Page 137 of The Forever Play

She grins. “Rhino.”

“That’s good.”

Her proud smile is adorable. I should be laughing like I normally do, praising her amazing talking, but instead my eyes flood with tears. Looking away before Zoey spots them, I rise to grab a tissue, then get distracted by my phone.

It’s vibrating on the coffee table, so I pick it up. I don’t recognize the number, but it could be one of the moms from the playgroup, and as loath as I am to be around other people right now, Zoey definitely deserves better company than me.

Maybe I should let it ring, and the caller can leave a message.

I bite my lip, quickly scanning my brain andconcluding that everyone at Football Frat is no doubt at school, and if it’s not my parents, then it must be a playgroup mom.

Shit! Just answer it. Think of what’s best for Zoey!

With a huff, I swipe my thumb across the screen. “Hello?”

“Sienna? Hi. It’s Monica.”

It takes me a split second to register who that is, and then my insides run cold.

“Please don’t hang up.” She rushes out the words.

I huff. “Did Zander tell you to call me?”

“Of course not. He feels fully deserving of your ghosting, but… he shouldn’t. He’s not a bad guy!” Monica’s voice pitches. “Look, I know it’s probably not my place to intervene, but my brother is infuriatingly stubborn, and I know he hasn’t told you the whole truth yet.”

I close my eyes, feeling slightly dizzy. “I know the truth. I found out about the girl and how he roofied her and… and?—”

“He never roofied anyone. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I can assure you that if it wasn’t for Zander, that girl would have been raped multiple times that night. He saved her.”

“What?” I plunk down on the couch. “But he said…” My brain struggles to recall exactly what he said, until it suddenly dawns on me…

He didn’t say anything.

He just stood there while I jumped to all the wrong conclusions.

Oh shit. He’s been trying to call me. To tell me the truth and?—

“Why didn’t he tell me the other night?” I whisper. “Why did he let those Kelsey U guys lie about everything?”

Monica sighs. “By the sounds of it, they didn’t lie abouteverything.”

I stiffen.

“Zander did break the captain’s jaw. He was running on white-hot rage when he saw what was happening. He couldn’t believe someone would treat their girlfriend that way, and he pounced without thinking… thumped that jackass until he was an unconscious blob on the floor.”

I hiss, picturing the scene. I’ve never seen Zander that angry before. It’s kind of hard to imagine. But then maybe Icansee it, Zander’s face puckered in anger while his arm worked like a piston.

The image scares me a little, and I glance at Zoey, so innocent and sweet on the floor.

So vulnerable.

“So, yes, he got arrested and accused of a bunch of bullshit, but with help from me and Coach Jones and a few eyewitnesses, he was cleared of all charges.” Monica snaps me back to attention. “Unfortunately, he scored himself the eternal wrath of the team because he told the police everything he knew. He had to get away from Kelsey U after that. Thankfully, Coach Jones’s new job coincided with all of this, and he took Zander with him.”

Not sure what to say, I slump back on the couch, trying to absorb everything.

“I’m not saying he didn’t have a really bad year and get caught up in a bunch of stuff he regrets. He was trying to impress the wrong people. He thought he needed to act like them to be accepted by them, so he got into drinking big-time, smoked a little weed, had alotof sex.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to hear any of this.

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