Page 99 of Twisted Truths
I nod, respecting his decision.
For a moment, none of us speak. The weight of what lies ahead presses in around us.
“Now we just have to figure out how to save Franklin,” Hadley says, breaking the silence.
We do, but I also need to bury the rest of my demons in this town so I can truly leave it behind. Because once Hadley, Franklin, and I leave next week, I don’t plan on ever returning to Barrenridge.
Chapter Thirty-Three
NASH
With Gabriel back from Sydney, I leave Hadley with him the next day while I organise a few things before we leave. After dropping off the boxes of donated things to Mrs Krenshaw, I swing past the funeral home to collect my family’s ashes. Grief coils deep in my chest, but I don’t have time to dwell on it. There’ll be time for that once Franklin is safe, and we’re in Boston.
My chest tightens as I pull into a parking spot at the high school later that night. The traffic is thinning out as parents and students trickle away from the gym. The innocent sounds of laughter, mates shouting out to one another across the lot, and good-natured banter is at odds with how I feel about what I’m about to do.
I kill the engine and sit there for a second, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.
Gabriel’s with Hadley. She’s safe. For now.
This can’t wait.
I need to know what happened.
Pushing open the car door, I step out into the cool night,my boots crunching on gravel as I head towards the gym. I half expect the doors to be locked, but they’re not. The scoreboard lights inside are already dimmed, the echo of the game fading into silence.
The courts are empty, so I take the familiar path past the changerooms to the coach’s office. I rap my knuckles on the glass, and Levi lifts his head, eyes widening when he sees me.
He smiles and waves me in, but I don’t miss the hesitation.
“Didn’t see you at the game,” he says, trying for casual.
“I wasn’t,” I say, strolling in. The same scuffed linoleum floor stretches beneath my boots. The walls, once plastered with laminated plays and championship banners, are mostly bare now. A flat-screen television hangs on the wall where there used to be a whiteboard.
Coach Durran’s desk used to be a chaotic mess of loose papers, whistles, motivational quotes, and half-eaten muesli bars buried beneath playbooks. Now, the desk is tidy, almost obsessively so. A laptop sits front and centre, flanked by a single clipboard and a branded school notepad.
I sit in the same chair I did when Durran benched me for tying Levi to the basketball post. The cushion has been reupholstered, but the ghosts haven’t gone anywhere.
Back then, this office was a place where rules meant something. Where mistakes had consequences.
Now, it’s more of a hiding place for Levi and his transgressions.
Only, I’m about to bring them to light.
“Is everything okay?” he asks when I don’t say anything.
“You tell me,” I challenge. “How’d the game go tonight?”
He arches a brow. “We won. Sitting three games clear now.”
I nod. “That’s good. And Theo, how’d he play?”
Guilt flashes in hiseyes. “Nash?—”
“Why’d you do it, Lev?”
He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m not involved with them anymore.” His voice is quiet. “It’s over.”
“You think so?” I scoff. “Because from what I’ve heard, it’s never over with men like that. They’re always searching for their next payday. What the hell were you thinking?”
