to reach across the expanse of couch and air between us and strangle his neck. Not long enough to do any permanent damage. Just for a second or two. I sincerely thought it would make me feel better.
“Explain to me how letting Lily get off scot-free is the best thing for me. Because I don’t see how that could possibly be true.”
He lifted his head, his deep brown eyes now pleading. “Because you could finally put all of this ugliness behind you. You get that, if she’s guilty, it’s because of her mental illness, right? What would be the point of putting her through a trial when my dad’s attorneys would likely get her off on an insanity plea?”
“You mean, like they got Tristin off?”
Hayle shook his head, probably because he couldn’t argue with that point. “Okay, then, will you do it for me? I know it’s a big ask—the biggest. But I want to see my mom get better, and putting her through all of that will only make everything worse.” He moved to the couch beside me and took my hands in his. “Please, Thea? I would do the same for you. You know I would.”
My chest cracked wide open at more than his words. There was truth in them, sure. But it was the desperation in Hayle’s broken voice, in his feverish gaze, in his tight grip on my hands that struck me. Right now, he needed my compassion above all else. And that was possibly the one thing I couldn’t withhold from him.
He wasn’t asking this favor for Lily’s sake but for his.
It wasn’t fair of him to ask this of me. We both knew it. But I also knew that life was rarely fair. It was often cruel and unforgiving. It required compromise. And it sure as hell required sacrifice.
“Okay.” The word popped out before I could reconsider. “But only if she truly gets the help she needs, no matter how long it takes.”
Hayle’s shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes. “Thank you, Thea. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t.
But I was choosing to believe it was the right thing to do.
For Hayle.
Chapter Nine
Thea
Tristin pulled into his usual parking lot on campus and selected the first open spot. I peered out the window at Carlson Hall in the distance. Why did it suddenly look three times as far away as usual?
Oh, right. Because I had to get there on crutches.
I didn’t want to sound like a spoiled brat, but I’d assumed Tristin would drop me off closer to the door. At least it wasn’t raining, though it was cold. Petra had given me a new-to-me, down-filled coat from Nana’s Fashions as a “welcome back to school” present, and it was already the best gift I’d ever received. I refused to count the Audi, since Vincent had presented it to me as a reward for bending to his will.
Ugh, Vincent. I really didn’t want to start my first day back at Harbor U thinking about him.
Tristin rounded the front of the Tesla and opened my door before handing me my crutches and throwing my backpack over his shoulder.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” When I started across the parking lot, he stopped me. “No, this way.”
I looked from where he was headed to Carlson Hall and back to him. “That way is longer.”
He gave me what amounted to a trace of a smile. “Will you just trust me?”
That was a loaded question, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. We only had about ten minutes to make it to class, and I was freaking slow. “Fine,” I half-whined, following him onto the sidewalk.
Tristin chuckled. “You’re going to feel silly in about ten seconds.”
“What does that mean?”
Before the last of my question was out, I heard the whirring of an engine approaching from behind us. Turning, I found a golf cart headed down the sidewalk. I squinted, identifying the driver as none other than Jude, football player and fellow wallflower.
“What are you doing?” I asked when he braked a few feet from me.
He lifted a brow. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m driving you to class. Hop on.”
Oh.
Oh. I glanced at Tristin, who was now smirking at me. Yeah, I did feel a little silly.
He slid onto the seat in the back of the cart, and I quickly—well, quick for me—maneuvered next to Jude. “How did you know?”
“Leo set it up,” he replied as he used the high-pitched horn to startle