31

“Where’s Brady?” Noah asked, his head craning over his shoulder to look for the only member of the football team who wasn’t accounted for.

“No idea,” Chris replied. “He said he was coming.”

“It’s going to start without him,” Noah said, but he turned his head back to the front.

“He’ll be here,” Tyler said from the seat on Chris’s other side. “Chill.”

The team took up almost all of the seats in front of the stage and podium, the suit-clad football players getting preference along with some faculty. Drew’s parents were standing near the podium talking to the dean, their chairs waiting behind them alongside the seat filled by the football coach.

Everyone else was standing behind the rows of chairs set up inside the hall that was being renamed in dedication to Drew. Paige, Ella, Riley, and Asher were among the crowd, as well as a cameraman and a reporter from some or other news station.

Chris’s lips had pressed into a hard line when he’d spotted the camera. He, Noah, and Brady were the only ones who’d seemed to see the flaw in renaming a building after someone who’d been driving under the influence when he’d died. Everybody else seemed perfectly happy to ignore that detail now that Olivia had outed herself as the reason behind the accident.

Chris’s gaze wandered around the hall again before settling on Drew’s parents. They both looked nervous, their backs a bit stooped and their expressions somber as their eyes darted from the dean to the crowd that had formed behind the too-few chairs in the too-small room.

Apparently, they’d told Paige that they would speak to her after the ceremony but didn’t want to be involved in the trial. Like Paige, who was hoping to change their minds, Chris couldn’t help but wonder what was stopping them from going after Olivia themselves. The only reason he could think of was that their son’s own culpability would be called into question if they did.

Tyler looked over his shoulder, his eyes searching the crowd for their missing teammate.

“See him?” Chris asked.

“No,” Tyler replied, but he didn’t turn his head back around. “How mad do you think Coach will b—” His words cut off, and his eyes flared.

Chris frowned and looked over his own shoulder. “What?”

“Brady is here,” Tyler said, but Chris’s gaze had already found their teammate. “But he’s not alone.”

“Olivia?” Noah said, sounding as shocked as Chris felt.

She was standing next to Brady, her hand linked with his. A pair of large sunglasses was the only disguise she had against a crowd that would quickly turn against her if they realized who was standing in their midst.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Chris asked in a hissed whisper after turning back around. “People will be pissed if they recognize her.”

“I don’t know,” Noah replied, looking worried.

Chris turned his head again, his eyes narrowing on Olivia and Brady’s linked hands. He watched as Brady leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Olivia nodded in response, a tight smile forming on her lips.

“Why the fuck is she with Brady?” Chris asked Noah, trying his best to keep his voice down.

“No clue,” his friend replied with a shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Chris’s best guess sent jealousy flaring in his chest. He didn’t say his fear aloud, though. He didn’t have the right to feel jealous after how he’d ended things with Olivia.

He turned his attention back to Drew’s parents, terrified they’d seen her and would make a scene. They were staring into the crowd, and Chris’s eyes widened before following their gazes back to Olivia, who’d removed the sunglasses.

Shit . His eyes flew back to Drew’s parents, waiting for their expressions to turn ugly and angry or for them to demand she leave. Only, the reaction he’d been expecting from them never came. Instead, Drew’s mom smiled sadly and Drew’s father nodded at Olivia as though acknowledging and accepting her presence.

“What the fuck?” Chris muttered.

“What?” Noah and Tyler asked, but before Chris could reply, Drew’s parents took their seats, and the dean stepped up to the podium.

Chris didn’t hear the dean’s introduction. He was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on and looking back at Olivia, his heart skipping a beat when their eyes met. She broke eye contact first, flinching when Brady touched her arm. She relaxed into the touch after a second, but the tension in her expression remained.

Chris’s mind latched onto her reaction as he turned back to face the podium. Minutes passed as his brain worked at finding more puzzle pieces to add to what was a barely-formed picture. The dean kept speaking, but his words were nothing but background noise as Chris tried to work out why Olivia was there and why Drew’s parents hadn’t even seemed surprised by her presence.

