Without thinking, I stand and make my way back inside. I won’t fucking hide. This time, I’m not going to give Gray the option to sidestep the truth, or to use sex to make me pliable.
It’s time I outright demand answers and tell him what’s on my mind.
As soon as I’m back outside, Gunner looks up at me. “Do you mind changing the song?” he asks.
He’s still sitting where I left him, so it makes perfect sense since I’m closer to the laptop hooked up to the massive speakers.
“Sure,” I say with a shrug.
After I click on the next song on the playlist, I go to sit next to Gunner again.
“You okay, Sugar?” he asks. His eyes shine with concern as he rakes a hand through his shoulder-length blond hair. “You look like you’ve been crying.”
When I don’t answer him immediately, he moves closer, swirling the ends of his bushy beard around one finger.
“You can tell me,” he whispers conspiratorially.
Despite the grief I feel at losing the version of Grayson I almost dared believe to be real, my eyes are as dry as the Sahara. I’m glad, I don’t want to ever shed a tear for that conceited fucker.
“Later,” I say noncommittally.
The truth is, I don’t want to tell anyone how humiliated and used I feel. I just want to scream at Grayson, once and for all making him back down and leave me alone. Though I’m not sure I have that kind of power, I’m sure as hell going to try.
Just as Gray steps outside and joins us, I hear Alana’s voice ring out loud and clear from the speakers.
“How far are you willing to go here, Zoe?”
“As far as I need to,” I hiss.
What the hell?
Multiple heads turn, looking between me and Alana, who’s sitting several tables away, like they can’t quite believe their own ears.
Why is mine and Alana’s conversation playing out like this?
“Stop it,” Alana screams so loudly, jumping up from her seat. “Someone fucking kill whatever that is.”
My stomach tightens as realization dawns on me.
Fuck. This isn’t just bad, it’s… well, worse.
Before anyone can stop whatever is going on, my voice rings out again.
“Grayson killed his dad.”
“Grayson killed his dad.”
“Grayson killed his dad.”
The words are repeated like a bad remix, making it impossible to not hear it.
Grayson
IknowwhatIdid. I re-live it in my head every fucking day in the quiet moments when there’s no one around to see my anguished expression. Rocco, Cara and Gunner were the only ones that knew about my past… until I told Zoe.
I don’t know why I thought that conversation was just between us. Why I thought my secret would remain that way after opening up to her at the cabin. I thought I was doing the right thing. Showing her my truth. Trying to show her she could trust me.
I never fucking imagined that I couldn’t trust her.
