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Xavier groans and plops down on the chair in between us dramatically.
“Are you ever going to forgive me? I swear to you, nothing happened with Ella. I wouldn’t do that to Cara,” he moans at Connor, but Connor ignores him. Choosing to glare at me instead.
Shivers run down my spine and I remember the hits he gave me on Valentine's Day. He has power from being a quarterback; he could probably kill me with his fists. I close my eyes and rub my hand down my face, then lean forward.
“Okay let me just say, I love Cara. I never wanted to hurt her. If I could have gotten my way, I would have married her and lived happily ever after with her, Lay, and all you assholes she loves. I fucked up in high school. I know I did and I’ve been paying for it every day since.” I take a deep breath in and release it. My eyes water and I will myself to not cry in front of these guys.
“Penny is ruthless. She not only blackmailed us into being her little pets, she uses the tape to manipulate other things. She has been toying with Kyna’s family since that night. East and I have been anonymously paying for Kyna’s brother's scholarship to a prestigious law school. Penny found out and started sending her family letters and clues about the night she disappeared.” I groan and let a tear fall. Connor goes to interrupt, but I wipe my cheek and keep going.
“We had to stop the payments and he got kicked out of the school.” I look off at the wall where they have a photo of Cara and them on the beach. Her eyes shine with so much happiness and I wince. The last time she looked at me her eyes were dead, broken, lifeless. I glance back their way. Xavier is sipping his beer and eating chips, leaned in, giving me his full attention as this is entertainment and not a tragic story. “He got heavy into drugs and ended up overdosing like his sister. So not only did we cause this poor family's daughter’s death, but their son’s as well.” I close my eyes and let the tears fall freely now. “I’m so tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally. You guys say you want to help make this end, but it will never end.”
Connor
I sit here and watch as one of the kings of this school breaks down in front of me. Xavier is gaping with his mouth open, and if this wasn’t a bad time I would probably laugh. I feel for the guy. I hate him with every inch of my being, but sitting here, witnessing his breakdown I kinda want to give him a hug. That’s fucking insane right?
After everything he did to Cara. To me. If it wasn’t for him and his asshole brother she would still be here. With me… us? Fuck! I don’t know anymore. I get it; Penny is the one to blame but they’re not totally innocent. They buried a poor girl in the woods for fucks sake. He is scum… But Cara must have seen something good in this guy to fall in love with him.
Xavier closes his mouth and gets up from the table, he hesitantly walks over to Jase and pulls him up from the chair. Jase drops his hands, closing his eyes, waiting for whatever is to come. But Xavier surprises us all and pulls him into a tight hug.
“She’s going down, brother. Some way, somehow. Penelope Smith is going down.” The determination and vehemence in his voice almost has me convinced, but what can the three of us accomplish against a wealthy, manipulative, vindictive bitch? One who has protection from all the other poor bastards she has dirt on?
I sit back and let them have their bonding moment. Jase is now openly sobbing and Xavier is holding him up, taking his weight and pain on his shoulders. That’s one thing people don’t know. He may be a cocky, asshole playboy, but he has one of the biggest hearts, and when it comes to the people he cares about, he will fight to protect them no matter the cost.
I grab a beer and pop the tab, taking a sip. Eventually, Jase pulls away and gives me a sheepish glance over his shoulder. I lift my beer in a cheers, and I watch as his shoulders relax. They retake their seats and Xav pushes a beer over to Jase. He holds it but doesn't open it.
“I think I’ll pass. I need to stop drinking,” he mutters and I push my seat back, and move to the kitchen grabbing him a pop. I bring it back to him and he thanks me.
I take my seat again and grab some chips.
“Okay, so we need to talk about who else we can bring in to help us. Obviously Lay and East.” Xavier says but Jase makes a noise.
“East yeah, but not Lay. I… I let him go,” he says quietly, not looking at us. My brows scrunch in confusion.
“You let him go where?” I ask and Jase wipes his eyes again with a groan.
“I’m not good for him. He needs someone better. Someone who will devote their life to him. I sent him to Cara.”
I jump up from my seat and slam my palm on the table. “What?” I shout and Xavier seems just as angry as me. Jase stands from the chair and starts to pace.
“He'll be better off without me in his life. School gets out in a month and we were graduating anyway. Maybe he can find a career he likes in Kansas. Settle down with his brother husbands and have a few kids. He has always wanted to be a dad. He always said that if he was lucky enough to father a child, that kid would be spoiled rotten and never know the horrors or unlove that he did.” He looks me in the eye and I see his determination and love that he has for Layton and how much it killed him to let him go. I get it but I don’t have to like it.
Xavier starts to laugh like some demented donkey, and I look at him in repulsion.
“Brothe—husb—I ca—bre—”
I point at dumbo over there. “What is he going on about?” Jase gives me an ‘are you serious look’ and rolls his eyes.
“I may have blown my shot, but I know you lucky assholes are going to make up with Cara and end up as one big happy fucking family,” he scoffs.
I sit back down and chug the rest of my beer and shrug. “We can only hope, brother.”
Eighteen
Layton
After a grueling three days on a bus that should have only lasted one, I finally arrived in Kansas. Next time I’m flying. I’m exhausted, and I hope Carson doesn’t slam the door in my face. I made a hard decision and I chose her. I need her. I love her. Do I still love him? Of course, I don’t think I will ever stop, but I can’t get over what he did. I was hoping we would come after her together… but that’s not what he wants. So I won’t force it. All he had to do was talk to me, and I could have maybe stopped our relationships from imploding. But nope, not going to think about that right now.
It’s a nice sunny day and the station is busy, so I don’t bother getting a car. I remember when we visited for Thanksgiving that her house wasn’t far. Being such a small town, nothing is really too far from their ranch. It’s so peaceful here. I could see myself settling down here. I think I could be happy.
