The Bartender's Countdown (Now Entering Hillford Book 4) by Piper Lennox

Author:Piper Lennox [Lennox, Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Piper Lennox
Published: 2020-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Bram rests his head in the crook of his arm; I’m lying diagonally on his bed on my stomach, with my legs across his feet. It happened at some point during his story, but I have no idea when.

“You’ve never told anyone this?” I ask, scrolling through the headlines on my phone again. Teacher Seduces Student, Faces 8 Years. Student Impregnates Teacher. Teacher Gives Birth to 15-Year-Old Student’s Baby.

“Never.” With his free hand, he picks at the pilling on his comforter. “You’re the only person in town who knows, besides my dad and stepmom. Congrats.”

His sarcasm doesn’t lighten the mood. It just cracks my heart all over again. “Did she go to prison? I mean, God, she was at least....”

“Twenty-eight,” he finishes. “He was actually sixteen when I was born, so she loves acting like it’s not as bad as everyone thinks. Always going on about how in love they were. It’s disgusting. And yes, she did go to prison.” Bram pushes up on his elbow and sighs. “That’s where I was born.”

I sit up, cross-legged by his knees. “She had you in prison?”

“Yep. An auspicious start.”

He picks at the comforter again; I bat his hand away and tell him to stop before he ruins the fabric. He laughs in his throat and puts his hands behind his head, rolling onto his back.

“She served two years,” he explains, staring at his ceiling, “then got released on parole, though I have no idea how. She must have lied her ass off to that board, because she sure as hell didn’t learn anything or feel remorse. Picked me up from her sister’s house the day she got out, drove me to West Virginia, changed her name, tricked my Dad into marrying her...and then we moved here.”

“Your dad didn’t know about any of the...scandal and all that, I’m guessing?”

“He had no clue, until the day she left. He found all the clippings and photos she’d kept about it. Fucked up, right?” His laugh rains like acid across us. “She not only kept every news story—like it was romantic or something—but she’d also been tracking Nick ever since. Had his graduation photo, his college newsletter....”

Bram sits straight up, like the anger won’t let him lie down. “That’s the thing: if she’d fooled around with him and moved on, owning up to it as a mistake and acknowledging how wrong it was? I mean, it would still be disgusting—but I could respect her a little bit. But she doesn’t see it that way at all, even now. She’s obsessed with him.”

“Does he talk to her? Do they have any kind of relationship, still?”

“I think I heard restraining orders are the new rose gold? So, sure, they’re practically married.”

I smile, but it’s more prodding than anything else. “Bram.”

He swings his legs down off the side of the bed and rises slowly, bracing one arm on the wall until he steadies. Going to a drawer on his bureau, he tells me over his shoulder, “Nick just wants to stay as far away from her as he can, in every way possible.

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