Page 59 of Deviant
I know what it costs when someone takes that from you.
I’m not going to let that happen to him. Not because tonight erases ninth grade or the locker room or a decade of harboring a grudge toward him. Not because he deserves my protection after everything he’s put me through.
But because no one gets to out someone who isn’t ready.
So, I’m going to find whoever this is, and I’m going to shut it down, even if he never knows. Even if he goes back to being good old Rhett Thornwood tomorrow and looks straight through me the way he has for years.
I pull up Halle’s name and hitCall.
She picks up on the third ring. “Colt. It’s late. What happened?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. I need a sounding board.”
“Talk.”
She listens intently as I explain how Rhett came over, how he left, the text messages, and how they’re connected to others he’s had this summer.
She’s quiet for a moment after I finish, then finally says, “Miranda.”
“What?” I ask.
“Miranda. Doesn’t she live like an hour away? You guys cracked the Henderson farm records in forty minutes during freshman year. You think she can’t track a burner phone?”
I close my eyes. “I forgot about Miranda.”
“Go see Rhett first—in the morning. He needs to know that you’re on his side,” she says.
“I know.”
There’s a pause.
“Halle,” I say.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was going to say,” she says carefully, “that showing up at Thornwood Ranch the morning after he ran out on you takes either a lot of guts or a lot of feelings, and I’m not sure which one you’re running on right now.”
I don’t answer that. Mostly because I don’t know.
I don’t want to care this much. I’ve spent ten years building the specific architecture required to not care about Rhett Thornwood, and one summer on his family’s ranch has taken it completely apart, and I’m exhausted by it.
I’m going to go to that ranch in the morning. I’m going to tell him about the texts, tell him I’m handling it, and make sure he knows his secret is safe—that I’m going tomakeit safe.
And then, I’m going to leave.
That’s the plan.
“I’ll call Miranda after I see him,” I say.
“Good.” Then, quieter. “Be careful with yourself, Colt. Not just with him.”
“I know.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
