Confess

by Colleen Hoover

  Trey lowers the flashlight and takes a step back. "Step out of the car, sir." His words are directed at me, so I do what he says. I open the door and step out. Almost immediately, he grabs me by the arm and pulls until I willingly turn and lay my arms on the hood. He begins frisking me. "You got anything in your possession I should be aware of?"

  What the hell? I shake my head. "No. I'm just driving my father home."

  "Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

  I think back on the drinks I had at the bar earlier, but that was a couple of hours ago. I'm not even sure if I should bring that up. The hesitation in my answer doesn't please him. He turns me around and shines the light directly into my eyes. "How much have you had to drink?"

  I shake my head and try to look away from the blinding light. "Just a couple. It was earlier."

  He steps back and tells my father to get out of the car. Luckily, my father gets the door open. At least he's sober enough to do that.

  "Come around the car," Trey says to my father. He watches as my father stumbles from the passenger side, all the way to where I'm standing, holding the edge of the car for support during his journey. He's obviously drunk and I'm honestly not sure if it's illegal for a passenger to be intoxicated. As far as Trey knows, my father wasn't driving.

  "Do I have permission to search the vehicle?"

  I look at my father for guidance, but he's leaning against the car with his eyes closed. He looks ready to fall asleep. I debate whether or not to refuse the search, but figure that would just give Trey more reason to become suspicious. Besides, my father knows the repercussions of traveling with anything that could get him into trouble, so even though he was dumb enough to drive after drinking tonight, I seriously doubt he would actually have anything in his possession that could jeopardize his career. I casually shrug and then say, "Go ahead." I just want Trey to get revenge out of his system so he can be done with it and leave.

  Trey orders us to stand near the rear of the vehicle while he leans across the front seat. My father is alert now, watching him closely. He's wringing his hands together and his eyes are wide with fear. The look on his face is enough for me to know that Trey is more than likely going to find something inside this car.

  "Dad," I whisper, disappointed. His eyes meet mine and they're full of apologies.

  I can't count the number of times my father has promised me he was going to get help. I think he waited a little too long.

  My father closes his eyes when Trey begins making his way to the rear of the vehicle. He sets one, two, three bottles of pills on the car. He proceeds to open each one to inspect the contents.

  "Looks like Oxy," Trey says, rolling a pill between his thumb and forefinger. He looks at me and then at my father. "Either of you have a prescription for these?"

  I look at my father, hoping beyond all hope that he does, in fact, have a prescription. I know it's wishful thinking, though.

  Trey smiles. The bastard smiles like he just hit gold. He leans his elbows on the car and begins putting the pills back into their bottles, one by one. "You know," he says, looking at neither of us, but speaking to us both, "Oxy is considered a penalty group one drug when obtained illegally." He looks up at me. "Now, I know you aren't a lawyer like your father here, so let me explain it to you in laymen's terms." He stands up straight and puts the caps back on the bottles. "In the state of Texas, being arrested for a penalty group one is an automatic state-jail felony."

  I close my eyes and exhale. This is the last thing my father needs. If he loses his career on top of everything else he's lost, there's no way he would survive.

  "I suggest, before either of you speak again, that you take into consideration what would happen if a defense attorney were to be charged with a felony. I'm almost certain that would result in the loss of his license to practice law."

  Trey walks around the vehicle and steps between my father and me. He eyes my father up and down. "Think about that for a second. A lawyer, whose entire career consists of defending criminals, loses his career and becomes the criminal. Irony at its best." Trey then turns and faces me full on. "Did you work tonight, Gentry?"

  I tilt my head, confused by his line of questioning.

  "You own that studio, right? Wasn't tonight one of the nights you were open?"

  I hate that he knows about my studio. I hate it even more that he's asking about it.

  I nod. "Yeah. First Thursday of every month."

  He takes a step closer. "I thought so," he says. He rolls the three bottles of pills between his hands. "I saw you leaving the studio with someone earlier tonight. A girl?"

