talking about her dead body. It's disrespectful."
