Page 49 of Power Play

I open my eyes again, and Tyson is just staring at her without blinking.

“I thought…I thought I wanted…” she starts, but then she’s overcome with sobs. And I fucking hate that I’ve made her do this. That she has to tell him the story she never wanted to tell anyone else. And it’s all my fucking fault. I want to finish the story for her. I want to tell Tyson everything I know. But I can’t.

Because it’s not my story to tell.

“I tried to get away,” she says. “I asked him to stop, but…but…”

I look at Tyson, and his eyes are filled with tears, still open wide. They move from side to side, and then he lifts them to her.

“And…Harper…” he whispers, and she nods. Slowly, he stands up. He looks down at me. “And youknewabout this?” he asks me. I look up at him.

“Ty, I…I’m sorry…I couldn’t…I promised her—”

“I don’t give afuckwhat you promised her!” he screams. She shushes him, looking back at the house. I stand up slowly, and she follows suit. “She was a fuckingchild, Levi. She was a goddamn teenager. And I am your best fuckingfriend!”

He shoves me with two hands, and I stumble backward a few steps. But I keep my cool. If I were him, I’d be livid. I’d want to kill me, too.

But I would do fucking anything for her. Even then. Andespeciallynow.

“Tyson!” she says, but he doesn’t hear her. He just stares at me, wide-eyed and wild, his chest heaving up and down.

“Get the fuck out of here, Levi,” he growls. “And leave my sister the fuck alone.”

I look back at him for a moment. There’s so much I want to say to him. To her.

But as I look over to her, tears in her eyes that are filled with so much fear, I know the only thing I can do right now…is leave.

And hope to God I didn’t just lose the one thing I know I can’t live without.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

lo

I feellike I’m frozen. Like one of those people with sleep paralysis. I’m aware of what’s going on around me, but I can’t move. I can’t speak. I can’t be an active participant. I can only lie here.

After Levi left, I came up to my room. I don’t know where Tyson is. I don’t know what he’s done or who he’s told. I just know that a firestorm has started, and I am the reason for it. It’s been an hour or so, and I hear a soft knock on my door. I sit up when I think it might be Harper, but then I remember that she’s never knocked on my door a day in her life. It’s her world, and we’re all just living in it.

“Come in,” I say softly, hugging my knees and bracing myself. Tyson peeks his head in the door, and my stomach turns. He closes it quietly behind him, then turns to me. He walks to the bed, sits down on the edge, and folds his hands together, hanging his head. He blows out a big breath, then turns to me.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t keep you safe, Lo,” he says. “I know I couldn’t have known, but Ishouldhave known. I should have checked in on you more that weekend. I should have known something was off all these years. And now when I look at Harper, I see him. She looks like him, ya know?” I swallow. He takes my hand in his, and I see tears welling in his eyes.

No, Tyson.I can’t see my big brother cry. I can’t handle it.

But it’s too late. He blinks the tears from his eyes, and I lunge across the bed, wrapping my arms around him. He squeezes me tight, and I hold onto him for a few moments. All three of my siblings have shown me love in such different ways. But with Tyson, he was always my protector. We were too far apart in age for me to annoy him. Instead, he spoiled me and took care of me.

And he still does.

It’s breaking me to see him so broken.

I pull away from him and look up at him.

“There is nothing about this that you could or should take responsibility for, Tyson. Nothing,” I say. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Hey,” I say, and he looks up at me reluctantly. “I know you’re angry and upset, but I need you to understand something. I need you to understand that I begged him—literallybegged—Levi not to say anything. He asked me about it again just a few days ago when he learned he was going to be seeing Thad on the show. And even then, I begged him to keep it between us.”

“But why?” he asks. I swallow.

“Because I thought it would be something that would bring pain and suffering to a lot

more people, including our father, and that wasn’t something I was or am willing to risk. I’ve dealt with it in my own way—albeit, maybe not the best at times—but it was my decision. Not Levi’s.”

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