Page 84 of Fatal Betrayal

"Okay. Then why does it feel like there's a but coming…"

"But," he said. "Kyle's story did change a lot. He couldn't say exactly when he left the concert. Will said Kyle left early, but Kyle claimed that Will took off first. Later, he told me that he'd gotten mad at Will that night and left because Will was high and acting like an asshole. Which made me wonder if you did see Kyle's car that night. It wasn't at the house when I got back, but Kyle could have just been driving around."

"Did you ever ask him flat out if he saw Hannah that night? I'm not talking about when it happened, but later, when everyone was older, when time had passed?"

"No. I never asked him flat out. I didn't want him to think I ever had any doubts about his innocence."

"So you stuck to the story that I was the bad guy, even though you knew Kyle wasn't very clear on his actions that night."

"That was my story," he admitted, seeing the pain in her gaze. "I had to tell myself that. I had to hate you."

"Why?" she asked in bewilderment. "Why did you have to hate me?"

They were venturing into dangerous territory and into thoughts he'd never spoken aloud to anyone. But this was Andi. This was the girl he used to tell everything to. "Because," he said, his voice so thick he had to clear it before continuing. "You hurt me. I didn't understand why you couldn't stand up for me or my family, why you couldn't protect us. You were my best friend. I felt betrayed."

She bit down on her lip, his words obviously hitting her hard. "I didn't know in the beginning that I would get Kyle in horrible trouble. I thought maybe he had just seen something. It snowballed after that. I made mistakes. I know I did. I talked too much to the wrong people. I thought I was standing up for Hannah, for justice, for truth. But I wasn't thinking enough about what my actions were doing to you, and I did regret that. I just didn't think I could fix our broken relationship. I still don't. Even when we have a laugh together, there's a moment where you suddenly realize how you really feel about me. You'll never forget what's between us."

"I've never wanted to forget it…until now."

"Why now?" she challenged.

"Because I don't want the past between us anymore." His heart started pounding hard against his chest. "I want to see what else could happen with us."

Her eyes glittered in the dim light. "Could you really take that risk with me? Because I don't know if I could take it with you. It was hard to get over you, Cooper. I missed you for so many years. I don't want to start something now that's going to end up in the same horrible place of pain and unhappiness."

"It would never be the same place."

"It could be worse. It's not worth it."

"It could definitely be worth it."

At his words, a spark lit up her eyes. She was hesitant, but she was also tempted, and it was nice to know he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"I think we should just go to sleep." Her words sounded a little desperate now. "There's too much at stake. And it could go bad. Because it's you and me, and we'll be good and then we'll be bad."

He waited until she ran out of steam and then put his hand on her arm. "Or it could be amazing. And consider this. We've already risked our lives twice today. Maybe tonight is all we have. If that were true, would you want to spend it sleeping?"

She shook her head and let out a sigh. "You're pulling out all the stops."

He smiled. "You told me earlier today that I move too slow. Let's speed things up. You like speed. You like danger. You like to feel like you're living on the edge."

"You know exactly how to play me, Cooper."

"Which bodes well for what could happen next."

A smile lifted her lips. "I know a few things about you, too."

"Why don't we just start with a kiss and see if either of us wants to take it further? You can say no at any point. You know that, right?"

"Of course, I know that. But let's say the kiss goes as well as the last one. Let's say we want to take it a lot further. We're going to see each other naked. Are you ready for that?"

He laughed. "While that thought would have grossed me out at eight, I was intrigued by the idea at fourteen and even more so now. Are you interested?"

"Very interested. But ready? Not sure. I feel nervous. Like I've never done this before."

His pulse was already racing fast. "Me, too, but I think we could be good together."

"Or horrible. It could go either way."

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