On Sunday, I headed to an extra practice and pushed my body to the limit. We had a game coming up with real competitors, for the first time. The locker room at the school rink had me hard within moments of stepping inside. I couldn’t get the time I’d spent with Lily out of my head. Everything in there reminded me of her. Considering that was worn benches, cracked tiles, and the smell of old jockstraps, I planned to make sure that next time was more comfortable.
Maybe I’d simply crawl into her bed when she was sleeping and wake her by sliding inside her tight cunt, just like in her dream. I could cover her mouth, so when she woke, no one would hear her cry out.
“Hey, man, what’s going on? You’re a million miles away.”
I stared at Asher for a long moment before my brain was able to refocus. The image in my head of recreating one of Lily’s illicit fantasies was enough to short-circuit it.
“Just thinking about the Leopards. This Thursday’s game is going to be our first real challenge,” I muttered.
Asher nodded and sank down on the bench. “Yeah, good thing we’ve had time to play together.” He yawned widely.
“Late night?” My mind went instantly to the fact that Lily had stayed over at his house last night.
He nodded. “Eve and Bug came home late and then played music and talked until God knows when.”
Had Lily told her friend what had happened between us? I couldn’t imagine it, but then, it had been a long time since I’d had what anyone would consider a real friend.
“Is Lily that noisy at home?” Asher asked.
I shrugged. “I haven’t really noticed.”
Just then, the door to the changing room banged open and Marcus charged in. The sudden sound sent all eyes to him. He gripped his phone like it was an undetonated bomb. He looked right at me and jerked his head to the side. Tension gathered in the pit of my stomach as I stood and followed him.
“What’s up?”
“Have you been on the student community board this morning?” he asked immediately, dispensing with a greeting.
I folded my arms over my chest, leaning on the wall. “I never go on that damn thing.”
The student community board wasn’t a thing in Midnight Falls, but it was huge in Hade Harbor. A place where important notices, party invites, and salacious gossip was posted about HHH students, by HHH students. It was practically a lawsuit waiting to happen.
“Well, this isn’t the best time to start, but I think you need to see this.” Marcus put his phone in my hand and gripped me comfortingly on the shoulder before leaving me alone in the hallway.
I looked down at the phone, everything in me clenched against what I was about to see. Did someone I used to intimidate for Uncle Jack come forward? Someone who wanted to slander me and make up stories?
It was photographs of a news headline and an article from the Midnight Falls Chronicle. The poster was anonymous. The headline slapped me in the face.
FOSTER SON ONLY SURVIVOR OF HOUSE FIRE THAT SEES BOTH PARENTS DEAD. POLICE SUSPECT FOUL PLAY.
Underneath, the post began with:
How well does everyone really know Hade Harbor’s new hotshot? The real face of Cayden West.
I tightened my hand on the phone hard enough to crack the screen. It was my whole sordid past–at least the incident that happened when I was eight and had landed me at Uncle Jack’s–and all the speculation about the fire. At the end of the article there was a passage about suspected physical abuse in the home, and some allusion to evidence of such being found on the body of the foster kid. Me.
The world tilted. My breath felt short. In that moment, I wanted to run away from Hade Harbor and never look back. I wanted to disappear, but I couldn’t. Not unless I was willing to forget my one shot to make a better life for myself.
Several teammates approached, their voices dying as they walked past me. They’d been talking about me. They’d been talking about it. I could tell. Fury burned through me as they passed. I turned to the wall and braced my hands on it, taking deep breaths. I was a cornered animal, snarling and biting to escape, but I had nowhere to go. Everyone knew my deepest and darkest secrets. Everyone.
And there was only one person who could have told them who also had access to the student community board. It wasn’t only fury that bit me but hurt. I’d trusted her, I’d opened myself up to her, and she’d betrayed me.
Lillian.
Freckles.
I’d make her pay for all of it.
I didn’t go home after practice. Instead, I sat in Coach’s office while he talked about the article and gingerly probed for the truth before sighing.
“To be honest, Cayden, this is none of anyone’s business. You were a minor, the police investigated, and whatever happened, happened. It doesn’t change anything in the here and now.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Funny, it feels like it changes a lot.”
Coach shook his head. “Only if you let it. Whispers, rumors, let it be water off a duck’s back. Don’t get affected. Who cares? You’re here to win, correct?”
I nodded, my hands clenched into fists on my knees. I didn’t want to be having this conversation with him. I didn’t want to be doing any of this. I couldn’t get a grip on my emotions, and that was dangerous. I had to be careful right now. A lot of eyes were on me.
“So, win. That’s how you quiet the rumors. Well, that and getting the hell away from Midnight Falls, getting into HHU, and then the NHL. That’s your solution right there.”
Coach sat back just as a knock at the door sounded.
“Dad? I’m ready to go if you are.”
Lily’s sweet, hesitant voice was like thorns rubbing against my skin. I couldn’t look at her, I couldn’t bring myself to.
“Okay, Lilypad. Go to the truck, I’ll be out shortly.”
“Okay.” Lily’s eyes brushed past me, and then she turned away.
“The most important thing you have to realize is that no one at home cares about this. You still have a place with us. None of this is something that’s going to change your living situation or how we feel about you, Cade. Okay?”
“So, you’re not scared of me?” I challenged, my fear and anger bubbling too close to the surface.
Coach paused, his eyes drilling into me. “Should I be?”
I swallowed, lost for words.
He sighed. “No matter what happened, you were a child. I’m not scared of you, Cayden, none of the Williamses are, and that won’t change. You’re no longer the person that article is talking about. Let’s leave it at that.”
He got up to leave, and I followed him. He was wrong. I was still that person, damaged beyond repair, ready to lie, cheat, and steal to survive, and there was one Williams who should be scared of me. If she wasn’t already, soon, she would be.
