Page 16 of The Bookworm

“I've seen how you look at him. You've been curious enough about him, so I thought this would be a harmless way to satisfy that,” Talon says, shrugging.

I sit up and hold my hand against his cheek, pulling him close to kiss me. “None of my fantasies in life have ever come true until recently. Of course this was what I wanted it to be. You make me feel so safe and secure. Thanks to you, I've been able to come out of my shell in a brand new way.”

“I'm more than happy to help you with that,” Talon says as he kisses me again.

I didn't even realize Sawyer left the room until he returned with an apple in his hand. I can't help but laugh at him seeing how he immediately went to get a snack afterward. Nobody tells you how you're supposed to handle situations like this, but it doesn't feel awkward. Sure, he just watched me and his best friend fuck and got off on it, but there's no tension in the air. In fact, both of us are still naked right now.

“In case anyone was wondering, I had a good time too,” Sawyer says through a mouthful of apple. I roll my eyes and shake my head, lying down in bed and climbing under the covers to be warm after ditching all of my clothes in the living room.

Talon is about to lie down beside me and go to sleep for the night when the doorbell rings and catches our attention. He sits up, but footsteps in the hallway tell us that Sawyer is already headed to the door. Dozens of school kids were here recently, so I assume someone left their phone behind at the party or something like that.

“Can I help you?” Sawyer says, his voice muffled from being as far away as he is. We don't hear who is on the other side, but we hear the distress in Sawyer's voice. “What's all this about?”

Talon gets up without hesitation, and I grab his T-shirt and slip it on to cover myself to follow. When I reach the doorway, I see police officers stepping inside, their hands on the cuffs around their belts, approaching Talon.

“Talon Mitchell, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of Ben Wright.”

A thousand questions swim through my mind, and I try to ask them, but the world is spinning far too fast to wrap my head around what's happening. Attempted murder of my father? That can't be right.

Before anyone can say or do anything to stop them, they're pulling Talon out of the house and setting him in the back seat of a police car. Sawyer and I watch from the porch as they drive away.

ELEVEN

You're under arrest for the attempted murder of Ben Wright.

I can't stop replaying the words in my head. How could this possibly be happening to me? I didn't touch him. Lord knows I wanted to more than anything, but I didn't. The last time I saw him, he was standing upright, though struggling thanks to the booze, and glaring at me through the rearview mirror of my car.

If I'd known I would be getting arrested for his attempted murder, then I at least would have actually tried.

The security doors to the holding cells open, and the same police officer who brought me in comes to unlock the cage. It takes everything in me not to smirk at him and make some snide comment about arresting the wrong person, but I know better than to poke the bear.

“What's going on?” I asked the cop, looking around for any indication of Merrit or Sawyer coming to pick me up.

“Your lawyer’s here,” he says, opening the cell and gesturing for me to get a move on.

He guides me to an interrogation room where Paul Umber is sitting in a hastily thrown together suit. I have no idea what time it is, but I imagine it's far too early even for a suit like him. He's been representing my family for decades, and for once, I'm thankful for my father's connections.

“What the hell is going on? They've hardly told me anything, and I've had nothing to do with what happened to Ben Wright,” I quickly say as I sit opposite him.

“Where were you between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.?” Paul asks me, taking notes in his leather-bound notebook.

“We just won the game against Hatfield, and I had a party at my house. Dozens of other people from school were there. They can all vouch for me,” I say, confident in my answer.

“You got into a confrontation with Mr. Wright after the game, right?”

“Yeah, but that's because he was verbally attacking his daughter, and I stood up for her. I didn't lay a hand on him,” I say, feeling the desperation in my voice. Being accused of something you didn't do is one of the worst feelings in the world, and I'll do anything to prove my innocence. I just know Ben is doing this to get back at Merrit for leaving.

“If what you're saying is true, then there's no way these charges are going to stick,” Paul says, huffing at the paperwork laid out in front of him. “Mr. Wright was beaten pretty badly, and he's in the hospital right now. Police and medical staff have tried to interview him, and all he's been able to say is your name.”

Of course he would do something like that. The man's a drunk. He probably got on the wrong side of the wrong people, and they jumped him, and he'll take any opportunity to blame me for it just to make Merrit’s life miserable. I'm not surprised in the slightest.

“Let me talk to the sheriff and see what I can do,” Paul says before exiting the room and leaving me alone. About twenty minutes pass before he comes in with another officer, and they unlock the handcuffs around my wrists.

The officer leaves the room, and Paul flashes me a small smile. “Your parents will have to start paying me overtime if you're going to get into trouble like this.”

“Trust me, I had nothing to do with this, and I have no intention of coming back here,” I say, eager to follow him out of the interrogation room.

In the lobby of the police station, I can see the sun is already rising. I had no idea that much time had passed since I was arrested. Sawyer is sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair reading over a newspaper when I walk in.

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