“Do you think he knew the whole time?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter now. It’s out. We all have to deal with it.” Her eyes veer to Brad in the kitchen.
His phone rings, and he walks into the foyer.
“Why is Tanner mad at Brad?”
Her question should be simple, but it’s not. Here I am, going to deceive her again because it’s not my news to reveal.
“I don’t know,” I lie.
Her eyebrows arch. She clearly doesn’t believe me.
The television grabs my attention again.
The anchor closes his segment, “That’s it, folks. Tanner McCain has been fooling everyone until now. He’s an angry and violent drug addict, who isn’t as speedy as we thought. I’m sure more will transpire in regard to this, and we’re your number one news source, so stay tuned.”
Then, the screen goes black, and I look to my left, seeing the remote in my dad’s hand.
“Enough. We know the real Tanner.” He throws the remote on the table.
My mom and I jump.
“What’s he going to do, Mom? What if he loses it all?” I bury my head in her chest.
Her arms wrap around, holding me to her. “Don’t worry, honey. Tanner will come through this. We’ll find good people to help him.”
She tries to soothe me, but fear lingers that our second chance just vanished with the click of an Upload button.
“I can’t lose him, Mom. I just got him back.” I shudder.
She pulls me closer. “You won’t. That boy loves you.”
I wet her shirt with my tears, praying this will all disappear.
“Bayli!” Brad screams. “There are more important things than your damn wedding.”
I perk up, and my mom looks down at me, taking in a long deep breath.
“Our wedding. Yeah.”
We stand, and everyone in the kitchen glances his way.
“I can’t deal with this right now.” He ends the call and jogs up the stairs. The door slams, and a second later, his fist crashes into the wall.
“Another damn hole I’ll have to fix,” my dad says.
My mom shoots him a look, silently saying, Not now.
“What? Just because everything is going to pot doesn’t mean my house has to, too.” He retreats away from the kitchen table before descending the basement stairs.
I take a seat at the table. “So, what’s up, Dylan?” I sarcastically ask.
He shakes his head. “I told him not to do it. But you know how they’ve been their whole lives.”
He takes my hand in his, and I mindlessly stare at his intricate black tattoo covering his arm.
“This will pass, Piper. There’s no way your ex has enough on Tanner. Not to mention, he never actually failed a drug test.”
Then, it dawns on me. Dylan’s right. Unless they have the actual confession, which only really came from Tanner’s mouth verbally to Coach, there’s no proof anywhere. The only proof is Brad’s positive drug test. Excitement churns inside of me and I think I’ll save the day.
“You’re right. But then what does Curtis have on him? I doubt he’d say something he couldn’t back up.”
I bite my lip and eye my mom in the kitchen, fussing over the dishwasher.
“Should I call Curtis and sweet talk him?” I ask.
Dylan shakes his head. “Negative. Plus, he’ll see right through you. It was clear last night, Piper. You love Tanner.”
My shoulders slump. Tanner has been there for me so many times. I want to solve this for him.
“That’s it. I’m talking to the only one besides Tanner who knows exactly what happened that day.” I stand up and march over to the stairs. I run up them before knocking on the door.
“Go away.”
I hear a thud against the door, assuming a pillow was thrown.
“Open the damn door, Brad.” Dylan’s fist slams on the wood above my head.
I peer back.
“He’s my brother. I can’t be known as the cheater’s brother.” He laughs.
How he finds humor at a time like this tells me that he’s perfect for Bea.
Dylan’s hand searches on top of the bathroom door, and he hands me the key. “Here.”
“Thank you.” I insert the key into the lock.
We open the door, and Brad’s staring up at the ceiling, tossing a football up in the air.
“Why are you here?” he asks.
The two of us file in.
“Because we aren’t going to just sit down there and wait for the shit to pile up higher, After ESPN reported it, all the other news shows are chiming in,” I say, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.
“If you morons had come to us when it first happened, we wouldn’t be here,” Dylan mentions.
Brad throws the football at him. Dylan swiftly catches it before placing it on the dresser.
“You need to tell us, Brad, what happened when Tanner confessed. What did Coach do?” I ask.
Brad looks over at me, and I pin him with a glare, raising my eyebrows.
“He said that he’d bury it. He was pissed as hell at us, but he covered Tanner to make sure it protected him.”
“Did Tanner sign anything?” I ask.
He sits up straighter. “He didn’t have to. The test was positive.” He tucks one leg under the other one and grabs a baseball to toss.
He’s never been able to stop moving.
“What do you mean? I thought he just took the blame for your positive test?” I ask, cocking my head to the side. I’m frustrated at the fact that I’ve been lied to once again.
“Coach made Tanner take the test to make sure the story was true.”
Brad’s nonchalant behavior is pissing me off more.
“If Tanner wasn’t using, how did he test positive?” Dylan is intrigued by this newfound information.
“He used mine.” Brad shrugs.
I grab the baseball midair and throw it across the room.
“You are both idiots!” Dylan yells. “What the hell is wrong with you? You both were Olympic-bound at the time. How did you think this wouldn’t come back?” He runs his hands through his hair, pacing the floor.
“How was Tanner able to go to Colorado with a positive test?” I ask Brad.
“Because Coach got rid of the test. It was a school-initiated test, so Colorado never got the records. Plus, Tanner tested for them when he arrived and passed.”
I stand up, unable to sit any longer. Joining Dylan in pacing back and forth, I nibble at my fingernails. “We’re screwed. Just screwed. A positive drug test is going to shatter his dreams.” I shake my head, shocked that it all came out.
“No, it’s not.” Tanner’s voice comes from the doorway.
My feet stop moving, and I look up at his determined eyes. “Tan.”
I inch toward him, and he opens his arms for me.
“I’m going to confess,” he says to everyone, “and ask for forgiveness. My representation assures me that my two years of negative tests afterward is enough proof that I don’t use. Testing positive in college has no bearing on my Olympic standing.”
I peek up at him. “Your representation?” I ask.
“We’re good. Your ex-boyfriend is going to have to try a lot harder to break me.”
With his words, my heart stings because I caused the drama. “I’m sorry,” I mumble.
“Stop being sorry.” He inches down until his lips are only millimeters from mine. “He’d only hurt me if he took you away from me. I told you, you’re all I need to breathe. Everything else is a bonus in my mind.”
Resting his lips to mine, I melt into his embrace.
twenty-two
THE LAWYERS WASTE NO TIME. It’s only been three hours, and here we sit, in a room at the university, while every press person files into the private room across the hall.
Tanner’s leg bounces, his black dress shoes clicking along the linoleum floor. I reach for his hand, and he willingly gives it.
He glances over, and his shoulders slump. “Don’t give me that look. This isn’t your fault. I did this.”