Page 117 of Striking Range

A moment passes before he says, “Ash made me leave. He said that I had to leave, or he’d… He has something that he can hold over me. And after he found out about Skylar and me, he ran me off.”

“Sky and you?” Henry repeats, confused.

“They’re dating, you idiot,” Kelly snaps.

“You knew?” I whip toward her, my mouth gaping as I try to wrap my head around this realization.

She rolls her eyes. “Of course I did. I heard you two moaning through the bathroom door at your birthday party. Besides, anyone with eyes can see the way you two look at each other.”

“Rude,” Henry mutters. His eyes dart between Everett and me. “I wasn’t expecting it, honestly. But good for you guys.”

Well, that’s one secret out of the bag. I didn’t expect them to be assholes about it, but I still get a warm feeling in my chest at their acceptance.

Everett sighs once more, kicking the edge of the bedframe with his Converse. “That’s not the point. He said that I can’t stay in Florida, so I’m taking a bus to Georgia tomorrow. You guys better head home. It’ll be bad if he finds out that I talked to—”

“He can’t just kick you out of a state,” I deadpan. “He can suck my dick for all I care. Come on, we’re going back to campus.”

I reach for his arm over the mattress, but Everett jerks away, taking a step back.

“No!” he shouts. “You don’t understand. If he finds out I didn’t leave, that I’m talking to you, really bad things will happen.”

“What could he possibly have on you that’s so horrible?” Henry asks.

“I can’t think of a single thing you’ve done that could warrant something this extreme,” I add.

Everett meets my eyes, and I can see in them that he’s pleading. He is quite literally begging me to leave him here; he wants me to leave him behind.

Like fucking hell I will. Doesn’t he know that I have a penchant for not listening to others?

“Listen,” I continue, “we can help. Whatever it is that you are so scared of, we can handle it together. We have plans, remember? Maine or Washington, somewhere cold where we can be together. Just… come home.”

Everett shifts his gaze to the ceiling, releasing a long, deep breath. “You don’t understand.”

“Then tell me,” I insist. “If you don’t, I will sit in this room until you check out, and then I’ll follow you until you agree to stop running.”

He shakes his head but reluctantly moves toward his duffel. After shuffling for a second, he returns to his spot and throws a stack of papers onto the bed between us.

Then he stares. He stares at them with a deep sadness that I can feel in the very marrow of my bones. And it aches.

“What are those?” Kelly asks, inching forward.

I finally drop my eyes to the papers, taking in the bold title of the first page: Juvenile Court Report.

And everything around me just… stops.

I cannot feel my heart beating or the expansion of my lungs. Every emotion I could possibly be feeling in this moment is replaced with one devastating thought: run.

I should leave now and not look back. If I do, I won’t have to face their disgust or this one truth. The one I have been hiding for almost as long as I’ve known any of the people in this room.

The most important people in my life, aside from my parents, are staring at the proof of my malicious personality. Right here, in front of all of us, is the proof that I almost killed a kid with my bare hands over some childhood taunting.

Something inside of me is screaming, “But I’m not that kid anymore! I promise I’m not rotten! Please don’t leave me alone; I swear I can be better than this!” but no one can hear it.

Only me, stuck in this loop of run and explain, can hear the distraught child within me, begging to be heard.

“This is why,” Everett explains. “If I don’t do what he says, this will be all over Florida within days.”

Ash is going to use my past to blackmail his son? He’s going to ruin my life all because Everett cares for me?