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“Is he dead?” I yell, glancing back again, Colby still not moving.
No one answers, but someone shoves me into the back of the RAM, and before I even right myself in the seat, we’re peeling out of the property. There's a separate exit in the back, far from the one the rest of our classmates are using.
The property is aglow with red and blue lights, and as the cops chase the stragglers through the main exit, we disappear into the cover of trees. Logan knows the track like the back of his hand, and within moments, we’re breaking out onto the main road, tires screeching against the pavement and sending us soaring back toward Bradford.
Chapter 29
BRIELLE
Logan pulls to a stop outside mine and Tanner’s homes and a nervousness tears through me. No one has said a word the whole way here, and I don’t know what to do. Tanner sits in the front, his chest heaving with rage as his knuckles bleed. I don’t know what he needs or how to calm him. This is all too new, and I’m sure he doesn’t want me telling him that it’s all going to be okay.
Colby could be dead. He just laid there, not moving, not even a flinch.
If Tanner killed him … fuck. I can’t even begin to think how bad this is going to get. This is only the beginning. I should have tried to pull him away, should have tried to stop him. He has a whole future to think about, a career with the NFL that hangs in the balance, and I stupidly just stood back and let it happen, hoping he would hit him harder.
Fuck, what kind of asshole does that make me?
Logan gets out and moves to my door, opening it for me and helping me down. “You should go home,” he tells me. “We’ll handle this.”
I nod, not sure what this really is. “Okay,” I murmur, my gaze trailing back to Tanner, watching as he barges his way out of the RAM, Jax and Riley right beside him, holding onto him to make sure he doesn’t take off to finish the job. “What’s … what’s going to happen?”
Logan shakes his head. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he tells me. “Hudson stayed at the track to keep an eye on things. He’ll let us know how bad it is once he gets some information. In the meantime, can you message the girls, make sure they got out okay?”
“Of course,” I say, stepping toward the Channing residence, my gaze lifting to Tanner once again. God, I would do anything to barrel into his arms right now, to hold him and make his pain go away, but I don’t think that’s what he needs. I don’t know how to help him and it’s crushing me.
The boys make their way up Tanner’s driveway, and I stop to watch them, meeting Tanner’s dark gaze as he glances back at me. Pain lingers in his eyes, and with every step the boys take, I feel as though something is being torn away from me.
“Logan,” I call as Jax and Riley take Tanner inside. Logan turns back, his eyes lifting to mine. “All the people,” I say. “They were recording him. If that gets out, he’s going to lose football. No colleges will sign him.”
“I know,” he says, nodding, his face grim and filled with concern for his cousin and everything this could mean. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it handled. Tanner isn’t going down for this.”
And with that, he disappears inside the house, leaving me an absolute mess.
I make my way toward the door, getting only a few steps inside before my phone begins blasting in my pocket. Fishing it out, I find Ilaria’s name scrawled across the screen, and I hastily answer it as I fly up the stairs two at a time. “Ilaria?” I rush out. “Are you guys okay? Did you get out?”
“We’re fine. We looked for you, but Chanel thought she saw you getting man-handled into Logan’s RAM.”
“Yeah,” I tell her, listening to the heavy sigh that quickly follows. “We all got out. I’m home now and the boys are all dealing with Tanner, but that was insane.”
“Damn right it was,” she says. “Did Tanner beat the crap out of him because of you?”
“No, it has nothing to do with me,” I rush out, not wanting to be the one to have to explain what this was really about, but also not wanting a false story to begin spreading. “It’s … it’s personal between them. They have issues that go far beyond me, and unfortunately, I just happen to be right in the middle of it.”
I barge through to my room and drop down on the edge of the bed, unable to get the haunting pain in his eyes out of my head. “He’s going to be okay,” Ilaria murmurs, her tone softening, being able to sense just how much he really means to me. “It will all get cleared up. This isn’t the first fight Tanner’s been involved in and probably won’t be the last. Your ex most likely has a broken jaw and a mad concussion. He was probably just knocked out cold. He’ll be fine.”
