I look at him, and something in those eyes snags. "Oh. Is it Beckett?"
He nods.
Relief floods me. He’s Cody’s teammate. "Are you here to see Cody?"
"Is he still here?"
"Yes." I roll the window down further.
He holds up his left hand. "Broke a finger at practice."
"Oh." A beat. "Are you okay?"
"Are you?" His gaze moves over my face without flinching.
I look away. "I’m fine."
He doesn't push, which somehow makes it worse. I set the laptop on the passenger seat and make a decision before I can talk myself out of it.
"That night," I say. "At your house—"
"My house?" He shakes his head. "That wasn't my house."
I file that away. "I was supposed to tell Cody something that night. That I was transferring to UW, it’s stupid, really. I'd planned it for months, and then––" I stop. "Where did he go after we left?"
Beckett leans one arm against the roof of my car, bending down to hold eye contact. "He walked out with you and never came back in. I figured he left with you."
"He didn't."
Something shifts in his expression, but it moves too fast to read. "Weird."
"Yeah."
He straightens. "I should get this looked at."
"Wait." The word leaves me before I decide to say it. He turns. I take a breath. "I just transferred. I don't know anyone here. And you know Cody, so maybe—" I stop. "Sorry. Never mind."
"Give me your phone,” he says, not skipping a beat.
I hesitate at first, and then I hand it over. He opens my texts, sends himself a message, and hands it back.
"Surprise," he says, and something in his tone makes my skin prickle in a way I can't name.
He walks toward the entrance without looking back.
I start the car with shaking hands.
At the second red light, it hits me fully. Cody didn't go back inside the house that night? He left when I did, got in his car, drove to campus, parked near the rink, and then—
What?
I slam my palms against the steering wheel, and the horn blares, and the car behind me honks, and I don't care at all.
Something happened between that parking lot and the hospital.
And it’s killing me not to know what it was.
Chapter 9: Beckett
