Chapter 6
LAWSON
“You didn’t have to come with me.”
My best friend and teammate scoffs. “There was no way I was going to let you go alone.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know you can. The whole world knows you can by now. That doesn’t mean you have to do it alone, though.”
Sighing, I tighten my hand on the steering wheel as we wait for the front gate of the Miller Racing compound to open. “Thank you.”
“You would be sitting right where I am if the roles were reversed.”
“That wouldn’t happen.”
He gasps dramatically and places a hand over his heart. “Wow. I guess I’m more in the friendship than you are.”
I roll my eyes. “You know what I mean. Yes, I’d do that but you’d also never put me in a position where I had to. You’d never do something like this.”
“No, you’d be visiting me in prison. I can pull off a completely blue tracksuit, though, don’t you think?”
For the first time in the last two days, I laugh. Leave it to Jace to lighten the mood no matter how dense the cloud cover has gotten.
“Seriously though. I’m here if you need anything, okay?”
I glance over at him as I pull into a parking spot and turn off the car. “Thank you, Jace. Seriously. The same goes for you.”
His lips tip up in a sad smile. “Anything for you, mate. I know this sucks, but I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there. If something had happened to her. I would’ve never been able to forgive myself.”
“You know it’s not your fault, right? Because I really need you to know that. Believe that. Nothing that happened is your fault.”
“But if I had just stayed—”
“Then she could have still ended up in that bathroom with him, or worse. There’s no saying what could have prevented what happened, if there’s even anything at all.”
His chin drops and he shakes his head. “I just wish I could have been there. Not just for her but for both of you.”
“You were.” His eyebrows furrow in question and I tilt my head. “You were there when I needed you at the station. For both of us really. Sydney was in no state to be driving and me? I didn’t know if I was even going to walk out of there that day.”
“That was all Sydney. She told them everything.”
“Yeah, she did. But you helped her find the strength to do so. Without you, that day would have ended so differently and I probably wouldn’t be here right now. I’d be the one wearing the blue tracksuit.”
He purses his lips and shakes his head. “Tracksuits are so not your style.”
I chuckle. “I don’t know, I think I could pull it off.”
“And throw it right into the trash.” We both laugh and he sighs, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “It’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about that, though.”
“Yeah.” I look out the car window. “There’s just a few hundred other things.”
“Hey.” He pulls my attention back to him. “Whatever happens, I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
I nod and we climb out of the car. The hallways are quiet as we make our way to the large meeting room. Not surprising since everyone is still on holiday.
“I’d say happy new year, but this one isn’t starting off so cheery now is it?”
Well… everyone except our Team Principal, Mitch.
He stands across the table, arms folded and hard eyes set on us as we file through the doorway.
“I was having a grand holiday celebration with my family. For the first time, all my kids were able to make it home at the same time and I finally got to hold my newest grandchild. Do you know what the only thing that would have made my holiday even better is?”
Jace opens his mouth and I dig my elbow into his side to shut him up. I don’t look away from Mitch’s fuming glower. “Nothing? Not even a single guess? How about a hint then?”
He slams his hand onto the table, a piece of paper flattened underneath. My jaw clenches as I catch glimpses of the printed-out article peeking through his splayed fingers.
“The only thing that would have made this holiday better is if one of my drivers wasn’t making headlines with the words ‘assault’ and ‘arrest’ attached to them!
” His voice rises until he’s practically yelling.
“Why? Why would you do this? Someone better say something because I cannot even begin to fathom how we are here right now talking about this.”
Jace steps forward, but I speak up before he can. “This is on me. I’m the one who attacked the guy. I’m the one who was taken down to the station. I’m the one who caused this whole mess.”
“And how do you play into this?” Mitch throws a hand towards his other driver.
“I—”
“All he did was pick me up. He has nothing to do with whatever went on before driving me away from the police station.”
“Mate—”
“Look.” I cut him off. “I know you said you’ll help me through whatever is going to happen but this is on me. I won’t let you take the fall for my actions.” I turn to our team principal. “Whatever you have to do, do it, but I’m the only one who should be facing the consequences.”
