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“It’s all right, Mom. I know who raised me. Even though he’s trying to have a relationship, it doesn’t take away from everything you’ve done for us.”
She waved her hand in front of herself. “Forget about that. I got sidetracked. Why did you want to know about what happened to the Patten family? It was so long ago.” A shadow crossed her face.
I didn’t want to lie to her. “I’ve been seeing Winter.”
“What?” She jumped up from her seat at the island. “You need to stay away from that girl. Promise me, Shane. She was a mean little one, in case you’ve forgotten.”
I hadn’t forgotten. And I suspected some of that meanness was still inside her, based on our conversation that morning.
“That’s not everything.” Mom’s eyes narrowed. “A rumor has always floated around that Winter was the one who pushed her sister, Summer, into the water.”
Shit.I leaned back in my chair. I didn’t know what to believe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
WINTER
Ishook from how angry I was at Lan—no, Shane.He was using me. But why? I was such a fool. I’d even had sex with him. My stomach churned. I had been horrible to him as kids, but I couldn’t think about that because I was humiliated, a joke in his eyes. I was sure of it. And even with all of that, I still wanted him.
What’s wrong with me?
Do I have no self-respect?With a huff, I tried to leave it all behind me and got ready for classes. He wouldn’t take that away from me. Mr. Big Shot football player could go to hell. I was there to stay, and that meant no more seeing him.
It couldn’t be that hard. I was an art student. He wasn’t. Our paths didn’t have to cross. So I was good.
Except the coffee shop where I worked on occasion. It was time to make a call and put an end to my employment there. Then I was covered.
After convincing myself of all that, I took a shower, dried my hair, then got dressed and ready for class. Mine wasn’t until eleven. I liked the course, just not as much as I’d thought I would. Professor Elian was friendly and overly helpful. I knew the other students loved her, but I got a weird vibe. I had no idea why.
I double-checked my messenger bag and noticed a folded paper on the floor. Someone had slipped it under the door. I unfolded it, dreading what it could be with each paper crinkle.
The world is going to know you killed Summer.
It was one line, but that was all it took for the room to spin around me. My knees buckled, and I sank into my desk chair.It mentions Summer by name.I couldn’t tear my eyes from the single typed sentence.
My mind was splintering. I crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash. My breath pushed from my lungs too fast, and I panted, my heart racing a million miles a minute. Black spots crowded my vision, and I blinked furiously. I had to get control of myself. I dropped my head between my legs and focused on slowing my breathing.
It took a while, but I managed to calm down and not pass out or throw up. Logic trickled in slowly. Whoever that was—possibly Shane—could’ve read one of the numerous articles and gotten Summer’s name that way. That made sense.
Brooke and my therapist had thought it was a good idea. Confronting parts of my past. It wasn’t. I could see that now.I shouldn’t be here.And I would leave, though I needed my scholarship and I hated disappointing my foster family.
But I never would have hurt my sister. We had just been trying to survive. After our dad died, it’d been a sick game of chance with our lives.Would we eat that day? Would we have to hide from whoever Mom had in the apartment? Would we have to hide from her?Nothing about my childhood had been good. Trying to reconnect, to remember, had been stupid.
I continued to focus on controlling my breath. It helped. Part of me was so glad Piper wasn’t there to witness everything. We were talking more, becoming friends again, but we weren’t close enough that I would share any of this with her. And my foster brother. I wanted to call him, and I still might. But not then. Not when I was so raw from that one horrifying accusation. I had not hurt my sister. I was sure of it. There was no way.
The longer I sat at my desk, the better I felt. For some unknown reason, someone—and I bet it was Shane—was playing a prank on me, a very mean one.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced at it. I didn’t recognize the number, but I gathered who it was from the message. Landon—no, Shane.I needed to remember his real name and what a liar he was. The number was probably his real one, the other just a phone he used for his nefarious lying. He’d texted that he wanted his wallet back.
Asshole. I wished I could throw it out the window and tell him where it was—if he could get to it before someone else picked it up and he never saw it again. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t that girl. Not anymore.
I responded that I would meet him at the back exit once he messaged that he was there. It would be on my way to my art class then. And that would be the last time I ever saw him because I was done. No matter how mind-blowing the sex had been, I wanted nothing to do with him.
My heart hurt because I could’ve easily fallen for him. It would’ve been the first guy I’d ever loved. Thank God I’d found out what a lying asshole he was before that had happened.
I headed downstairs as soon as I saw his responding text that he was there. My hand shook with anger as I pushed open the door. It was sunny out, and I blinked against the bright light.
The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood as awareness rippled over me. Something wasn’t right. Shane wasn’t there. No one was. I felt a presence behind me. Someone grabbed the side of my head and slammed it into the doorjamb. Stars exploded behind my eyes, and my knees buckled. I tried to turn and screamed as a sweet-smelling cloth covered my mouth.
