Page 88 of Fueled Hate

“I don’t plan to. I’m on her side until she decides you’re worthy of forgiveness.” Bryce walks off towards the parking lot.

Following behind him, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m heading in the wrong direction. Away from her isn’t the course I want. I only want a path that leads to her.

“I need you to come with me somewhere.” I open my car door, dropping inside as Bryce drops in the passenger seat.

“Is this gonna result in another ass chewing for me? Because I’m running really low in that department.” Bryce shakes his head as he jokingly looks at his backside. “For real, my parents are still calling me every few hours to yell at me for joining in on your crusade.”

“I need to do what I should’ve done from the beginning.”

“What’s that?”

Glancing down the path that leads to Sadie’s apartment, I reply, “Ask for answers. Ask what happened that night and be ready to accept the truth, even if it was an accident.”

“Yep. Another ass chewing coming my way, but what the hell.” Bryce clicks his seat belt on, as he reclines in the seat.

Steering out of the parking lot, I head to the last place I want to go, but the first place I should’ve stopped when I arrived in Sunland—Kyle’s doorstep. The person who knows the truth. Whether he will give it to me is his choice, whether I accept his truth is mine.

The moment we pull up to his place, I question my sanity. But I need answers, and I need to put this behind me if there’s any chance for me to get Sadie back.

“Let’s get it over with,” I say, shoving the door open as we both exit the car.

“Are you sure about this?” Bryce asks.

“I’m sure about her. Finding answers and figuring this shit out puts me closer to her.”

“That I can get behind.”

Walking up to the door, I pound my fist against the solid wood, waiting until it finally opens.

Kyle stands in the doorway, even more shocked to see me than I am by the decision to be here. He eyes Bryce then looks back to me. “I know who you are.”

“What happened that night?”

“I don’t know,” Kyle says, shoving his hands in his pockets, casually leaning against the doorframe.

“You were there. I need to know what happened to my brother.” My hands ball into fists as I try to calm my racing heart. “Did you kill my brother?”

“Kill him? What the hell are you talking about?”

“What happened?” I grit.

“I. Don’t. Know.” Kyle covers his face, rubbing harshly.

“How do you not know? You were there.”

“Yes. I was there, but I didn’t see what happened. I was a little preoccupied with someone.” He rubs his hand over his mouth, his fingers clawing at his skin.

“Who?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. The first girl that opened her mouth to suck my dick.”

“Classy,” Bryce chimes in.

“I was high as a fucking kite. I’d lost the race to Noah that night, and he challenged me to race for pinks. I chickened out and found the first bitch that would have my miserable ass.” He shakes his head looking to the ground. “We were screwing behind the hangar when I heard the crash. I ran over and saw the car in pieces and Noah … I called 911 but he was already gone. I’m sorry for what happened to your brother, but I tried to help him.”

I can’t push the image of Noah lying there helpless out of my mind. Taking a deep breath, I step back and move away.

“Talk to Parker or Andrew. They both know what happened, but neither have said anything to me.”