Page 80 of Run
Oh, God, there’s more.
“Wait … Just, wait.” I take a seat beside him on the bed. “How much more is there?” Fonz just looks at the ceiling again. “Ari was still with Sean until the accident, and there’s no way in hell she was sleeping around, so he had to be the only guy to lay his hands on her. Right? I mean, other than Axel.”
Fonz cringes but doesn’t look at me. “Sean liked to share her.” I drop my head into my hands. “Well, maybe share isn’t the right word,” Fonz continues.
“Stop.” The word barely leaves my lips.
“He liked to pass her around to a friend or two.”
“I said stop!” I jump to my feet, take a step and sink to my knees, bringing my elbows to the floor like I’m praying. “I can’t … This can’t …”
“I’m sorry,” Fonz says. “I never wanted to have to tell you this.”
“Have I heard the worst of it?”
A second passes before he answers. “The burns are the worst of it, as far as I know.”
“When? When did that happen?”
There’s another pause. “The night of the accident.”
The world tilts. Of course she jumped out in front of a fucking truck after that. Dragging myself up to sit on my heels, I’m too ashamed to even turn to look at my best friend. Tears burn the back of my eyes, but they don’t come out. They just stay there and hide.
“I left her.” It’s barely a whisper from my lips. “I just left her there in that shithole.”
“Don’t,” Fonz says, and I hear him get up from the couch.
“I fucking ran out of town like a bat out of hell and left her to fend for herself.”
“No, you didn’t, Ethan. She went to foster care, and you did what you thought was right. And in case you forgot, you ended up in the hospital with a busted hand, had your scholarship to play baseball deferred, and almost got arrested trying to help her.”
I shake my head at the words he’s spewing at me.
“Ethan, you didn’t make her stay. She could have stayed with the Millers all along. She chose to stay because she always thought Axel loved her. And Sean was just an opportunist who came along—”
“He wouldn’t have been able to if I had stayed.”
“No, but you also wouldn’t have gone into the Army and—”
“I don’t give a shit about any of that.” Pushing myself off the floor and running a hand down my face, I turn one way, then the other. “I have to … I’ve gotta hit the bag downstairs for a bit. Or go for a run. Or both. Ari and the gang will be waiting for us, but I have to get rid of some of this … this … this burning! Gah, Fonz, it’s burning me up inside!”
Concern flashes across Fonz’s face as he comes toward me. “Ethan, calm down—”
“No.” I pull away from him. “I’ll be downstairs. I just need thirty minutes, OK? Just text Ari and tell her we’re running late.”
I run out of the room and down the stairs and start hitting the boxing bag. I don’t even wrap my hands. I want this shit to hurt.
CHAPTER 27
ETHAN
An hour isn’t enough time to come to terms with all that I’ve learned this afternoon, but it’s enough to let me get rid of some energy. I beat the hell out of the bag for a good forty-five minutes before finally getting in the shower, then dragging on my jeans, T-shirt, and Army boots.
Giving my armpit a sniff as I pull into a parking spot, I can’t even remember if I put deodorant on. I was in such a hurry, just wanting to get here. No, not here. Toher. I don’t want to be away from Ari anymore. That’s the decision I came to while pummeling my fists into the bag to the point that the skin on my knuckles nearly tore open. I’m in it to win it now. It’s Ari and me. Always has been, always will be.
No one will touch her again.
Fonz pulls in right next to me as I exit the Jeep at our favorite bar. We drove separately so I can take Ari home tonight.