It took him too long to figure it out. When the pieces finally clicked into place, the dean was introducing Drew’s parents. Chris turned his head over his shoulder again, his eyes locking with Olivia’s. Whatever she saw in his gaze made her take a small step back.

Chris felt sick, and based on the way Olivia started fidgeting under his gaze, his expression wasn’t hiding the fact. He started to stand, unable to fight the need to go to her, but she shook her head frantically at him, making him fall back into his seat.

“I’m so sorry,” he mouthed, but she looked away at the apology, her lips pressing together.

“What are you doing?” Noah asked under his breath.

“I fucked up,” Chris said, his head dropping into his hands. Bile rose in his throat as the weight of his mistakes crashed down on him. “We all fucked up,” he said, thinking of the warning Brett had tried to give them.

The bastard must have known more than just the fact that Drew had been tied to Olivia. If they’d only listened to him and delayed the exorcism for a minute or two, they would have known, too.

“A lot of you knew our son personally,” Drew’s father said, his voice grabbing Chris’s attention. “Some of you were his teammates. Some of you were his classmates or his teachers. Some of you were his friends.”

Chris looked up as Drew’s father cleared his throat. Drew’s mother was clutching a tissue, her fingers pressed to her trembling lips, and her husband wrapped his arm around her waist.

“But none of you knew Drew the way we did,” he continued. “We loved our son and the worst day of our lives was the day we lost him.” He paused, and his eyes closed briefly. “But there was somebody else who knew our son even better than we did.”

Chris’s stomach dropped, and he clasped his hands together to keep them from trembling.

Drew’s father pulled his wife in tighter, and his voice trembled on his next words. “And it’s because of her that we came here today to say that we cannot allow this building to be dedicated to our son.”

Shocked murmurs went through the crowd, and the dean of the university stood from his chair, his face betraying his confusion.

“We could tell you the reasons,” Drew’s father continued, raising his voice to be heard over the whispers. “But I think it’s best we let Drew’s actions speak for themselves.” He took his phone from his pocket and tapped on the screen.

“Noah,” Chris choked out. He looked to the side, and his friend lifted his brows in question.

“What’s going on?”

Chris could only shake his head, the contents of his stomach threatening to rise in his throat.

“I’m sure most of you have heard or read about the accident that took our son as well as ended the life of a young husband and father,” Drew’s father said.

Chris’s throat tightened.

“We’re aware of the nasty rumors, and we cannot in good conscience allow them to continue to be spread.” With that, he tapped on his screen and held the phone up to the microphone.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

The female voice sounded through the speakers, and Chris tried to steel himself for the rest of the recording, but nothing could have properly prepared him.

“I need help,” Olivia’s familiar voice came through the speakers, and Noah tensed beside him.

“What’s the nature of your emergency?” the operator asked, sounding far too calm.

Olivia hesitated before answering, and she sounded scared when she finally spoke. “My boyfriend was drinking, and I tried to get the car keys from him, but he wouldn’t give them to me.”

“Is he driving now?” the operator asked, still too calm.

“No,” Olivia replied. “We stopped at a gas station, and he went inside.”

“Okay, that’s good,” the woman replied, her voice sounding oddly soothing. “What’s your name?”

“Olivia Warner.”

“Okay, Olivia, and what’s your boyfriend’s name?”

“Drew. Drew Parker.”

The operator asked Olivia where she was next and for her phone number and a description of the car. Olivia answered all the questions, her voice shaking.

“Alright, Olivia, we’re sending someone now, but can you do me a favor and get out of the car?”

“Why?” Olivia asked.

“I want to make sure you’re not in the car if he gets behind the wheel again,” the operator explained patiently. “Can you do that for me?”

“I don’t know.”

Chris closed his eyes. He could picture Olivia sitting in Drew’s car, her phone held to her ear and her eyes darting around anxiously.

“Does your boyfriend pose a threat to you?”

Olivia didn’t answer, and Chris’s hands curled into fists.

“What the fuck is going on?” Noah asked, his question barely louder than the murmurs going through the rest of the team.

“Olivia, is there a risk Drew might hurt you?” the operator pressed, the first sign of emotion entering her voice.

“Yes,” Olivia replied in a whisper.