Mitch shakes his head and pulls out a chair, collapsing into it with a sigh. His head drops back and his eyes close. “Sit down. You’re making me nervous standing over me like that.”
“We’re making him nervous?” Jace mumbles under his breath as we obediently join Mitch at the table.
My lips twitch despite the tension coiling my muscles. I don’t know exactly what’s about to happen, but I know it’s not going to be as simple as a slap on the hand and a stern talking to.
This is too big.
What I did is too big.
A boot knocks against mine and I glance over at my best friend and teammate. He gives me a reassuring nod and I take a steadying breath.
He’s always been able to do that. They both have. Maybe it’s a Collins trait, but whatever it is, I’ve always felt more secure, more grounded, more… myself around the pair of them.
It’s how it’s always been. From the moment I rode my bike over to their house, we’ve always stuck together no matter what. And the small fact that he’s sitting here next to me is proof that it won’t change anytime soon.
I may be rightfully owning up to my actions and taking on the consequences, but I won’t be alone. He won’t let me. Because he’s right. If the roles were reversed, I’d be sitting right here alongside him no matter what too.
Not just because of our own friendship.
But because of her.
We’ve always had this shared protectiveness of Sydney.
Just… for vastly different reasons.
Jace has always fiercely cared for his friends and family. If you cross one of them, you cross him. The guy may be a golden retriever, fun loving, and empathetic man, but every coin has another side.
And while it rarely lands face up, when it does, good luck to the bastard who’s on the receiving end of his fury.
Me and Syd, though? That’s a little more complicated. Always has been.
At first, it was because that’s what you do for friends. That’s what she was, my friend. Jace wasn’t the first Collins to take that title, but I’d never tell him that. I wouldn’t be able to recover from his incessant whining about it. He wouldn’t let me.
Eventually, though, that friendship morphed into something different, completely shattering my world. I’d gone from seeing her as my best friend’s little sister, to never being able to look away from her.
Even if I tried. I just couldn’t.
Not when I felt like my eyes were truly opened for the first time in, well, forever.
But that’s a secret I’ve kept hidden away, deep inside my obsidian heart for years.
A chair squeaks and I shake out of my spiraling thoughts. Mitch leans his forearms on the table and his once fury-filled eyes have dulled. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“The article—”
“I don’t care what this garbage says. I want to hear what happened from you. Not some muppet who’s chasing the next big headline.”
I clench my teeth and mirror his position, not missing the quick peek he takes at my healing knuckles. “I won’t tell you everything.”
“Moore—”
“Some of it is not mine to share. And I won’t break their privacy. I’ll tell you what I can and that’s it.”
He stares at me long and hard. He moves to massage his temples, muttering under his breath something about ‘these freaking drivers’ and ‘being too old for this shite’ before nodding. “Okay. Fine. Tell me what you can. And do try to make any of this make sense.”
Swallowing, I clear my throat. “Something happened to someone important to me. Something you wouldn’t want anyone you care about to go through.”
“I’m assuming this is the part where you won’t disclose exactly what that something is?”
“No. I’ll only tell you that the course of my actions that night were sealed once I heard her scream and broke down that locked door. There was no stopping what I did to the sick fucker once I saw his hands on her.”
Shaking my head, I shrug. “And in all honesty, if it wasn’t for her pulling me back when she did, this all would have ended way worse than it is now.”
“What happened afterwards? After this?” He nods towards the picture on the front of the article. The one circulating social media of me carrying Sydney through the club’s crowded hallway.
I haven’t actually looked at the picture before this. Studied it. But the longer I do, the stronger this ache in my chest grows.
Lord, she looks so small as she clings to my tense frame. The still healing scratches on my neck tingle at the memory of how tightly she clung to me. It was as if she was trying to sink under my skin to shield herself away from everything and everyone in that moment.
Her face isn’t visible since she’s burying it in my neck.
To everyone else, this is just a picture of me carrying some random woman.
But even if I wasn’t the one in the picture, I’d know that particular shade of blonde anywhere.
I’ve unconsciously searched it out in crowds whenever I know she’s near.
I drag my eyes away from the image and look back to the man holding my future on this team in his hands.