AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The next morning, I wait at Cole’s locker to explain. But he never shows. Instead, Remi collars me.
“Hey.” She grimaces.
“He’s okay?” Remi had texted in the night to say Cole was home and safe, but she’d kept things vague.
From her pained expression, I know whatever went down isn’t good.
The knot in my stomach tightens.
“Yeah, Ace was on his way out to look for him when he rolled up at the house.”
“Had he been to see Donny?”
“Says not. He said he gave you a ride home and then went back to the beach to think.”
“So he wasn’t with Donny? Oh God.” I clutch my chest. “So it was all for nothing?”
“Hey, it wasn’t for nothing. Ace needed to know for definite that Cole is involved with D
onny.”
“I betrayed him.” A shiver rolls up my spine.
“Hadley, it isn’t like that. Donny isn’t someone you mess around with. He’s a serious player. Cole could end up hurt. You did it to protect him.”
“He won’t see it like that.”
She narrows her eyes. “So make him.”
“He did it for Ace, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. And Ace is cut up about it. They almost got into it again. Cole took off with a bottle of vodka. I hope he doesn’t show up wasted, or else Coach Miller will bench him for sure.”
Of course, it’s game night. It’s so easy to forget all the mundane stuff when I’m with Cole.
“He needs football,” Remi goes on. “It’s his shot at getting out of here. Getting away from Sterling Heights and his past.”
The idea of Cole leaving makes my heart sink, but I know she’s right. He deserves a shot at something better. And he’s good, really good. If only he can stay sober and out of trouble.
“I need to find him,” I say, desperate to explain.
“Maybe you should give him some time to cool off.”
“No, I need to—”
I sense him behind me. Turning slowly, I open my mouth to speak, but he flies past me, not sparing me a second glance.
Instead, he walks right up to Marissa and smacks her ass. She yelps but quickly schools her surprise, falling against his shoulder as they whisper to one another.
“Did he just...”
“Yeah, he did.” Remi lets out an exasperated breath. “It’s Ace and Michaela all over again.”
But I refuse to be treated like no one, not after I spent the entire night awake, hoping and praying he wasn’t lying in some ditch with a bullet hole in his chest.
Storming toward them, I practically shove Marissa aside. “We need to talk.”
“Actually, Hadley, we don’t need to do anything.”
