Page 37

twenty-five

Mark

“ M ark!”

Jesus. Noah, drunk as ever, flops into my arms. I nearly drop him. “Hey, maybe slow down on the drinks.” I’ve only had one, my attention unfortunately all on my friend.

Noah shakes his head, pushing up and off me. “Oh my god, Mom, go have a drink. Relax. Fuck your hot boyfriend.” Noah wiggles his fingers at Hunter in what I think is meant to be a wave. “Hi, hot boyfriend.”

Hunter waves back timidly, almost as over this as I am. “Slow down, alright.” Sloshed as fuck, Noah shakes his head, stumbling slightly on the upswing.

“I’m going to mingle. Happy birthday to me!!” Noah gives me another hug. “I’ll find you in a bit.”

“Please be careful.” Noah just blows me a kiss, walking off through the crowd. Turning to Hunter, I can tell he’s uncomfortable. The loud thump of the bass is even starting to make me sick. “You hate this, huh?”

“What?” he yells over the music.

Looking around, I spot a door, and grabbing Hunter’s hand, I tug him through the crowd.

I have one night left before I tell him everything.

I’m going to make it a good one. I just hope that when I come clean and tell him everything, he’ll somehow forgive me.

I have to believe that, because if I let my mind linger anywhere else it feels paralyzing.

Needing some fresh air, he follows me out the door, and I breathe in relief as the cool air hits me.

The loud music disappears as we follow a path out the back yard.

I know Noah’s rich, but this is rich rich.

This house he’s rented is huge. I have no idea who it belongs to, but I do not want to be here when they come back.

“Sorry, I just don’t like loud parties. Not my thing.”

“Yeah, me neither. Noah’s persuasive, though, and it is his birthday party.”

“You care about him a lot.”

Walking through the garden, I see a gazebo, going to it and stepping inside. “Just as a friend. I promise. He’s my best friend.”

“Damn, friends with benefits to friends to besties, huh?” Hunter sits, patting his lap, and I take the opportunity to straddle him.

Winding my arms around his neck, I give him a quick kiss and try desperately to forget what I have to do tomorrow.

It’s been almost two months, but Hunter has completely changed my life.

I’m not ready to let go, but I have to. If we’re going to catch Derrick, I need help.

The pitch-black sky is dotted with stars. It’s cool tonight but not terrible, and it feels so perfect. “I love you.” The words catch me off guard and I swallow.

Fuck, I hope he means that.

Leaning in, I kiss him, getting lost in his taste and the masculine scent of his body. He hugs me closer against his chest and I just want time to stop. I love him so much and I am so afraid of losing this.

“I can’t imagine being without you.” I may have to be, though, come tomorrow.

“Nothing could make me stop loving you.”

Oh, I’m not so sure about that. “You don’t mean that.”

“I’m not saying you can’t hurt me, but I am saying it would be impossible to stop feeling this way.” Leaning in, I press my lips to his, rolling my tongue over his. I hate myself but I need him. “Why don’t we go back inside and find a room?”

Back in the house we sneak through the crowd, finding stairs ahead.

Hunter grabs my ass as we run up the stairs, and as my feet hit the top step, he picks me up, pressing me into the wall.

“Stop!” I shriek with a laugh as he holds me steady.

“Room. We need—” My words die as his lips land on my neck.

“Fuck, you’re sexy.” Hunter’s hungry mouth devours my skin. “It’s impossible to stop touching you.” My hands dig into his hair as we grind our bodies together. The thumping bass fades in the background.

“We need to—” A sound breaks through the lust. It’s soft but I hear it. A whimper. “Hunter.”

“What, baby?” He rucks my shirt up, drawing one of my nipples into his mouth.

“Wait. Stop.” Seeing my serious change in tone he sets me down.

“What is it?” We both freeze, hearing the moan in the room next to us.

Hunter grins. “Looks like we’re not the only ones with this plan.

” He presses his lips back to my neck, but I push him back, moving to the door and pressing my ear against it.