  Was he following me? Why would he be following me? And why would he be asking about Auburn?

  My throat runs dry.

  I can't believe I haven't put two and two together until this moment. Of course Auburn would have a connection to Trey. His family is probably the reason she's back in Texas.

  "Yeah," I say, finding a way to downplay it. "She worked for me tonight, so I walked her home."

  His eyes narrow at my response and he nods. "Yeah," he says dryly. "I don't particularly like her working for someone like you."

  I know he's a cop, but right now all I see is an asshole. The muscles in my arms clench and his eyes immediately fall to the fists at my sides. "What do you mean someone like me?"

  His eyes meet mine again with a laugh. "Well, you and I don't really have the best history, do we? You attacked me the first time we met. As soon as I pulled you over tonight, you admitted to driving under the influence. And now . . ." He looks down at the pills in his hands. "Now I find these in the vehicle you're driving."

  My father steps forward. "Those are--"

  "Stop!" I yell at my father, cutting him off. I know he's about to claim them, but he isn't sober enough to realize what that could do to his career.

  Trey laughs again, and I'm honestly sick of hearing that noise. "Anyway," he says, "if she needs an escort home, she has me for that."

  He slams the pills down on the hood. "So, which one of you belongs to these?"

  My father looks at me. I can see the struggle in his eyes because he doesn't know what to say. I don't give him the chance.

  "They're mine."

  I close my eyes and I think about Auburn, because this moment and Trey's indirect threat to stay away from her is about to take away whatever chance we might have had.

  Fuck me.

  My cheek meets the cold metal of the hood.

  "You have the right to remain silent . . ."

  My hands are pulled behind me, and the cuffs are snapped into place.

  Part Two

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Auburn

  It's been twenty-eight days since Owen was sentenced to ninety days in jail. A lot can happen in twenty-eight days.

  I tuck the blanket tighter around his body and lean in to kiss AJ on the forehead. "I'll see you after school tomorrow, okay?"

  AJ smiles at me, and like every time he does, my heart melts. He looks just like Adam. Other than having a red tint to his mostly brown hair, everything about him is Adam, right down to his mannerisms. "Are you coming over to eat with us?"

  I nod and give him another hug. Saying good-bye to him, knowing he's not sleeping in a bed in my home, is the hardest part for me. I should be tucking him into bed in a home we share together.

  However, whatever Trey said to Lydia worked, because I've been coming over more nights during the week and she hasn't said a single negative thing to me.

  "Ready?" Trey says from behind me.

  "Good night, AJ. I'll love you forever."

  He smiles. "Good night, Mom. I'll love you forever."

  I flip the light switch off as I exit the room and pull the door shut. Trey reaches for my hand and slides his fingers through mine as we walk toward the living room. I look down at our hands, linked together, and feel nothing but guilt. I've tried for the past few weeks to reciprocate the feelings he has for me, but so far it hasn't worked out
like I'd hoped.

  We make our way through the living room, and Lydia is seated on the sofa. Her eyes immediately fall to our hands. She smiles briefly, and I'm not sure what that smile means. Trey said she didn't really have a reaction when he told her he was taking me on our first official date last week, but I know she has to have an opinion about it. I'd almost think she would be happy, because having me linked to her through Trey in a positive way means there's less of a threat of me taking my son and moving back to Portland.

  "Do you work tonight?" she asks Trey.

  He nods as he releases my hand and reaches for the key that unlocks the entryway closet. "I'm on night shift for the next three weeks," he says. He inserts the key into the door and retrieves his gun from the case.

  My attention moves from Trey to a picture of Adam hanging on the living room wall. He can't be more than fourteen in the picture. Every time I come here I do my best to avoid looking at it, but I'm shocked at how much AJ looks like his father. The older AJ gets, the more of Adam's features I see in him. But knowing that Adam never made it beyond the age of sixteen makes me wonder what he would have looked like as an adult. If he were alive now, would he look like Trey? Will AJ look like Trey?

