Cody sat on his floor, bottle of Jack between his legs, while he attacked his game console. He was blaring the volume through his headphones and taking out his frustrations the best way he knew how. Okay, almost the best way. He was still relying heavily on his old friend, Jack. He was a fair bit hammered, but it was Friday night, and at least he was channeling his anger at the war game currently raging on his plasma screen.

That’s why when he felt a hand on his shoulder he nearly pissed himself. Cody jumped to his feet spilling half the bottle of Jack on the carpet. He righted it and whirled around trying to get his eyes to focus in the darkness. He must have been more snockered than he thought, because it appeared that Hannah was standing in his room, looking royally pissed off.

“Hannah?” he asked not believing his eyes.

“How dare you?” she yelled, sloppily shoving him.

“Are you drunk?” Cody asked taking in her wobbly appearance.

“Oh, you’re one to talk!” she shouted moving to push him again.

She lost her footing and collided with Cody. It was more force than he was anticipating and they both toppled onto his bed.

“Let go of me!” she howled.

Cody held his arms up in surrender but couldn’t help from bursting into laughter. “Honestly, what’s wrong with you? You’re the one that’s on top of me.”

“You need to take some responsibility too, Cody,” Hannah slurred, still not moving from her spot atop him.

“What are you talking about?”

“I always have to clean up your messes and I’m over it. I’m over you! I’ve told you that before. Now please leave me alone!”

“Did you seriously come over her to tackle me and tell me to leave you alone?” he asked, his temper flaring. “Because you’ve made that clear, Hannah. You don’t need to kick me while I’m down.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Then what are you doing?” Cody growled, fighting his body’s reflex to hers. Her legs straddled his hip and her hands pressed into his chest for support. He couldn’t stop staring at her eyes. They were wild with . . . he didn’t know what. Was it lust? Or did he just want it to be?

She leaned closer and her long hair brushed his cheek. “I don’t know.”

Cody brushed her hair away, following the strand to her cheek. Her face was hot and she let out the tiniest gasp when he touched her. It was his undoing. His restraint unraveled and he pulled her lips to his, meeting in a furious crash of passion. He craved her in a way he didn’t understand. She was the only thing that could drown out the hurt and he couldn’t get enough. He wanted to wrap his body in hers until there was nothing left between them. He’d known it the moment he saw her in the fitting room—she bared her soul to him and that’s what terrified him. Hannah was pure and perfect, and he knew he would ruin her.

* * *

Hannah stripped her clothes away feverishly, while Cody fisted her hair, keeping her close to him with trembling hands. His kiss devoured her, setting something loose deep inside her.

She wanted this.

Not like this.

She needed this.

Not like this!

Her mind and body warred, but her invading hormones won out. Cody groaned into her mouth when she slipped her hand under the waistband of his thin lounge pants. Her power over him was intoxicating. The more she touched the more he needed, whispering her name like a secret prayer.

She slid down his rigid torso, begging her hands to memorize his perfection. Before she could reach her target Cody hauled her back to him, his eyes wide and pleading. “Hannah.” He said her name sternly. “I don’t think we should do this right now.”

“Are you serious?”

“Are you?”

“Yes. I want to do this.” She pushed passed his guard and kissed him again, luring him in with the coaxing rhythm of her hips and lips.

“Shit, Hannah.” He flipped her onto her back pinning her beneath him. “I want to do this so badly. You have no idea,” he groaned. “But this isn’t right. You’re drunk and you . . . you hate me. This isn’t how it should be.”

“I’m not drunk. I had a few glasses of champagne.”

“You’ve had more than a few glasses to dull hate to lust.”

“I don’t hate you, Cody.”

“I saw the way you looked at me after the vet. You hate me.”

“I may not always understand you, but I don’t hate you. Believe me, I’ve tried and I should. But—.”

“What do you mean you should?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know you’ve been talking about me.”

“To who?”

“Does it really matter?”

“Yes!”

“Harrison and others.”

“Why the hell would I talk to Harrison?”

Hannah shook her head. “Do you really think I’m not fancy?”

“What?”

“That’s what you told him didn’t you? That I’m just plain and casual. That I couldn’t possibly enjoy being spoiled?”

“Hannah! I never said that. I’ve never said anything about you. To anyone!”

“I find that hard to believe when Savannah told me just tonight she heard you saying we slept together!”

Cody pushed himself off the bed angrily. He paced, running his hands through his hair. He turned back to Hannah, his temper barely caged. “They’re lying to you, Hannah. This is what they do. They fuck with people for fun. They get off on it. I would never say that about you.”

