AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Two
TRISTAN
The scabs on my back pull extra hard at the fabric of my shirt as we sit awkwardly on the Huberts’ couch in their living room. For the record, I’m still not comfortable with this. I don’t want Kim to turn herself in and come clean, but I’m tired of fighting. Isabel’s right. I have a hard enough time handling my own choices. I can’t keep making them for others as well. If Kim needs to do this, then I need to accept it.
One thing wedidagree on? We have to mitigate the damage to Amber’s family as much as possible. We agreed that means we should tell them the truth before anyone else. Dad wanted to come along as a father and a lawyer, but Kim insisted this was something we had to do alone. She wasn’t worried about saying anything that could hurt her legally. After all, she’s going to be saying the same thing to the DA when we finish. Hell, she wouldn’t even let Iz come. I seconded that one.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet with us,” Kim says, her voice surprisingly calm. Maybe there’s merit to the idea that “the truth will set you free.”
“How can we help you?” Marty Hubert asks, casting a quick glance at me. I expect loathing in his face, but what I get is almost… sadness? “We heard you were attacked recently. Are you okay?”
Surprised, I shift on the cushion. “Yeah. Um, I just…”
“He was stabbed,” Kim finishes in an even voice. “He’s still in a lot of pain, and the doctors said he was incredibly lucky the damage was so minimal compared to what it could have been. He’s also been falsely arrested, threatened, humiliated, and physically and verbally assaulted multiple times since he returned home because of lingering resentment over the accident.”
I blink at the floor, my face reddening beneath the Huberts’ probing attention. I don’t want to know what they’re thinking. Why is she telling them this stuff? Does she actually think they’d care about what’s happening to me?
“The stabbing is partly why we’re here,” Kim continues. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but that was the last straw. This has to stop.”
She takes a deep breath and settles her gaze on the Huberts.
“Tristan’s life has been hell since the day of the accident,” she says. “First, he had to endure the hatred of an entire city, then several brutal years in prison, and now it’s just one blow after another. He’s trying so hard to put his life back together and he can’t.”
Marty and Nina Hubert exchange a tense look, and I glare at Kim. What is she doing? She expects these people to sympathize with me? They lost their fuckingchild.
“I’m not saying someone doesn’t deserve all those things for killing your daughter,” Kim continues, as if reading our minds. “I’m just saying that person…”
She clenches her fists, and when I see the glisten in her eyes, I reach over to take her hand.
“That person isn’t Tristan, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert. That person should be me.Iwas the one driving that night.I’mthe one you should hate. I’ll be telling this to the authorities as well, but I wanted you to hear it from me first. We’re so sorry for the pain we caused your family. We know there’s nothing we can do or say to make it right, just, I’m begging you to direct your anger at me, not him.I’mthe one who deserves it. He was just trying to protect me, and he’s paid too much for it.”
I stare at the floor again, my body tense and aching. Old and new wounds feel like they’re burning through my shirt beneath the Huberts’ intense evaluation. What are they thinking? Why aren’t they saying anything? They should be throwing stuff, sobbing, lashing out at us.
“Thank you for telling us the truth,” Nina says.
Like Marty, her tone is almost… gentle.
I force my gaze up and find their attention fixed on me.
“Amber had a crush on you. She’d talk about you all the time. The cute boy with the golden guitar,” Nina says with a sad smile.
What? A vice clamps around my heart. I had no idea. I barely knew her, but I’m not surprised. Everyone had a crush on me back then. I was an expert at being what people wanted me to be. Kind of ironic that everyone now hates me for the same reason. They still see what they want, not what I am.
But wait… That can’t be right.
“I… Wasn’t she dating that police officer?” I ask hesitantly.
Their confused looks make my stomach churn.
“Police officer?” Marty says.
“Yeah, um…” My face heats up as I shift in my seat. “The one who arrested me the other day. Daniels or something?”
Nina pulls in a sharp breath. “Do you mean Cooper Daniels? He arrested you?”
I shrug. The guy didn’t exactly give me his business card.
“I guess? He said he was Amber’s boyfriend when he, uh, picked me up for…”
