Her Terrifying Love

Part 25

Jack's chest heaved. "You said he was dead."

Lyla inched closer and whispered, "He had no pulse."

"Maybe he was just stunned."

"We carried him all that way. He wasn't breathing."

"But maybe he woke up." Jack avoided eye contact. "After we left him down there."

"Woke up?! His neck was broken."

Jack wrapped his fingers around the metal understructure of the bleachers. He hung his head, unable to make sense of this.

"I know how this is gonna sound, but..." He choked on his words. "When I went to pick up my car from the body shop yesterday, he was standing across the street. Watching me."

"Who was?!"

"Keenan."

"No way."

"I swear to God."

She rocked back on her heels, eyeing him with skepticism.

"It was him," he said. "He had a frickin' giant tattoo on his neck." 

She shook her head, trying to put the image of Keenan's serpent tattoo out of her mind.

"There's only one way we can be sure," he said, staring at her with those warm, sad brown eyes.

"That's a hard no! I am not going back there." She blanched at the thought of it.

"We have to."

"The cops have been looking for him, Jack. Did they talk to you?"

He nodded.

"His brother's been looking, too. If Keenan was alive, why would they still be looking for him? That doesn't even make any sense."

"Well, isn't this cozy?" Carissa startled them. "Back here behind the bleachers. Isn't this where star quarterbacks bang all their fangirls?"

"Don't be so paranoid." Jack crossed his arms. "We're just talking."

"Sure, let's go with that," she snapped and gave Lyla a look that could have cut glass. She stormed off, the soccer team eyeballing her as she crossed the field.

"Sorry," Lyla stammered to Jack.

"Why should you apologize?" He watched Carissa head toward the school seeking the comfort of her pack.

Lyla looked around anxiously, making sure they were clear of eavesdroppers. "It's guilt. That's all it is. I carry around a lot of that, too."

He gave her the side-eye.

"You add lack of sleep on top of guilt..."

"Is that what you tell yourself?"

"I mean, come on. What else makes any sense?"

He didn't answer, staring down at the patchy grass during a long uncomfortable pause. Finally, he broke the silence. "Okay. Well, that's all I got."

Immediately, she second-guessed herself. Should she have attempted to rationalize what was clearly irrational? In any case, she realized that she shouldn't have been so dismissive of his concerns. This was so typical. She was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she blew it. The hottest guy at school reached out to the only person in the world who could possibly understand what he was going through and she pushed him away. 

Lyla, you are a freakin' idiot.

With that thought firmly in place, she lowered her head and turned but stopped when he said, "So Darcy invited me to her party on Saturday. You going?"

"Darcy's party? Yeah, I'm going."

"Guess I'll see you there." He grinned.

Lyla's mood shifted dramatically. She'd been given a second chance.