He squeezes my hand, and I nod.
I fight the urge to scream, Brad did this, too.
I look over at Brad. He’s relaxed in a chair, fiddling with his phone. I’m beginning to loathe him the longer he sits back, acting indifferent. He has to care, right? How can he continually let his best friend take his fall?
“Don’t, Piper,” Tanner warns under his breath.
My head flips to his direction. “What?”
“Don’t look at him like you’re so disappointed. I see it across your face. You’re mad that he’s not confessing, but I would never allow him to.”
“He should at least try,” I argue.
Tanner shakes his head and looks around. “Don’t you get it? I made it. He didn’t.”
“So?”
I know Brad was depressed when he never got the call to go to Colorado, but he should have been happy for his best friend.
“I hate it. I hate that I got the call, and he didn’t. He worked his ass off, even before trying the performance drugs. Do you know how badly I’ve wished that he could have been only a millisecond faster?” he whispers.
The scowl across Brad’s face as he texts does nothing to make me feel better about this.
“He just didn’t have it. I didn’t either, but it doesn’t mean I should have tried to cheat.” I fight whatever Tanner is trying to persuade me to accept.
“Oh, Piper. You’re different. You know that, right? You’re not the average athlete. You are competitive, but if Bea would have made the Olympics and you didn’t, you still would have been happy for her. You might have envied her and wished you could have been faster, but you would have moved on. Look at him, Piper. Does he look happy?” Tanner nods in Brad’s direction.
When I study my twin, I realize how blind I’ve been to his silent suffering. It doesn’t make up for what he’s done to Tanner though.
“Still?” I shrug.
“Was I mad this morning when I saw the news calling me a cheater and a violent scumbag? Of course, but I agreed two years ago, and Brad did try to convince me otherwise. But he’s my brother, and I had no problem taking the blame, so he could have a chance at the Olympics. Do I wish it had paid off? That Brad would be swimming in the next lane with me? Yeah.” He nods his head, blowing a breath out. “But he’s not, and there’s nothing either one of us can do to change it. This”—he points to the hallway—“is a consequence of my own doing. So, please, Piper, don’t get mad at him or give him the cold shoulder.” He leans forward and smiles. “Okay?” he asks dipping his head down to see me.
I nod. “Okay,” I relent.
He kisses my lips.
Tanner can do what he wants. I understand what he’s trying to tell me, but it’s time for Brad to rise from the depression and save his best friend. Even though Tanner is in the clear and can still race for a spot on the Olympic team, there will always be whispers and finger-pointing. Every time he beats his time or breaks a record, negativity to his skill will be whispered when he stands at the podium and admits to using when he was in college. So, whether Tanner wants me to give Brad another pity bone, he hasn’t earned it in my book.
But I’m not going to stress Tanner out in this moment, so I smile, kiss him on the lips, and let it go for the time being.
“Tanner?” A gentleman with a tailored brown suit peeps his head into the room.
“Here goes nothing.” Tanner stands up, straightening his black suit that perfectly molds to his broad shoulders.
I stand, and he pulls me in for one hug.
“I love you,” I whisper.
He kisses the top of my head. “I love you. I’ll be right back, and then this is over.”
He breaks away from me, and with Patrick right beside him, he meets his lawyer at the door.
How does he not understand that this is far from over? It’s almost the beginning.
He’s admitting to something he never did.
Tanner’s lawyer shuffles him and Patrick to the corner of the room, and I scowl at Brad.
Dylan walks over and swings his arm around my shoulders. “What’s up, sis?” he asks.
I peer up at him, rolling my eyes.
“What? We both know that’s what you’ll be eventually.” He grabs a doughnut from the table and places it in his mouth.
“I’d rather be your sister than his.” I flip my head in Brad’s direction.
Dylan chuckles. “I second you on that one.”
Finally, someone is on my page.
“So, I’m not crazy for wanting to pummel him right now?” I grab a bowl of fruit, looking at it, and then I place it back down. I’m stressed, which means my body craves salty foods. I search the table, but not even a potato chip is found.
“Not at all. Let’s double-team him,” Dylan says, cracking open a can of Diet Coke.
Thank goodness. Something I need.
Moving past him to grab a can, I take a few sips. “How can he be so damn selfish?” I ask Dylan.
“He’s always been selfish. You know that,” Dylan reminds me.
I nod my head because he’s right. “I suppose. But Tanner’s okay with it. He told me not to be mad at Brad,” I scoff.
Dylan smirks. “I’m not surprised. They’ve always possessed a protective friendship. How many times have they taken the fall for one another? The exception this time is that it’s going to ruin one of them.”
“Why can’t Brad or Tanner see that?” I shake my head.
“Because they’re morons.”
Truthfully, neither of us has much to say, and we can argue it all we want, but nothing will change. Tanner accepts Brad’s selfishness, and Brad takes advantage of Tanner’s guilt for Brad not making the Olympics.
“Okay, family.” The lawyer claps his hands, and we all turn to face him. “Two of you may stand on the side while Tanner makes his statement. The only ones allowed at the table are Tanner and me. The rest of you can stay here, and we’ll be back.” He nods and then exits the door after whispering something to Tanner.
I bite my lip, deliberating which two people will go. I’m positive Patrick will be one and then maybe Lana.
Tanner walks over to me, his teeth biting the inside of his cheek. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he asks. He entwines his hand with mine, guiding me over to the corner he was just in with his lawyer. “So, Ken doesn’t think you should be there when I make the announcement.” His head falls, and then he picks it back up. “He says it’s all too close. The fight was over you, and your brother is linked with me on the drugs.”
Although I was willing to not be a part of it, it hurts that they don’t want me. “Okay,” I say, not about to make this any harder on him.
“I tried to fight it, but the last thing I need is for you to be seen. I want to keep you out of this as much as I can.” His hand tightens around mine.
“Okay,” I repeat.
He cocks his head. “Piper, please don’t act like you’re okay with this when you’re not,” he pleads.
I’m not sure what he wants from me. “I understand. I do,” I assure him, nodding my head a few times rapidly.
He bends down, kissing my lips one more time.
“I’ll be right back.” He leaves.
I inhale one scent of his cologne as it breezes by me. The door shuts, and when I turn around, my parents are over by Brad. Dylan is across the room on his phone while Patrick and Lana must have gone with Tanner.
Flopping down in the chair, I glare at Brad. After a few minutes, he must feel my eyes burning into his scalp because he picks it up.
“What?” he asks.
I sigh. “You.” I’m unable to stop the anger from surfacing any longer.
With Tanner out of the room, I don’t have to worry about him getting upset about what I’m going to do.
“You should be happy. You have Tanner.” Brad shakes his head as though he’s annoyed by me.
“Oh, let me bow for you allowing me to be happy. God knows, nothing comes without a price from you.”
My mom outstretches her hands at us. “Stop it, you guys. This isn’t the time or place.”