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I gave him a weak smile. “It’s fine. Really. I don’t mind telling you,” I said. I drew in a deep breath. “Remember what we were just talking about? About how Forrester is a safe haven for politician’s kids like me?”
“Yeah,” he replied looking confused.
“Well… it turned out my dad was worried about the wrong family member.” I paused and pursed my lips, twisting my fingers on my lap. “Mom was targeted by some sort of fringe group. Dad was the deciding vote on a bill a lot of those groups hated. So a few days after the vote happened, someone tampered with her car. So she did get into an accident. But it was only because her car was sabotaged.”
The words came rushing out of me in a torrent of anguish. I usually didn’t trust people with this story so easily, but I felt safe with Paxton. Like I could share anything with him, no matter how grim it was.
He stared at me, naked horror flashing in his eyes. “Fuck. That’s terrible,” he muttered, putting his arm back around me again. “Did they arrest the guys who did it?”
“Nope. They were never actually able to identify the person who did it. But the timing made it pretty obvious that it had to be someone from one of those extremist groups.”
“I’m so sorry, Sienna. I wish there was something I could do.”
“You can.” I exhaled deeply. “Like I said, talking about her helps.”
“Do you want to tell me your favorite memory of her?” Paxton said, reaching over to tuck a loose strand of hair away from my left eye.
I spent the next several minutes sharing my best memories with him. He was a good listener. Attentive, polite, said all the right things.
A sob suddenly rose at the back of my throat. “Oh my god,” I choked out. “Sorry. I made tonight way too heavy, didn’t I?”
“Not at all.” Paxton squeezed my hand. “I’ve wanted to get to know you for ages, Sienna. So I’m really glad you trust me enough to talk to me about all of this.”
I tried to reply, but my throat was too congested now. Paxton put both arms around me, and I nestled into them, feeling his grip tighten around my back. I sat there, face pressed to his warm chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breath, overcome by his kindness and willingness to let me be my true self around him.
I finally pulled away and looked up at him, lips curving in a ghost of a smile. “Thanks for being here for me.”
“No problem,” he said softly. “Losing a family member is hard as hell.”
“You’ve lost someone too?” I asked, cocking my head. It sounded like he was speaking from experience.”
“Not a family member. A good friend of mine.”
I put my hand on his arm. “What was his name?”
“Tyler. We used to get into a lot of shit together. My whole crowd did back then.” Paxton rubbed his jaw. “Honestly, if those scouts didn’t discover me and hook me up with the scholarship after I qualified for the NTDP, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, forehead wrinkling.
“We just did dumb stuff. Illegal stuff.” Paxton raised a brow and nudged me. “So now you know the truth. I’m not such a good guy after all.”
“You totally are,” I said, giggling softly. “What sort of illegal stuff are you talking about?”
“Nothing major, really. Like I said, it was just stupid shit. We stole Tyler’s dad’s car once. Got all the way to Baltimore before we got caught.”
“Oh my god. You stole a car?”
He laughed. “Are you judging me?”
“No.” My face flushed. “Well, maybe a tiny bit.”
“I don’t blame you.” Paxton winked at me. “Don’t worry. My criminal days are behind me. I have to stay out of trouble as long as I want to stay on the NTDP team. Plus I sort of promised Tyler.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I told you we did dumb shit, right?” he said, rubbing his jaw again. His eyes were focused somewhere out on the lake now. “We used to play this game. We’d go to the old train station on the edge of town, and when the freight trains came through, we’d jump off the platform and onto the side of the train. Then we’d jump off again.”
“That sounds really dangerous,” I said, eyes widening.
