48. Graham
GRAHAM
“Graham!” My brothers call my name as they chase me through the woods.
“Leave me alone. I’m leaving. I can’t be around her!” I shout.
“Why are you being such an idiot?” my brother yells.
“I hurt her!” I holler over my shoulders.
Aaron comes out of nowhere and tackles me into the snow. It sprays up on Spencer.
“No.” I struggle under him.
“Listen,” Spencer says as he joins Aaron in pinning me down. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“I’ll never see Dani again.”
“She seems pretty dope. She’s wearing clothes from Costco, so I bet she’ll take you back if you bring her a cheese platter,” Connor tells me.
“You don’t understand,” I groan. “I can’t be around her. I’m not safe for her.”
“You got off scot-free,” Aaron argues. “Everything’s going to be fine. You heard Frank—he’s going to kill the investigation. It’s going to be like none of this ever happened.”
“So all’s well that ends well!” Connor chirps.
I shake my head. “But I’ll know it happened. I fucked up. I am fucked up. I do deserve to be in prison.”
“Well, I can’t have you in prison,” Grayson says sharply. “So just cut it out.” He kneels down next to me. “You’re not a bad person. You just… Things got out of hand.”
“I’m taking responsibility for my actions,” I groan.
“Let’s have him take a sabbatical. Try again in six months,” Grayson says definitively.
***
I’m wedged in the back seat of the car between Connor and Spencer while Grayson drives and Aaron rides shotgun, arguing with him about the best route back into the city.
“It’s morning rush hour,” Aaron tells him. “Don’t take the Lincoln Tunnel.”
“There are only three ways to get back onto Manhattan,” Grayson retorts. “I might as well take the tunnel.”
“We are going to be sitting in traffic for hours.” Connor’s on his phone.
“Shut up, Connor,” my brothers chorus.
I am in a daze. I keep dozing off, then I think about Dani trapped alone, scared, crying for help, and I start awake. What if she’s in trouble? Right now?
She’s with her parents, I remind myself. Finn texted.
The thought of being away from her—forever—looms dark and foreboding in my future.
I’ll never know if she’s okay or not.
She’ll find someone else.
She’ll fall in love with someone else.
What if he treats her badly?
He can’t treat her worse than I already did.
“Um—”
“Jesus, Connor—no one asked for your opinion. You wreck cars like a toddler. They need to take away your license,” Aaron snaps. “You need to take a left here, Grayson. I said take a left!” Aaron yells as Grayson does not take a left.
“This is the better route,” Grayson snaps.
“Traffic!” Aaron throws up his hands. “There’s traffic.”
“Guys…”
“Connor, seriously?”
“You need to see this.” He shoves his phone at Aaron.
I peer blearily at the screen. There’s a live stream of a local morning show on his phone.
“—have Colette Belmont here with us, who has information about the viral kidnapping video. More after the break.”
Oh shit.
Conner smirks at me. “Guess you’re going to get your wish. You’re going to prison after all!”