Page 134 of Forbidden

I bark a laugh. “There are swim teams there, Lane. Like you said, they’re just not giving you the contract. This won’t be on your record. You’ll find something. And even if you don’t, it’s not a problem. It’s not like I have to pay rent or anything on my apartment. It’s mine.”

I can tell he’s trying not to roll his eyes, but it’s a fact. I’m not ashamed of my family’s money. Both my grandparents came from nothing and worked their way to where they are today. It’s money earned fair and square. I’m not some old money trust fund baby who doesn’t understand the value of hard work, and if I want to use that wealth to help support the people I care about, I damn well will.

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Lane says quietly. “It feels like the whole time he’s been slipping through our fingers. I don’t think he was ever really ours.”

I nod, my eyes fixed on Doug’s darkened house. “Did you check flights?”

“What?”

“Well,” I say, pulling my phone from the pocket of my tux. “If he’s left, he’s probably going back to England, right? So did you check flights?”

Lane growls and slams his head back against the seat. “No. I didn’t. My head’s all over the damn place. I didn’t even think.”

I reach out and squeeze his thigh. “Hey, relax. It’s fine. You have to arrive like, three hours early for international flights. We’ve got time.”

Lane grumbles, but I just keep my hand on his thigh as I search for upcoming flights with my other. “Would he fly to London?”

“No. Manchester.”

I nod, waiting while the search results load. “Okay, there are no flights tonight. The next flight is eleven forty-five tomorrow morning and the last one is at one thirty.”

“What if he’s not going to Manchester?” Lane argues. “What if he’s going to Aruba or some shit?”

I arch an eyebrow. “With all his stuff?”

“Good point.” He smacks the steering wheel with his palms. “So, what do we do now?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” At this point, it’s not just about convincing him to stay. It’s making sure he’s not beating himself up over this. Blaming us. As much as it would be a lot easier to let him walk away, I’m not willing to let him do that without hearing us out first. If he still wants to leave after that, then we’ll have to let him go.

“You look fine as fuck in that tux by the way,” Lane grumbles.

I bark a laugh. “Why do you sound so pissed about that fact?”

“Because.” He sighs. “This is not how tonight was supposed to go.”

“Seriously?” I laugh again. “Just tonight?”

“What do you mean?”

I turn to face him, admiring the way the muffled streetlights highlight the sharp cut of his jaw. “Did you see any of this happening when you turned up that first day at practice?”

Something flickers across his face, and I know he’s thinking about Joy. “No. Not really.”

I grin. “This year was supposed to be chill. Focus on swimming and my studies, have fun and graduate—make the most of my last year of school. I wasn’t supposed to date, let alone fall for three people.”

Lane’s dark blue eyes widen, and I realize too late what I’ve just admitted. I open my mouth, not entirely sure what I’m going to say, when the roar of an engine sounds behind us.

LANE

I tear my gaze from Aldo’s wide eyes to find Joy’s Z4 blocking us in. She gets out of the car, slamming the door behind her with more force than necessary, and I tense. Something’s wrong. She stomps up to the car and even in the dark, I can see her makeup is smudged. I move to open the door, but she wrenches it open, her chest heaving as she stares down at me.

“You . . .” she seethes. “You let my mombuyyou?”

The ground drops away beneath me, panic washing over me like a cold shower. “What?”

She shakes her head, strands of dark hair falling in her eyes. “Did you really think I’d never find out? She was the one who got Doug fired. You know that, right?”

“Joy,” I croak. “I—”

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