Page 74 of Save Me

“That’s not a good enough answer.” Jax’s voice booms through the room, and out of the corner of my eye I see Ryan pull a knife out of his pocket, spinning it menacingly between his fingers.

“Give me five minutes with him and he’ll talk,” Ryan says quietly, his eyes dark with rage.

Bryce gulps as he looks at the knife. “I’m telling the truth! I didn’t know they planned anything else, I don’t even think they knew what they were going to do. The guys—they become different people when they’re in charge of anything, when they drink, and especially when they’re with women—they’ve always been like this…” He trails off.

“Some friends you have.” Ryan continues to twirl the knife around, the light from the room bouncing off the blade.

“Was this the first time they…” I trail off as Bryce meets my gaze, my stomach tight with disgust at the answer I’m sure I’m about to receive.

“This is the first time that I know of, but I can’t say for sure if this is the first time they’ve pulled something like this,” he says with sadness in his voice.

“And you didn’t think to stop them? To tell anyone?” Sam says between tears.

“I never actually saw them do anything before. I always left their parties before they… escalated… and I’m not close enough with them to hear all the details about what they do,” he says, meeting her gaze for the first time since his confession.

“So why this time?” Jax questions angrily. “Why were you so involved this time and why didn’t you stop it when you saw it clearly fucking escalating?”

“Because, as I already told Evi, I owed him a favor, and between him keeping me out of jail and dating Veronica, I’m not in a position to piss him off.”

“Rhett is datingVeronica?” Sam asks incredulously as she leans forward in her chair.

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“Six months,” Bryce responds quietly, his foot now tapping against the floor quickly.

Sam is quiet for a moment, studying Bryce intently. I can’t help but feel on edge as I watch them, watch the unspoken words build between them, as all of this comes to the surface.

After what feels like an eternity Sam finally breaks the silence.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“You don’t talk to us much, why would I go out of my way to tell you?” Bryce responds.

“And what do you mean Rhett is keeping you out ofjail?” she says a moment later with disbelief.

“It’s a long story, but he helped me cover my tracks once, and now has information that would see me serving a long sentence if the police became aware of it,” he says with a sigh before looking back to Jax. “I know what Rhett is capable of, and I didn’t want to risk him taking out his anger on Veronica or turning me in if I got caught helping Evi, or pissed him off enough. Was it selfish? Yes. Was it the right thing to do?” He pauses, looking at me briefly. “Probably not. But I made the choices I did in the moment, just like Evi did, and now I have to live with the fallout,” he says sadly.

“This is so complicated…” Sam trails off.

I lean forward, rubbing my temples, trying to ward off the anxiety and worry that threatens to consume me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get you out.”

I raise my head at the sound of Bryce’s voice, his tear-filled eyes looking at me.

“I tried, in the end. I know it was too late… If I could go back in time and help you sooner, I would. I’m sorry.”

“Where were you when Jax showed up? If you weren’t in the house with the rest of them then where were you?” I ask quietly as the tears behind my eyes threaten to overflow.

“I left,” he says quietly. “When I came to, I left. Nothing was happening, they were all just smoking, so I bailed. I don’t know what I was planning on doing, if I was going to find help to get you out of there or if I was just trying to get away. But I left. I finally came to my senses an hour later; I turned back around to come get you, ready to fight to get you out, but when I got back to the lake house the whole boathouse was up in flames. I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I just knew it was over and I needed to lay low.”

“You are a fucking coward who deserves the same fate as your friends.”

I jump at the sound of Jax’s voice. The undiluted anger and rage forced into a quiet tone.

“I know. I know.” Bryce looks between us all, his features lined with regret and shame before they settle on me. “Just tell me what I can do to help make it right. Tell me what you need to help get past all of this and I’ll do it—”

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