Page 117

I nodded, turning to Levi. “I threatened to tell Jumbo’s dad that he was stealing from his liquor cabinet. And Nico was selling his mom’s pain pills.”

Levi’s jaw dropped. “He was?”

“Oh yeah.” I chuckled, grateful for this glimpse of my former friend. Before it had all gone to shit. Before I’d fucked up. Before he’d hated me. “How do you think he was paying for all those expensive gifts for his girlfriend?”

Levi seemed to relax a little at the mention of that. I hoped he would remember it hadn’t all been bad, even if it had ended badly.

But then his expression darkened. “I suppose you learned that from your dad.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

I went into the room I’d been sharing with Levi, but his back was turned to me. “Lee.” At first, he ignored me, but then I shook his shoulder. “Levi.”

“Go away,” he mumbled.

“I didn’t—” I inhaled, my hand on his shoulder, desperation and regret suffocating me. “Please.”

When he turned to me, it was with tears in his eyes, and it gutted me. “How could you do that? How could you tell them that I was gay? I trusted you.”

There was a strangled noise from the doorway, and I turned to find my dad standing there. His mouth was open in shock. He quickly closed it, resolve taking its place.

“You are no longer welcome here,” Dad said in a stern voice, and I wasn’t sure whether he was talking to me or Levi. “You have ten minutes to gather your things, and then I’ll drive you to your coach’s house.”

“What?” My head was spinning, but Levi was already shoving things into his bag. He knew. “No. Why?”

“I can’t have someone like that in our home. Around my children.”

Even now, all these years later, I still felt sick at the memory. I could only imagine how Levi had felt in that moment—shamed and scared and… It was all my fault.

“Did Carson’s dad threaten you?” Logan asked.

“First, he kicked me out of the house because he didn’t want ‘someone like me’ around his children.” Levi scoffed. “As if being gay is contagious or a bad thing.”

“It’s not. I don’t believe that,” I said, hoping Levi would believe me. “Never believed that.” Even if it had taken me some time to sift through what I’d been raised to believe and how I actually felt. “And I hate that he made you feel that way.”

Levi continued on, ignoring my words. “I’d fought with my best friend. I was getting kicked out of his house. And I was terrified everyone would find out about my sexuality. Terrified what it would mean for my career.”

I closed my eyes, hating that he’d been so scared and alone. Hating that my family had caused him so much pain. That I’d caused him so much heartache.

By this point, tears were streaming down Logan’s face, and it felt like a punch to the gut. “Lee.” She went to him and hugged him. He stood there for a minute, and then he wrapped his arms around her. She said something to him, but I couldn’t make out the words.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze, and then she took a step back. She remained at his side, and I tried not to read too much into that.

“And then,” Levi continued, “on the way to drop me at our coach’s house, Carson’s dad said that if I tried to contact Carson, he would press charges, claiming I’d had an inappropriate relationship with his underage son.”

“He what?” I jerked my head back as if I’d been slapped.

“Oh, please.” Levi rolled his eyes. “Like you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t.” I grimaced, a feeling of heaviness overwhelming me. This was even worse than I’d realized. “I swear,” I insisted, needing Levi to know I spoke the truth. And then something dawned on me. “Is that why you never responded to my messages?”

Even though I was an inch taller, Levi peered down his nose at me as if I were nothing more than a speck of dirt. “I didn’t respond because I don’t owe you a damn thing, least of all my forgiveness.”

“Levi.” I closed my eyes briefly, my heart heavy. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I need you to know that I’m sorry. I hate how much pain I’ve caused you. I’m sorry my family kicked you out. That was wrong, and I ended up cutting ties with them because of it. I moved out less than a week later, and I haven’t talked to them since.”

“Babe?” A man appeared from the shadows, the same man who’d been at Levi’s side all night. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Levi’s lower back in a way that was both possessive and protective. His gaze was wary as it landed on Levi, then Logan, then me before returning to Levi. “You good?”

Levi’s eyes never left Logan’s. “I’ve said everything I need to say. I’m ready to leave.”