“Why not, it’s just sex right? It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s just it, Hannah. It is a big deal! It’s supposed to be a big deal!”

“Not for you! I’m sure you’ve done it a thousand times.”

“I haven’t!” Cody shouted grabbing Hannah’s arms roughly as trying to force understanding into her.

Hannah’s heart pounded as she tried to wrap her fuzzy mind around what Cody was saying. “Haven’t . . . as in ever?” She stared at the blazing truth in his eyes, barely aware she was only wearing her bra and panties. Her efforts remained on staying upright and making sense of what Cody was saying. She cursed herself for drinking so much champagne. Everything was swaying.

“But I thought . . . I thought Elena was pregnant . . .” she stammered. “Cody, what are you saying?”

“Elena was pregnant. But it wasn’t mine. That’s what our fight was about the night . . .” He couldn’t finish his sentence. His eyes darted around the room looking for something solid to cling to. When they settled on the bottle of Jack he moved toward it, knocking back a huge gulp.

“How do you know it wasn’t yours?”

Cody laughed and sank down onto the bed. “Because I never had sex with Elena. I’ve never had sex with anyone. She was cheating on me because I wanted to wait.”

“What?”

He took another long swig and shook his head. “That’s right, Casanova Cody is a fraud.”

“Do you know who . . . who the father is . . . was?”

Cody grimaced and collapsed back onto the bed in frustration.

Hannah sighed thinking Cody was done with the subject until she heard his voice, barely above a whisper. “I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

She leaned back on the bed, bringing her face close to his. “Have you ever told anyone?”

He continued to stare at the ceiling. “I can’t prove anything. And who’s going to believe me. I’m just another fuck up.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“It wouldn’t matter.”

“It would matter to me,” she said softly, slipping her hand into his. He pulled away and sat up again. Grabbing for the Jack on the nightstand. Hannah sat up too. She watched him take another long drink from the near empty bottle, trying to grasp these revelations. “Cody, it might matter to a lot of people. Like Elena’s family. Your family.”

He snorted. “Thanks but you don’t have to say that.”

“I’m not just saying it. You’re being blamed for more than driving drunk. Everyone thinks you got her pregnant and then killed her to get rid of the problem. Don’t you want to set the record straight?”

Cody laughed a bit hysterically, prompting Hannah to take the bottle from him. “You’re gonna need it,” he snorted. “You ready for the best part? I wasn’t even the one driving. I’d been drinking but I still knew enough not to get behind the wheel. But Elena . . . she was wasted and screaming about the pregnancy and her life being ruined and saying everything was my fault. She just wanted to get away from it all.” He laughed sadly. “I don’t blame her. She was scared and lashing out. I was just the closest target. We hurt the ones we love the most, right?”

A sobering thought dragged its icy claws down Hannah’s back.

No. It couldn’t be true. No one would suffer as he had if . . . if . . .

“Cody, if you weren’t driving that night . . .”

“It was Elena. She was hysterical. I’d driven us to the party and she wanted to leave. I told her I couldn’t drive and she just got in my car and started to drive off. I couldn’t let her go like that. Not by herself. I jumped in and begged her to calm down and talk it out, but she wouldn’t hear me. She’d just worked herself up, ya know?” Cody’s shaking hands scrubbed at his face, wrestling with the crippling truth. “I loved her. I just wanted to be there for her.”

Hannah’s hands shook as she covered her mouth, fighting the taste of bile at her realization. “Elena was the driver. She crashed and you covered for her.”

Cody’s voice was strangled to a whisper. “When we hit the tree, we were both thrown from the car. She was already dead when I found her. Killed on impact, they said. When I crawled over to her she was so ruined. I just didn’t want her to suffer anymore. Her reputation was trashed by the pregnancy, she didn’t need drunk driver added to her headstone. When the police showed up, it was my car so they assumed I was the driver.”

“And you never corrected them?” Hannah asked incredulously.

“I loved her. You do stupid things for love.”

Hannah’s vision was clouded with unfathomable rage toward Elena.

Elena cheated on Cody.

Elena got pregnant by someone else.

Elena drove drunk.

Elena caused the accident.

Elena nearly killed Cody.

Elena. All of it was Elena’s fault.

And Elena left Cody to deal with the fall out as if he caused it.

“Cody, who else knows this?”

“Just you,” he admitted nonchalantly. “Guess that’s pretty messed up, huh?”

He lifted the bottle of Jack and Hannah gently stopped it from meeting his lips.

“That’s the understatement of the year,” she scoffed.

