Page 46 of In the Air Tonight

“Are you coming?” Dad asks, his expression full of utter devastation.

“In a minute.” I can’t go another second without knowing what Kane is thinking. The second the car door closes, I turn to him. “Say something! None of that was true! You’re the only one I love, and you know that.”

“They swore it was true.”

“They werelying! I swear to God. I’ve never even met Arlo Merrick or Camden Elliott or most of the other guys who signed thatlie!”

He stares straight ahead as his cheek throbs with tension.

And then I realize he’s weeping.

“Kane…”

“I thought I understood what you went through with these people… But until today, I didn’t realize how bad it was.”

I reach for him.

He wraps his arms around me. “I’m so, so sorry, Neise.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I want to kill them for daring to lie about you.”

I’m sick with relief that he believes me.

We hold each other for a long time, and when we pull apart, our faces are wet with tears.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes, please.”

“And never come back.”

Chapter 11

Blaise

NOW

I wait for a long time before Houston comes into the station, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. His hair is windblown and his cheeks red as if he’s been exerting himself. He’s taller than I recall, with dark blond hair and blue-green eyes. His brother, Dallas, the boy I used to have a big crush on until he lied about Neisy, is built like him but with darker hair and eyes.

I stand to greet him.

“I came as soon as I could, Blaise. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay.”

“Come in.”

He leads me past the officer who helped me track him down to an office in the back of the building. After he gestures for me to go in ahead of him, he closes the door and takes a seat behind the desk.

My heart beats so fast and so hard I’m afraid I might pass out before I can say the words I’ve kept buried inside me for fourteen torturous years.

“What’s going on? I thought you lived in the city now.”

I’m shocked that he knows anything about me. I’m four years younger than him. He graduated before I ever stepped foot into high school, but he knew Teagan and Arlo. “I am. I mean, I do. I live there.”

“I give you credit. That place would drive me crazy. I can barely stand a weekend there.”

---