  "Auburn."

  Trey's voice is so close, it makes me jump. When I look at him, he cuts his eyes briefly to the picture of Adam and then turns toward the front door. He looks disappointed that I was standing here staring at the picture, and it makes me feel somewhat guilty. It has to be hard for him, knowing I felt so much for his brother. I know it would be even harder for him if he knew how much I still felt for his brother.

  "Good night, Lydia," I say as I make my way toward the front door.

  She smiles, but there's something about her smile that's always been a bit off to me. Almost as if there's blame behind it. That could be my own conscience, but I've never gotten over the fact that I feel she resents me for the time I spent with Adam before he passed away. I don't think she liked how Adam felt about me, and I certainly know she didn't like the amount of time he wanted to spend with me.

  And that worries me to an extent, because as much as she seems in support of Trey and me being in a relationship, I worry about what will happen if things don't work out between us. Which is exactly why I haven't made things official, because once I do, I need to be prepared for what could happen with AJ if Trey and I don't last as a couple.

  Trey walks me to my front door, like he's done almost every night for the past week. I know he's still waiting for me to invite him in, but I'm just not there yet. I'm not sure when I will be, but I did finally allow him to kiss me last night, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind. He just sort of did it. I had unlocked my door and turned to face him and his lips were on mine before I could agree or object. And I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but I mostly felt uncomfortable, for a number of reasons.

  I still feel uneasy about the fact that I used to be in love with his brother. I might still be in love with his brother, and that may never go away. I'm also uneasy about the fact that his brother is the only person I've ever had sex with. I'm also disturbed that AJ has known Trey as his uncle his whole life, and I don't want it to confuse him if it gets serious between us.

  There's also the whole attraction thing. Trey is definitely a good-looking guy. He's confident and has a great career. But there's something about him that goes deeper than his muscular build or his perfectly groomed, dark hair. Something that is completely opposite from Adam. Something that actually turns me off.

  There was a goodness about Adam. A calmness. When I was with him, I felt safe.

  I got the same sense from Owen, which I think is why I was drawn to him. He had a lot of the same qualities that Adam had.

  So far, I don't get that from Trey. I try not to think about the fact that I could be making a commitment to someone I'm afraid may not be a good person. But I've associated Trey with Lydia for as long as I've known him, so it may not be a question of Trey's character. I may have judged him unfairly, simply because I feel that his mother isn't a good person.

  Because of that, I'm trying to open myself up to the idea of him. Which is why I allowed him to kiss me last night, because sometimes intimacy can give people a certain connection they wouldn't otherwise have.

  I unlock my door and inhale a slow breath before turning around. I try to get in the mind-set that I want him to kiss me, that his kiss could feel good and exciting, but I know for a fact I won't feel even a fraction of what I felt when Owen kissed me.

  That was a kiss.

  I close my eyes and try to wipe the thoughts of Owen out of my head, but it's hard. When you connect with someone that fast and feel that much from their kiss, it's not so easy to just forget them when they do something to hurt you. And even though Owen turned out to have issues far beyond what I want to get immersed in, I still can't stop thinking about him. Maybe it's because the person I got to know and the person he turned out to be don't seem like they could be the same people. And as much as I try to forget about him, I can't help but worry. I worry about how he's doing. I worry about how long he'll be in jail. I worry about his studio. I worry about Owen-Cat, because I still have her and I know that as soon as Owen is released, I'll have to see him again in order to give him his cat back.

  I worry about how I'm going to be able to hide that from Trey, because right now Trey thinks Owen-Cat belongs to Emory.

  He also thinks the cat's name is Sparkles.

  "Do you work tomorrow?" Trey asks.

  I turn around and look up at him. He's a lot taller than me, and it sometimes intimidates me. I nod. "Nine to four."

