Page 58 of Sticks and Stones (Shadow Valley U)

And maybe that’s why I didn’t tell Evan—because she listened to me.

She stayed out of my way.

Telling him this,now, would just hurt him and Wren, and I won’t do that.

“I want the truth.”

I knock Evan’s hands away from me. “There’s no mysterious, all-encompassing truth. There’s no magical explanation for me not liking your little sister. But I’m… I’m over it, okay?”

“There is an explanation.”

Our heads whip around.

Wren stands at the top of the hall, wringing her hands together. Tears fill her eyes. “There is an explanation, Evan. And it’s all my fault.”

CHAPTER21

WREN

“Wren, no.”

I stumble backward at Stone’s rebuttal when I make the decision to tell Evan the truth. The sternness on his face throws me off balance because it’s weird for him to suddenly act protective. Evan glances between Stone and me with a little crease on his forehead.

“Yes.” I move toward them both.

The hallway isn’t long by any means, but it feels never-ending with their eyes glued to me. The rest of my housemates are in the kitchen, talking amongst themselves, so I lay it out in the open, rushing through something I’ve buried for years.

“The day he got arrested…” I start, leaning back on the wall with my arms crossed over my chest for protection. Protection from what? Evander hating me, I guess. “It was my fault.”

“Wren.”

Stone’s tone sends shivers down my arms, but I refuse to look at those soul-sucking blue eyes that caressed every inch of my body last night.

“Stop it.”

I ignore Stone and look at Evan. He’s waiting patiently with his hands in his pockets, resting against the wall opposite of me. The space between us feels just as big as the wedge that I know is going to make a dent in our trust.

“How was it your fault?”

I gulp and look down at my shoes. My feet hurt from my shift, but I stay ramrod straight and suck in tears. “I knew the drug dogs were at school that day because when I went out to your car to take a nap, I saw them and freaked out.” A shaky breath leaves me, and I’m pretty certain the entire house is listening, because you can hear a pin drop. “My dad gave me a package that morning, and though I didn’t look, I knew it was drugs.”

Shit. Why is this so hard to relive?

I run my hands down my face and continue to stare at my shoes. The memory is a broken record repeating itself over and over again. “I didn’t want you to get in trouble, and I didn’t want your parents to hate me. They were the only stable adults I had in my life.” My voice breaks, and I try to move past the lump in my throat.

Stone steps forward and moves beside me. Our arms brush, and I glance at the touch.

“So she put the drugs underneath the carriage of my truck, knowing the dogs would sniff it out, and you’d be in the clear.”

“What?” Evan’s whisper is a slap against my cheek. He hates me. I know it.

“I’m sorry,” I choke. “I just knew that Stone would get a slap on the wrist because of his dad. If I was the one caught, I’d lose my scholarship, and I couldn’t fathom it. It was my only way out, and if you were the one who got caught, your parents would be buried in court fees and—”

“Stop.”

My neck cracks when I look at Evan. Stone steps forward, like he’s prepared to rescue me if Evan tells me to get out, but instead of Evan looking at me, he looks at Stone.

“So you knew? And you never told me?”