Another noise sounds but the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“What? People are fucking. What’s wrong?

” I hold my hand up as I hear it again—clear words with desperate intention.

I know that voice.

Opening the door fast I see red. Derrick’s pinning Noah to the bed, and the panic in Noah’s bleary eyes is clear. “Get the fuck off him.” Noah sags with relief.

“What the fuck!?” Hunter storms into the room, grabbing Derrick by the back of his shirt and tossing him onto the floor as if he weighs nothing.

“I’m going to fucking kill you.” I lunge toward him, but Hunter catches me around my waist.

Derrick gets up with quiet calm, looking at the two of us with a slimy grin. “What’s the matter bestie? You said you were done with him, so I thought I’d have a go.”

“Derrick, get the fuck away from him.”

Hunter frowns at me. “Mark, what’s going on?”

Derrick clicks his tongue. “Hunter, Hunter, Hunter.” He shakes his head. “Don’t you know? Mark and I are besties.”

I want to punch his face in. “No, we fucking aren’t!”

Derrick clutches his chest dramatically, and I feel like the air in the room is slowly leaving, choking me little by little. “That hurts. It does.” Noah gets off the bed, moving behind me.

“Stay the fuck away from my friend.”

Derrick’s eyes darken as he stalks over to me, but Hunter pushes me out of the way, blocking the path between us.

Derrick’s brows rise, the corner of his mouth lifting in a cocky smirk.

“Still dragging this out, Mark?” Staring right at Hunter, he shakes his head.

My blood freezes as realization hits me.

“You know what? Forget what I asked you to do. Tonight’s as good a night as any. ”

“Derrick, don’t—”

“What is he talking about?” Hunter turns to me.

“I mean, seriously. Even I’m shocked you’ve dragged this out so long. I thought maybe you came clean and told him because you started to actually give a shit about him. He still doesn’t know, though, does he?” Derrick laughs. “Mark, that’s pretty low. Don’t you love him yet?” he asks Hunter.

“Derrick, just fucking leave us alone.”

“Oh my god! No fucking way.” He laughs harder. “You love him too. Holy shit.” He’s laughing uncontrollably and I want to punch him. Shaking his head, he steadies himself. “Well, I guess I have to be the only decent person here and tell the truth. Seems cruel to keep this going.”

“Just leave us alone!”

Derrick gets in my face and shoves Hunter away from me, beer hot on his breath. “You fucked with my good time again, and now I’ll fuck with yours. Hope defending the whore was worth it.”

I snap back without thinking and punch Derrick in the nose with a satisfying crack. He clutches his face, cursing, and blood drips from his hands as he holds his nose. “Shut the fuck up you piece of shit.” Turning back, I look at Noah. “Get out of here, now!”

“Mark—”

“Now!” I snap, watching him gather himself and leave the room. Derrick starts to laugh through bloody teeth. “Hunter, are you happy with your new boyfriend? I mean, you have me to thank, really. He wouldn’t even have talked to you if it wasn’t for me daring him to date you.”

I can’t look at him, but I hear the strain in his voice, and it breaks me. “What is he talking about?”

“Funny story. A fucking hoot really. I was pissed about you getting me kicked off the team, I wanted revenge, and Mark being the great friend he is . . . he helped me out. It was actually his idea.”

“What is he talking about?” Hunter asks, but he sees the truth in my silence. I can’t move. I’m paralyzed. I can’t speak. “Tell me that’s not true.”

“Oh, it gets better. You see, our boy here has a terrible secret.” Derrick hooks his arm around Hunter’s shoulders and Hunter shoves him back hard. Unfazed, Derrick glares at me. “Mark is kind of a monster.”

“You fucking prick,” I snarl.

“What . . . what is he talking about?” Hunter’s face twists with pain. I can’t watch it. There’s no coming back from this. Derrick is ruining everything.

No. I’ve ruined everything.

“You know your friend Sawyer . . . Yeah, you know how his family’s restaurant went up in flames over the summer?” Hunter’s eyes widen. “Yeah. Our friend here is the reason. He set fire to their resturant and begged me to keep his secret.”