Cody laughed and passed Hannah the bottle. “You look like you could use this.”

“Cody, we can fix this. We need to go to the police. You’ve been wrongfully accused—”

“Leave it, Hannah. What’s done is done.”

“How can you say that? This is your life we’re talking about.”

“Right, my life.”

“Well if you want to keep it a secret, fine. But I’m not living with your ghosts.” Hannah got up, quickly gathering her clothes.

“Don’t you dare!” Cody bellowed. “You don’t get to be all high and mighty and fuck up my life just to clear your conscience.”

“Look around you! It’s already fucked up.”

“Exactly. So just leave it alone.”

“No! Not when we can fix this!”

Cody threw the bottle in frustration. “Not everything needs to be fixed, Hannah! We don’t all need to be perfect like you.”

Anger spiked in her heart. “I’m not perfect, Cody. But at least when I make a mistake I admit it. You have made a huge mistake and it’s hurting everyone who cares about you.”

“No one cares about me!”

“I do!” she screamed, her face wild with heartbreak. “I’ve tried so hard not to. But I care about you, Cody. And I hate that you can’t see that.”

Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, baring their souls. It was too much for Hannah. She needed to get out. She was suffocating from the pain that had been unleashed in Cody’s room. She tried to push her way passed him but he blocked her path to the door.

His hands slid up her arms, agony painted his gorgeous face as he gently brushed Hannah’s hair back, whispering her name. “I’m not worth it.”

Tears burst from her eyes and she pushed him away trying for the door again.

“I’m not letting you leave like this, Hannah.”

“Cody, I want to leave. I mean it.”

“Not until you promise me you’ll sleep on this. All of it. We can talk tomorrow. When we’re not so . . . messed up.”

“This will still be messed up tomorrow.”

“Exactly.”

“Cody, if you make me keep this secret there can never be anything between us. It’ll ruin everything.”

Cody shook his head, sighing with sadness. “Don’t you get it. That’s what I do. I ruin things. I tried to warn you.”

Hannah choked back her sobs. “I wish I’d never met you.”

Just then the door flew open, shoving into Cody’s back pushing him into Hannah. They both stumbled back, clinging to each other to stay upright.

Harrison’s face took in the scene. Hannah half naked clutching her clothes, cheeks streaked with tears. Cody shirtless and reeking of booze, his paws all over Hannah’s pale skin. Harrison’s rage erupted, hailing profanity and fists.

Hannah screamed, but her voice dissolved into the din of their brawling bodies.

“Stop, please stop!” she wailed as they scuffled around the room overturning everything in their path.

“She doesn’t want you!” Harrison growled, leveling Cody with a punch. “Why can’t you ever get that through your thick skull?”

“I know that!” Cody yelled scrambling to his feet only for Harrison to knock him into a wall.

He shoved his forearm into Cody’s throat. “So you thought you’d get her drunk and force her anyway, you sick prick.”

“I didn’t touch her!” Cody gasped.

“I saw your hands all over her!”

“It wasn’t like that.”

For a moment the boys stood still, in some sort of egotistical standoff. Hannah saw her chance and pushed her way between them “Harrison. Please. He didn’t hurt me. It’s all a misunderstanding. I just want to go home. Can you take me home? Please?”

Harrison snapped out of his fury and recovered his composure. He let go of Cody, who crumpled to the floor like a rock. Harrison smoothed his clothes. His mouth quirked into a tight smile as he smoothed Hannah’s wild hair. “You’re okay?”

“Yes. Can we please go?”

“Sure. Grab your things and meet me in the car.”

Hannah hesitated.

“I’m right behind you,” Harrison assured her.

Hannah gave Cody a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

Cody nodded.

“I just need to discuss something with Cody, man to man. I promise. No more fighting.”

Unable to fight her nerves any longer Hannah fled to the car, her sobs chasing her the whole way.

* * *

Once Harrison was sure they were alone he turned to Cody and gave him a smug grin. “You’re pathetic, Matthews.”

Cody didn’t respond. He was busy sopping up the blood that trickled from a cut above his eye.

Harrison walked closer towering over Cody. He knelt down and handed Cody a handkerchief from his pocket. Unable to resist a final dig, Harrison leaned in so he could whisper in Cody’s ear. “You never learn.” Harrison laughed and patted Cody’s shoulder. “I almost admire you for it. But in the end they always choose me.” Harrison stood not even trying to restrain his smirk. “Hannah’s mine now.”

He sauntered to the door, giving Cody one last look before leaving. “You can keep the handkerchief,” he called. “We’ll call it a memento.”