I know Zane and I aren’t really anything to each other. We’re only just getting to know each other mainly through text and video chat. Over a thousand miles separates us.
I normally wouldn't worry too much. I don't go out of my way to have a relationship. Usually the opposite in fact. But I really do like him. I like him a lot, and this secret feels like it has the possibility to end things before they really begin.
Guilt eats at me so, that I faked not feeling well after the party so we could leave early. Then I caught the next flight out without any type of explanation. When I got back to New York, I kept myself holed up in my apartment so no one would know I came back over a week early. He’s been texting and calling ever since. So has Maddox but he's been more forward. He already knows my leaving had something to do with Zoey.
“I’d like to know how that trip went too,” a very familiar voice says angrily from behind me. Like Beetlejuice, except all I did was think of him. I gulp, wondering how I didn’t realize he was here. I turn to find Maddox glaring at me with Dane standing beside him looking curious. “Did you even change out of the dress before you got on the plane?”
I didn’t. I got to the airport as quickly as I could then exchanged the first-class ticket for the next available flight. I sit there saying nothing to Maddox as guilt eats at my insides. “What did that ball playing douche do to you?” Dane asks suspiciously.
Maddox looks at me with raised brows, practically daring me to lie and blame my sudden departure on Zane’s bad behavior. “Zane didn’t do anything,” I answer him with an eye roll.
“Never really had a chance considering how fast you took off. Funny how it was right after Zoey mysteriously left. Also, strange how Zane texted me the next day wondering why you left like I was supposed to know the answer when I didn't realize you did. Then Jax texted me to see if you knew something that happen because Zoey shut down on him.”
I see Dane bristle at Maddox’s insinuation. “What are you trying to accuse her of?”
“I’m not accusing her of anything,” Maddox answers him without taking his eyes off of me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so seriously pissed. “I’m stating facts and making observations and asking questions.”
My phone rings in my pocket. I pull it out and grimace as Zane’s name flashes across the screen. I send the call to voicemail which I have no intentions of checking.
“What’s going on, Tori?” Maddox demands.
This time I see Dane look at me with curiosity, as well. Leaving me with no other choice.
I pretend to need to be somewhere else and get the hell out of the shop. I’ve never felt quite so – discomfited. I know I should tell Zane and Jax about what happened, but I also understand Zoey’s reasons for not saying anything. I feel like I am literally being pulled in two different directions because I want to be there for Zoey. I want to earn her trust so she will feel like she can open up to me if she ever needs to. She needs someone to confide in. She needs all the support she can get.
But in the last few weeks of talking with Zane I’ve learned a few things about him.He may be a friendly guy, but he only really cares about a very small group of people. At the top of that list is Zoey and Jax. He would do anything to protect them. And by not telling him what happen, I am breakinghistrust.
I need someone to talk to about all of this, and there are only two people I go to when things weigh heavy on my mind. One, strangely enough, has become Maddox, so he's out of the question.
I send a text out, and instantly get a reply.
Twenty minutes later, I’m walking into the back office. A big desk filled with papers and clutter sits in the middle of the room. Framed posters of past events hang on the walls. A tall case sits in the far-right corner filled with trophies and plaques.
Pete sits behind the desk looking through his papers while puffing on a cigar. He looks up at me over the rim of his glasses when he notices me. A huge smile lights his face.
You’d never know he was in his mid-sixties looking at him. He doesn’t look a day over fifty which is remark able given his habit for cigars and bourbon. The slight graying of his brown hair makes him look like a distinguished businessman which I guess he is. But his well-built physique gives way to a life that hasn’t always been behind a desk.
“Well, Darlin’ ain’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he drawls with that Texas slang with a grin. But I flinch at his term of endearment. Something his sharp eyes don’t miss as they narrow at me in suspicion. “What brings you by? Shouldn’t you have jet lag or something?”
I give him a weak smile as I take a seat in front of his desk. “I probably would if I hadn’t been home since the day after I left,” I admit.
“Something happen?” he asks me as his suspicion grows.
I suck in a big breath as I nod. “Something happened. I don’t know what to do.”
So, I tell him everything that happened while I was in River City. I tell him about Maddox’s questions a bit ago. I tell him about Zane and Zoey. I tell him all of it because I tell Pete everything. I just haven’t seen him in a while because he’s been back in Texas working on something.
He slides his glasses off his face and leans back in his chair with a click of his tongue. “That’s quite a sad story, but I’m not sure what you want me to tell you, Tori.”
“Tell me what to do, Pete. Tell Zane what I saw and break Zoey’s trust, or keep quiet and break his trust.”
‘’I think the better question would be, are you really helping Zoey by keeping quiet? The girl’s been through quite the ordeal from what you’ve said. Is it really in her best interest for you to keep the secret?”
“I don’t know, Pete. I feel like it probably isn’t, but I really don’t know Zoey that well.”
“Tori, do you really need to know her to know if this secret is helping or hurting her?” he says with a look I’ve caught many times over the years. A look that is calling bullshit and telling me to stop being stupid. “Has she talked toyousince it happened?”
I shake my head. Zoey hasn't responded to my text and won’t answer my calls. I feel like it’s just like when she worked at Lucky’s.
