{18+ COMPLETE} For the past three years, Bren Hadaway has been preparing to die.
When he was sixteen, he watched his dad murder his mom. And ever since, he's been counting down the days until it was his turn to be at the end of a gun. And Bren has...
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I stared at Brodie while my brain tried to process what he was saying.
"He what?"
Brodie shook his head. His grimace was profound. "Look, I'm sorry for the things I said and did—"
"You're saying," I said, my words deliberate and even, "that Bren's dad is the reason you've been such a raging asshole to me?"
His half-hearted apology was the last thing I cared about. I needed to understand what the hell was going on.
The football player at least had the decency to appear guilty. "I'm not proud of it. But yeah, that's basically what I'm saying."
"And did he also blackmail you into being an asshole to me? To the team?"
I was surprised to hear Grayson's harsh voice and turned to see him glaring at Brodie, fists shoved deep into his pants' pockets.
Frustration twisted with the guilt on Brodie's face. "You kept fucking asking me what was wrong, and I—"
"Here's a thought," Grayson cut in. "Maybe if you would have answered me, I would have stopped asking you."
"Hold up," I said, knowing I'd interrupted a conversation they clearly needed to have. But a nagging feeling appeared in the pit of my stomach—there was more to what Brodie had to tell me. "Are you the reason that Luke knew Bren came to Oakland for the gala?"
Brodie frowned and shook his head. "Gala?" He looked to Grayson. "Oh, is that the thing you were playing at?"
Surprise filtered through Grayson's expression. "Uh, yeah. You knew about that?"
A shrug. "I follow your lil music Instagram account."
"Oh."
Grayson didn't seem to know what to say to that.
But I did.
Well, it wasn't about that. But I definitely had things to say.
"Tell me everything. About Luke."
Brodie sighed and swung his gaze back to me. "At first I didn't know how serious to take him. Ya know, like about all the things that he claimed he'd do if I didn't follow through with what he wanted."
I'd heard about—and lived through—enough abuse to really not want to know what Luke Hadaway promised he'd do to Brodie's mom. "He's a dangerous man," I said, quiet but firm. "I'm sure he was serious."
A nod from Brodie. "He's only been dating my mom for a few months. But she got sucked in hard. Goddamn, she's annoyingly obsessed with him. I can't get in a word against the man. Mom thinks I'm just mad that she's dating again."
I wished I could criticize her for her naivety, but I couldn't.
"My parents divorced a few years ago, and now my dad lives out on the east coast," Brodie explained. "And I think she's just been so lonely ever since. Hadaway capitalized on that." He swallowed. "There's something about the guy...even the first time I met him, he made me nervous. Nervous enough to do what he wanted. Nervous enough not to go to the cops after he warned me not to. But I don't think I really, truly believed it until..."