  He lifts his hand to my neck and leans in for a kiss. I close my eyes and do my best to enjoy his mouth when it comes to rest against mine. I imagine I'm kissing Owen for a second, and I hate that I do that.

  This kiss is a short one. He's already late for work, so I'm spared the awkwardness of not inviting him inside.

  Trey smiles down at me. "That's twice you've let me kiss you."

  I smile.

  "Call me when you get off work tomorrow," he says. "We'll make it three."

  I nod again, and he turns to leave. I open my apartment door, but he calls my name before I close it behind me. He walks back to the door and looks at me with a serious expression. "Make sure your doors are locked tonight. I heard Gentry was released early, and I wouldn't put it past him to try and get revenge on me by coming here."

  The air in my lungs depletes, and I have to hide my struggle for breath. I don't want him to see how his words have affected me, so I nod quickly. "Why would he want revenge on you?"

  "Because, Auburn. I have what he can't have."

  That makes me uneasy, because I don't like that Trey thinks he "has me." And that's another difference between Trey and Owen. I get the feeling Owen would never say he "has me."

  "I'll keep it locked. Promise."

  Trey nods and heads down the hall. I close the door behind me and lock it.

  I stare at the lock.

  I unlock it.

  I don't know why.

  Owen-Cat purrs at my feet, so I bend down and pick her up, then walk into my bedroom. The first thing I do, which is the first thing I did last night after kissing Trey, is brush my teeth. I know it's an absurd thought, but kissing Trey makes me feel like I'm cheating on Owen.

  When I finish brushing my teeth, I walk back into my bedroom and see Owen-Cat make her way inside the tent. I didn't have the heart to take it down, mostly because I know as soon as AJ is allowed to stay the night here, he'll love it. I crawl inside the tent and lie on my back. I pull Owen-Cat onto my stomach and begin petting her.

  My emotions are all over the place right now. I feel a rush of adrenaline, knowing Owen is no longer in jail and may very well be coming for his cat sometime this week. But I'm also filled with a nervous energy, because I don't know what will happen when I see him again. And I hate that the thought of possibly seeing him again fills me with more anticipation than T
rey's kiss does.

  Owen-Cat jumps off my chest when my phone receives a text message. I pull it out of my pocket and unlock the screen.

  My heart tries to escape from my chest when I read the text from Owen.

  Meat Dress.

  I'm immediately off my feet and into the living room and swinging the front door open. As soon as our eyes meet, my heart feels like a fist is squeezing the life right out of it.

  God, I missed him.

  He takes a very hesitant step forward. He doesn't want to make me uncomfortable by being here, but I can see in his expression that he's feeling that same tight grip around his heart that I'm feeling.

  I take a step back into my apartment, and I open the door further, silently inviting him inside. A small twitch of a smile plays on the corner of his lips, and he walks slowly toward my apartment door. Once he makes his way over the threshold, I step aside until he's all the way inside. He places his hand on the door and closes it, then turns around and locks it. When he faces me again, his expression is pained, like he doesn't know whether to turn and leave or take me in his arms.

  I kind of want him to do both.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Owen

  I wish she knew how much I thought about her. How every night, I questioned whether the tightness in my chest could actually be the result of missing her, or if it was simply the fact that I wasn't allowed to see her. Sometimes people want what they can't have and confuse that with feelings for another person.

  Either way, the feeling is there. The pressure, the ache, the slow build in my stomach that's encouraging me to close the distance between us and take her mouth with mine. I would have done that by now if I hadn't seen Trey leaving her apartment on my way over. Luckily, he's an unobservant prick, so he didn't even notice me.

  I definitely saw him, though. And it makes me wonder what he was doing here so late at night. Not that I have a right to know, but I certainly can't squash my curiosity.

  He came to see me in jail last week. I was told I had a visitor, and I expected it to be my father. There was a very small part of me that was hoping it was Auburn. I never expected her to come see me while I was in jail, but I think the hope that it might happen kept me more positive than I would have been otherwise.