Page 80 of Twisted Minds

Sawyer shakes his head, taking this all in. I know this is bad, I’m fucking terrible, but I’d thought my intentions were coming from a good place. I never wanted to hurt Hunter. I never wanted Sawyer’s mother to fear for her life or her kids. I had these fucking blinders on. I thought trying to catch Derrick was enough. It wasn’t. I should have come to Sawyer months ago. Like Hunter said, I’m a coward. “I didn’t even think Hunter would want to talk to me, let alone date me. I didn’t expect any of this. Last year Derrick and I hung out a lot, but lately I can’t stomach it. I was hoping he slip up and tell me something. All he does lately is threaten and use me. I have nothing.”

Sawyer thinks for a moment. “He drugged my sister at a party and tried to assault her. Thankfully one of her friends walked in. Derrick made some excuse that she passed out and he was laying her down. Jane doesn’t drink like that though. She was tested after and had drugs in her system.”

Shame punches me. “I didn’t know that until I’d already started dating Hunter. I swear. I tried to pretend to be Derrick’s friend to get him to admit he did it. I don’t know what to do now, but if it helps with insurance money or whatever you need, I’ll turn myself in.”

Sawyer blinks at me before shaking his head. “We’re going to set all of that aside for a moment. I want to talk about Hunter.” Ibreathe, failing to hold back the tears that instantly spring to my eyes. Fuck, I miss him so much. I shut them hard, not wanting to cry in front of Sawyer. “Was it all fake?”

“No.” I swallow. “I mean, I was being blackmailed. Hunter told you about the first night we met?” He nods. “That was before the blackmail. I felt something then. I didn’t know what, but it felt like something. When Derrick told me to date the captain of the hockey team, I didn’t know it was Hunter. I was trying to find a way out. I didn’t want to hurt him. I know you don’t believe me, but I didn’t, I swear.” Taking a deep breath, I feel lost. “Hunter is like a light personified. He makes me so fucking happy, and it’s like he doesn’t even realize he’s just the most incredible person. I admire him and I—” Pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes so hard it hurts, I confess, “I love him so much.”

“You were trying to find proof that he did it?”

“I’m not going to say we weren’t friends. I thought we were friends. I’d never really had friends before and suddenly I had this friend group. When I realized they weren’t the type of people I wanted to be around, it was too late.”

Sawyer leans back. “I don’t like you. You may not have set fire to our restaurant, but you hurt my best friend.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t. Like at all.” Sawyer sighs. “Hunter’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He’s had shitty boyfriends, but he’s never loved anyone like this. On top of that, there’s all the bullshit he has going on at home. He’s devastated. He thinks all of it it was a lie.”

“It’s not!” How could I do this to him? “He hates me.”

Sawyer smiles now, and it’s a pitying thing. “He doesn’t hate you. He fucking loves you and this is breaking him.” He thinks for a moment. “I can’t say I think you did the right thing, but I get why you did it. And I know from experience that they won’tinvestigate him without proof. His father will shield him every damn time. I have an idea, though.”

“What?”

“If you help me get proof that Derrick burned down the restaurant, I’ll talk to Hunter for you. Maybe if he hears exactly what happened he’ll understand. I don’t want him hurting like this either.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“I’m helping him, because he’s in pain and I hate that. I believe your feelings are real, and if they weren’t I wouldn’t be.”

“None of it was fake. I know what it looks like, but I never wanted to do this.”

Sawyer’s jaw ticks as he leans back, arms folded over his chest. “I’m not saying I’ll ever like you. This is a lot. It’s a lot to take in. Even if you didn’t do it, you should have said something. Then again, I understand that if you did, you’re right, no one would have believed you. Except me. I believe you.” He gives me a hard glare.

It’s not forgiveness, not even close, but I’ll take it.

This is my best bet. I don’t even care if Hunter doesn’t want me at the end of this. I just want him to know how much he means to me. That nothing we shared is fake. I love him and I’m not going to let him believe he’s nothing to me. “What are we going to do?”

“You are going to confront him and make him confess.”

twenty-eight

Mark

Walking down to the rink, my nerves are on edge. I texted Derrick nearly an hour ago that I was going down there to tell Hunter everything he’d done. I got zero text back, but I’m not worried about that. Even though I’m here to clear my name, my only focus is Hunter. I don’t care if he takes me back—or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself. What I care about is Hunter believing this is fake. It’s so far from fake, and I’m not going to let him keep thinking he means nothing to me.

My nerves heighten as I walk down the stairs and see Hunter in practice gear skating on the ice. Memories of us together on that very ice hit me in the chest. My footsteps must echo because he looks up, and his body visibly stiffens as he stares at me.

As I walk down to the rink, Hunter skates to the entrance, watching me. I want to know what he’s thinking but it probably isn’t anything good. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I open my mouth, but no words come out. My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I ignore it. “I just want to talk to you.”

“I don’t want you to talk to me. Go away.”

“Hunter, please I—”

“No! You fucking used me. You hurt my best friend. You’re a monster!”

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