“In all honesty, I forgot about her until we bumped into Col this morning.” I pause, aware my next set of words will most likely hurt Demi, but since I need them to explain myself, I have no choice but to express them. “The innocence in Sloane’s eyes when she was pushed out of Col’s car hit me with a truckload of things at once… both past and present.”
Demi slowly nods like she too was bombarded. “It made me think about Kaylee, and if my uncle’s claim about killing her was true. It was obvious he hated my father, but he seemed to have a weird fondness for my mother, so why would he hurt her like that?”
I wish I had an answer for her. I simply don’t.
“Some people’s logic can’t be explained,” I say a short time later. “You’ll become as unhinged as them just striving to work them out.” That’s my nice way of saying she shouldn’t waste her breath on her uncle. Nothing she can do or say will bring Kaylee back, so she needs to concentrate on what she can change, starting with her own safety. “Things will probably be a little crazy when we rock up. I’ve never vanished without a trace before, not to mention returning with a ghost.” I moisten my lips before asking, “Are you sure this is what you want? I’m happy to continue hiding if you think it is for the best.”
“I’m sure,” Demi replies without hesitation. “The only person I needed to hide from was my uncle.” Her expression is a cross between disappointed and angry when she continues, “He already knows I’m alive, so…” She finalizes her reply with a shrug.
That’s true. I don’t like it, but I can’t change it.
“I just hope your family will be okay with me showing up unannounced.” She fixes the hem on her dress like it wasn’t already perfect. “I don’t want to give them an excuse to dislike me more than they already do.”
“They don’t dislike you.” When she rolls her eyes, I talk faster. “They don’t, Demi. You didn’t see their faces when Dr. Falgar said you were…” I stop with barely a second to spare. My voice almost cracked. “They were devastated. Caidyn punched a tree. He never does that. He fuckin’ loves trees.”
Her giggle is a nice thing to hear during an oxygen-depriving conversation. “I thought he was mad at me. Our chats became less frequent the more times he babysat me.”
I shake my head to hide my breathy sigh. “Did he happen to spend a lot of time on his phone?” Demi appears lost to where I’m going with this, but she nods her head, nonetheless. “Did you happen to snoop over his shoulder atanystage during his ‘babysitting’ slots?”
She whacks me in the arm for overemphasizing my babysitting comment before she once again shakes her head. “I’m not a stalker, Maddox…unlike you.”
I chuckle, happy to wear the title with pride, especially when it comes to her. “Since this is Caidyn we’re talking about, the next time you see him tapping wildly on the screen of his phone, take a peek at who he’s talking to. Saint and Landon are fans of dick pics. Caidyn prefers perfectly staged selfies.”
Even though Demi giggles again, she doesn’t deny my claims. Anyone who has met Caidyn knows two of his best assets are his jawline and unique colored eyes. He woos them with his dickafterthe obligatory third date.
“Caidyn would never hate you, Demi. He doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. Saint will kiss your ass for the next ten weeks as he strives to work out a way to fix that…” I nudge my head to the receipt she’s clutching. “And Justine…” I smile while recalling the texts we shared when she found out I was shacked up at our family cabin with Demi. “She thinks the world of you because she knows you make me happy.”
Demi’s eyes glisten with happiness, but something is dulling them. Or should I say, ‘someone?’
“And Landon?” Demi asks, her tone reserved. “What’s your take on him?”
I wring the steering wheel for a couple of seconds while endeavoring to work out a reason for Landon’s analness. He’s the more conservative one of the Walsh siblings, and he’s quick to jump to conclusions, but he’s only been that way the past three years.
“Landon fell in love with the wrong woman.” Curiosity crosses Demi’s features, but her lips don’t utter a syllable. “She was thirteen years his senior, married, and his college professor.”
“Oh…” Demi breathes out slowly after stacking the chips into a messy pile.
“Yeah,oh.Shit hit the fan when I wasn’t the only one who walked in on them doing extracurricularactivitiesafter class.”
Like all women who love gossip, Demi’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree. “You knew about their affair?”
I jerk up my chin. “I warned Landon that it would end badly.” Oddly, I used the same words Landon used on me when he tried to caution me about staying away from Demi. I just didn’t use ditch or jail metaphors in my reply. Well, I did use jail, but that was more in reference to his professor than him. “He ignored my warning. Turned out I wasn’t far off the mark.”
“What happened to her?”
I stray my eyes from the road to Demi. “The professor?”
When she nods, I shrug. “I don’t know. Although universities encourage faculty to see students as scholars instead of sexual partners, no laws were broken.” My brows pull together as guilt makes itself known with my stomach. “I assumed she moved to another university, but I don’t have solid proof.”
My comment makes me realize I let Landon down. The bro-code states we’re supposed to have each other’s back no matter what, so how is it he had his heart broken without any of his brothers’ support?
“Maybe you should ask Landon what happened to her?” Demi recommends like she’s not suggesting for me to open a big ass can of worms.
“Even after this long?”
She nods. “If I were you, I’d be asking. The length of their relationship doesn’t matter. It’s the quality of the time that went into it that counts. You said Landon loved her. To him, that makes her unforgettable.”
Fuck, my girl is smart. She’s considerate too. Even when her focus should be on herself, she forever places the needs of others above her own. It’s a quality I love about her as much as I hate it. If she weren’t this way, my family would have been on her uncle’s radar years sooner than we were, back when we weren’t as equipped to protect ourselves. If she had occasionally placed herself first, perhaps things wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they did.
