Page 10

CHAPTER TEN

Without Corinne, I don't know what I'm still doing here. Sure, there's football, but everything I do feels painful knowing she's not there to support me. Even at band practice, she somehow manages to avoid me.

Even though she wants nothing to do with me, I have to keep my eye on her. With Adrian and the rest of his goons following her around, I need to make sure they don't lay a hand on her again. If they do, I'll kill them.

Over the next several days, I keep a close eye on her. I linger outside her dorm room in the morning, watching her as she makes her way to her classes, stopping at the café to get a fresh cup of tea, and eating with Rowen. For the most part, I keep my distance because I know she doesn't want anything to do with me. It hurts, but I can't blame her. After what she saw...

It makes me sick to my stomach thinking they would use a video like that against me. They knew as well as I did what the truth behind it was. That man was a criminal, and he was going to hurt people. Police had been called on him countless times, and they did nothing. If it weren't for me, who knows what he would have done that night. I certainly didn't want that on my conscience.

“I thought I told you to stay away,” Corinne says as she walks out the back entrance of the café and confronts me on the patio with no one around. “You're only making this harder for both of us.”

“I can't stand being away from you,” I say, leaning forward and cupping the side of her face with my hand. She instinctively leans into it, and while I have a moment with her, I lean in to kiss her. She kisses me back. Her lips part as she lets my tongue gently coalesce with hers, clutching my arm with her fingers, clearly not wanting to let go.

After a moment, she tears her mouth away from me and jolts backward as if struck by electricity. She covers her mouth with her hand and shakes her head. “I can't do this.”

Without saying another word, she jumps to her feet and storms off. I watch her, intending to follow and keep an eye on her, but my phone buzzing in my pocket catches my attention. It's a text from none other than Adrian. “I thought I told you to stay away from her?”

I hop to my feet and look around, searching for him. I was right to follow Corinne because clearly Adrian has been following her too. In the distance, I watch as his tan El Camino speeds off, and my heart drops.

This is it. I'm done with him for good. He's not going to hold something over my head and ruin any chance of happiness I have in the future. Not now, not again.

Not when Corinne is in the mix. This isn't about me anymore. I need to protect her at all costs.

Standing outside the Glendale Police Department, a place I never thought I would willingly go, I send a quick text message to Corinne letting her know I'm taking care of the video. I tell her I'm sorry and that I'm doing the right thing thanks to her.

I turn my phone on silent before walking in, stopping at the front desk and talking to the middle-aged woman in reception and telling her I need a detective. She asks a ton of questions I don't have the answers to, and I can feel myself getting frustrated.

“Look, there was a string of burglaries a few years ago, and I know who it was. I'm willing to give the information to the police now. I might not have another chance,” I say, urging her to work with me.

Eventually, she walks away and talks to a few officers before dragging me into an interrogation room. It definitely feels like I'm the one on trial here even though I'm the one helping them. After about half an hour, a tall man in a wrinkly suit walks in the room and stares at me in silence for a few moments.

“I'm Detective Carson. I hear you're the one to talk to about some recent burglaries,” Carson says, leaning forward casually without taking his eyes off me. “I take it you've known about these for a while. Why are you coming forward now?”

“Trust me, if I could have come forward like any Good Samaritan, I would have,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. “You know as well as I do things aren't that easy around here.”

“So you hanging with the wrong crowd then?” he asks, shrugging.

“Let me just be blunt about this because I don't have all the time in the world. The people I used to hang out with in Glendale are bad people. They have a video of me...” I trail off, not believing I'm about to tell the police about this incident for real. “There was a man next to Pendrake’s Pub who was threatening people with a knife. He was yelling disgusting things at women and young children, and nobody was doing anything about it. I know for a fact you guys were called about it and did nothing. So, when I was walking by and he pulled a knife on me, I took matters into my own hands.”

“You're confessing to the assault of Peter Lochley?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me. “We've been looking for the assailant for quite some time. Why now?”

“Because those assholes you're looking for for those burglaries are lording it over my head. If I don't turn them in, they're going to do something really bad to someone I care about,” I admit. Leaning forward, I stare him in the eyes and hope we can come to terms with this together. “Now, either I help you retrieve thousands of dollars of stolen goods for some of the wealthiest people in town, or you arrest me for the assault. Your choice.”

He walks out of the room to think about it for a moment, no doubt going to his superior and seeing if he can do anything. He comes back about ten minutes later with another officer who sits down across from me, ready to take my confession. I told him everything that happened the night of the assault, then Detective Carson goes into the details of our arrangement.

Because I'm helping them with an active investigation, I won't be tried for the assault. I exhale a long breath of air as I tell them everything about the burglaries. I wasn't at any of them, and I only heard about them after, but I knew what was stolen and where it is now.

“Trust me, if you go to any of these guys' houses, you'll find souvenirs,” I say, nodding while I wait for them to dismiss me.

After what feels like an insurmountable amount of paperwork and a long explanation of what they’ll be doing, which may involve further statements from me if they get arrested, they finally let me go. I'm more relieved than I have been in ages. Adrian and the other guys have nothing on me anymore. I have a clean slate ahead of me to do whatever I want with it. I can work to get Corinne back and show her I've changed. I have to.

Walking out of the interrogation room, my breath hitches in my throat as I spot Corinne in the waiting room, her foot tapping nervously against the tiles. She stands when she sees me and walks toward me as quickly as possible.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, not able to control the smile growing on my lips. Even after everything, I told her I was doing this, and she came here. I know that she still cares about me.

“I didn't know what was happening. I thought maybe you might need bail money,” she says, shrugging and looking up at me with an almost apologetic look in her eyes. “Did you really tell them the truth?”

“I did. This is my way of severing ties with my past once and for all,” I say, nodding and walking toward the front door with her beside me. The fresh air kisses my skin, and I've never been more thankful for it. It feels like a fresh start for me, one I've been yearning for my whole life.

“You're doing the right thing. But I guess it's scary that you have to worry about them coming after you,” Corinne says, shaking her head and looking around nervously.

“I don't care about that. You and our life together are the only things I care about now.” She looks up at me with a surprised grin and an excited glint in her eyes as the sun shines through them. “I've never been happier than I am with you. Corinne, I love you more than anything in the world. I would do anything to make you happy.”

She stares at me in shock for a moment, then a giddy look crosses her face as she smiles wildly at me. “You don't know how much it means to hear you say that. I love you, Jax.”

I lean down and wrap my arms around her, holding her close as I press my lips firmly against hers. For the first time in my life, there's hope in the future. Not the abstract, vague meaning of the word, but something tangible that I can hold on to.

None of this would have happened without her. For that, I'll be forever grateful.