Okay, that’s not fucking true, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve never begged him, but Derrick does hold it over my head. “Mark—”

“Have a nice fucking life.” Derrick claps me hard on the back and leaves the room.

Everything is out. There’s no way Hunter will forgive me now. Maybe if I’d come clean . . . Maybe if I’d explained . . . But I was just so fucking scared. “Is that true?” I reach for him, but he takes a step back. “You lied to me? How . . . why?”

“No wait that’s—”

“And Sawyer. His family’s restaurant? Why?”

“It’s not . . . this isn’t right. I . . . I . . .”

“You know they think it’s a hate crime, right? You know they think some racist piece of shit set fire to their restaurant. And it was you, you did . . .”

“No. Holy shit, no. That’s not why . . . I mean didn’t, it wasn’t that. He’s not . . .” I didn’t fucking do it. I didn’t! Still. What the hell have I done? I didn’t do it.

I feel like I’m falling apart. I’ve been a piece of shit for hiding this, though.

Even if I didn’t do it, I know who may have.

The reasonable part of my brain tells me it doesn’t matter.

No one would believe it was Derrick. He always goes free.

People like Derrick always fucking win. They’re rich and from powerful fucking families who buy their way out of everything.

“I didn’t do . . . I didn’t do . . . I never meant . . .”

“You meant to hide it,” Hunter cuts in, shaking his head and backing away. “I don’t know why the fuck you involved me. What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

“Derrick threatened you. He wanted me to hurt you, jump you, or some insane shit. He’s blackmailing me and .

. .” Fuck, I can’t say he’s giving me my watch back.

That watch means everything to me but explaining that to Hunter right now .

. . Fuck, he isn’t listening to me. “I told him instead I could break your heart. I didn’t want to hurt you. ”

“You didn’t want to hurt me?” Hunter barks out a laugh. “You fucking killed me.” He walks away and it takes me a stunned second to move my feet and go after him. Downstairs, I feel a tug on my shirt, and I flinch before I realize it’s Noah.

“Mark, I’m so—”

“Not now, Noah.” Following the path Hunter is taking, I push through the crowd. I need to stop him. I need to talk to him. Chasing him out the door, I see Xavi’s jeep as Hunter storms to it. “Hunter, wait!”

“Why!?” His glassy eyes punch me in the gut. “Why me? What did I ever do to you to deserve this?”

“You kicked him off the team.”

“Because he fucking drugged Sawyer’s sister’s drink at a party they were at and tried to assault her! She turned him in, and no one did a fucking thing about it!” he screams.

What? I didn’t . . . But as the shock of that truth hits me, I know it’s true. Those girls over the summer, how fast they got wasted . . . Now Noah. This is so much bigger than Derrick being a dick. What the fuck have I done?

Then it clicks. Jane .

Derrick set it on fire because of Jane.

As the last piece of puzzle clicks inside my brain I am crumbling, breaking, but the pain I’m in is nothing compared to the heartbreak on Hunter’s face. What have I done?

“I didn’t know that, I swear. I didn’t know about Sawyer’s sister, or that he tried to assault her. I swear I didn’t know about—”

Hunter walks up to me, his voice deadly calm. “I don’t fucking believe you.” Shaking his head, he backs up. “I will never ever believe you.”

“Everything we did, all of it . . . it was all real. I was trying to get out of it the entire time. He fucking blackmailed me and I didn’t . . . I didn’t do—”

“You’re a fucking coward.” He shrugs. “A fucking coward. I’m telling Sawyer. Don’t talk to me again. Ever! I never want to talk to you again.”

He slams the car door, and I watch him peel out.

I fall to my knees, and it feels like forever before I finally feel arms around me. I register Noah—leaning into me, holding me, giving me comfort I do not deserve. I don’t register anything else. Not when Noah calls off the party. Not when Noah and I take a ride back to his dorm.

Not when I cry.

Not when Noah holds me.

Everything hurts.