Confessions (New Beginnings #4)(12)

Grant looked down, and was surprised to see Abigail’s hand in his. He didn’t feel it. His voice caught in his throat, but he forced the words out.

“Travis didn’t even make it to the hospital. Overdose. Derek was caught with so much coke he went to jail for a little while. And I continued playing hockey.”

“How did Colin find out?” Taylor seemed to be the only one who could speak.

“Derek’s been out for a while. I’ve seen him once. He isn’t the same. Back then, he didn’t give me up. Now, I don’t think he cares. He wouldn’t actively seek to hurt me, I have to believe that, but get a few drinks in him and he won’t shut up. I didn’t bring the coke, but I didn’t exactly say no either. Derek’s sister goes to Ohio State, so I’m assuming that’s how he knows Colin.”

“Oh, God.” Abigail didn’t say anything else as silence descended.

Mack removed his hand from hers and got to his feet. “Tell Colin you never want to see his ass again. This is my mess to deal with.”

He left them behind and entered the solitude of his room.

“Shit!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the wall until the skin on his knuckles was dotted with blood.

He couldn’t believe Abigail had been protecting him for months. What made her think she had the right? He wasn’t some kid that couldn’t own up to his own actions. He was tired of people with savior complexes. Derek had one back then, and he lived to regret it.

Josh pushed open his door without knocking. “Thought I heard someone going ballistic in here.”

“Not now, Josh.”

Josh ignored him, instead sitting on the corner of his bed.

“This changes things, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“No shit.”

“At least you have a reason for why.”

“Why what?” Grant snapped.

“Why the only girl I’ve ever seen you actually like started avoiding you.”

“I wish she wouldn’t have done this for me.”

“No use in that. It’s done. Now you have a legit chance with her. Especially since she just sent Colin a text that they were done for good. As for everything else, we’ll figure it out.”

He left, leaving Grant feeling like a giant douche for getting angry. His guilt wasn’t her fault.





Abigail hugged the pillow closer to her chest as she sat cross-legged on her bed. They were on a freaking island, and she couldn’t make herself leave her room.

In the past couple hours, she’d broken up with a boyfriend she once sort of loved and also sort of hated. She’d found out the man she spent months thinking about was more screwed up than she could have imagined. All of this, and the one person she couldn’t stop thinking about was her father.

“Abi, you’ll never find anyone that loves you as much as this family,” he’d said. “It’s your duty to stay. Your selfishness knows no end, does it?”

That was the day before she left for college without a goodbye. She hadn’t spoken to them since. Her entire life, she’d kept a low profile. As soon as she was old enough, she worked, and that was all she did.

College to her was freedom, and she’d gone the extreme route. She’d arrived in Ohio never having dated anyone and started making her mistakes. Only, she hadn’t considered them mistakes. To her, it was just living life. Learning. Colin was her first real boyfriend. When she started dating him, a part of her brain freaked out a bit. Life taught her that everyone wanted something from you. There was no escaping it. Don’t care too much, because they will let you down.

In walked Grant Mackenzie, the perfect person to keep her from getting in too deep. The person to help her regain control in her life so she didn’t get attached to Colin.

Well, surprise! Sleeping with Grant turned her relationship with Colin into the mess it became. She got her wish. Colin was no longer what she wanted. But she lost control anyway.

She’d been selfish when she slept with Grant, just like her dad said she was. She wasn’t Abigail, the bubbly, fiery college student. She was Abi, the insecure teenager looking for Daddy’s approval.

Abigail looked up when there was a knock on her door. It swung open before she had a chance to say anything. Grant stood there, still shirtless, waiting to be invited in.

She sat up straight and threw the pillow she’d been hugging off to the side.

“Hi.” She hastily ran her hands through her hair to tame the curls and wiped at her red rimmed eyes. Thinking of her family always made her tear up.

“Hey.” Grant stepped in closer. “Can we talk?”

“I guess.”

His muscles lengthened and contracted as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. Abigail ran her eyes across his broad shoulders and down his sculpted abs. Catching herself, she looked back into his heated gaze and could immediately tell he knew what she’d been doing.