Page 138 of The Forever Play

“Shit, sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Monica huffs. “I really suck at this, but I want you to know that when push came to shove, he did the right thing. And there are witnesses to prove it. Believe me, I went into full-blown PI mode to find out the truth. I interviewed everyone at that party, and enough people were saying the same thing. Those assholes had roofied girls before. They were big on sharing their girlfriends whether the girls wanted that or not. Zander was oblivious to all of it. But when he saw what was happening… he totally saved that girl. A few of his teammates got reprimanded, and things got ugly for a while.”

“What happened to the main culprits?”

“Much to my complete aggravation, it became a case of ‘he said, she said,’ and the boys got off with warnings. They tried to kick Hodgkins and Williams off the team, but then the school board stepped in and did everything in their power to avoid a big scandal. Hush money was paid out, and the whole thing got swept under the rug. It was a total shit show and handled so badly, but the team blames Zander for exposing what was really going on. I’m pretty sure he put a major dent in their partying lifestyle, and I imagine a lot of girls started avoiding the Titans.”

My mind is reeling as I try to absorb all of this. I can’t believe Zander had to play with those assholes, and their hatred toward him has definitely endured judging by Saturday’s game.

“So…” I lick my bottom lip. “Zander never had nonconsensual sex?”

“No! Don’t think that for one second. I mean,according to what he’s told me, he had a lot of drunken sex, and I know he’s paranoid that on one of those occasions, he might have… But I’d argue that no one was asking for his consent either. It’s a two-way street. I swear, too much alcohol and sex is a really bad idea. I hate that he had to learn that the hard way.”

I let out a shuddering sigh, slashing a tear off my cheek.

“Since moving to Nolan U, he hasn’t gotten wasted once. He’s really big on only drinking a beer or two, then stopping. He never wants to be that out of control again. I swear to you, Sienna, he’s a changed man. You can trust him.”

My chin bunches as I try to talk through my tears. “I really want to, but it made me feel like I don’t know him at all. He never talks to me about his time at Kelsey U, and it was so shocking to hear all that stuff.”

“You do know him.” Monica’s voice is soft and soothing. “He’s an inherently good man. He just lost his way for a while. And he blames himself that he didn’t figure things out sooner. He carries the guilt of what happened to those girls before he found out what was going down. I’m not sure he’ll ever forgive himself.”

That sounds more like my man. No wonder he didn’t want to tell me.

“I think your forgiveness would really help, and I’ve been bugging him for weeks to open up and tell you the truth. He was just so ashamed and worried that you’d never speak to him again.”

I bolt upright, blinking at the wall.

Shit, that’s exactly what I did. I wouldn’t take his calls. I completely shut him out!

He’ll never tell you anything if you don’t give him a reason to trust that you’ll stick around through thick and thin. Shit, Sienna, stop bolting like a scared rabbit.

I have to see him.

I have to make this right.

Jumping off the couch, I hurry into Zoey’s room, grabbing her day bag and quickly filling it as I rush to say, “Thank you, Monica. You’ve been a huge help.”

“Anytime. You gonna go see my bro?”

“I’m going to try.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Good luck, chick. Let me know how it goes.”

“Sure.” I hang up and shove the last of Zoey’s things into a bag before running to get dressed.

Armed with the truth, I’m now desperate to see Zander and make things right again.

Because I hate doing this life without him.

He’s a good man, and Zoey deserves to have her father in her life.

Just like I deserve to be with the only man I’ve ever loved, dammit!

CHAPTER 52

SIENNA

Thank God Mrs. Ward is home and available to watch Zoey. As soon as I pull up beside her house, she opens the door and comes down the path to greet us. Zoey kicks her legs in excitement and yells, “Baking!”

“That’s right, my sweet. You ready to for The Great Nolan Bake-Off?”

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