True Blue (Imperium Coast #1)

Chapter 36

36

Layla C.

Good luck babes! You’re going to kill it!

I laugh, rereading Layla’s text before typing back a quick thank you. Pulling my skirt on over my fleece-lined tights, I zip the side and smooth the form fitting material down, looking over my pre-planned outfit one more time. My heart hammers in my chest as I mentally go over my introduction for our presentation again before grabbing my fuzzy plum sweater and pulling it over my head. Tucking the hem into my skirt, I nod along, mouthing the words as they scroll through my mind. My reflection stares back at me, as I make little adjustments, before I stop and hear Bentley’s phantom voice in my ears. Take a deep breath .

Breathing through my nose, I close my eyes, remembering his smile during our lazy afternoon yesterday. We moved to the living room after our nap, ordering Chinese food and playing Mario Party for hours. Axel ended up pouting every time he lost, demanding a rematch three times. Bentley finally shut him down after the fourth game, placating him by sitting for a few selfies that Axel insisted on taking even if we couldn’t post them. Of course, Axel had taken more than the negotiated two, making me laugh while watching them wrestle for Axel’s phone. I ended up stealing the remote while they were distracted, but Bentley’s smile remained the entire time.

My phone goes off again, pulling my eyes open.

Axel

Laptops are all set. Grabbed our usual seats.

Bentley’s name appears next.

Bentley

Presentation is all good. We’re the first ones here. You owe us coffee.

I smile, starting to text back. They both promised to go to class early for me to make sure their laptops worked with the projector. As much as it soothed my anxiety, I was also just glad they’d be there before me. This way I could just pretend I was walking to meet them and not on my way to speak in front of the whole class.

I’ll show up with two lattes. Promise.

Bentley

Make it a caramel brulée one for A? Apparently, he needs the sugar right now.

Got it!! Leaving soon.

A knock sounds on the suite door, pulling my eyes away from my phone, and I furrow my brow. Calling out for Mira and hearing her responding, “Yeah,” from her own bedroom, my confusion grows. I pause my music, tossing my phone down before I head out of my bedroom. Tugging on the sleeve of my sweater, I walk across the living room.

“I thought you guys—” My voice falters as the door moves out of the way and I freeze, ice running down my spine.

Christopher stands in the hallway, a slow smile creeping onto his face.

“Hello, Janette,” he sneers, placing his hands on either side of the door frame. I continue to stare at him, trying to figure out why he would be here. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” There’s an innocence to his tone that raises my hackles.

“No, I’m not.” I say, coming out of my stupor. I cross my arms over my chest, standing firm in the threshold of the suite.

He glowers down at me, eyes narrowing, but just as quickly, another smile falls into place. “I think you’re going to want to let me in, babe.” He steps forward, pressing into me and forcing me to step out of the way. My stomach turns as he glides past, waltzing into the suite and glancing around.

“Don’t call me that,” I say, leaving the door open behind me as I turn to watch where he goes.

“Sorry, it’s just me, not one of your little boyfriends.” He grins as he walks around the living room, looking at everything as if it is the first time he’s been here. His eyes fall on the only thing different from the last time he was here, a painting of the moon Mira hung up by the bathroom. He studies it for a moment before turning back toward me. “Do they know about each other?”

I ignore the question and the pit twisting in my stomach.

“What are you doing here Christopher?” I ask, glancing at my bedroom and trying to figure out how to subtly walk toward it and get my phone. I stay standing next to the door though, considering all my options. I could call out for Mira, but I don’t know how Christopher would react and I don’t want her involved if I can help it.

“I wanted to see your face when the news breaks.” He shrugs, leaning against the back of the closest couch to me. “Figured it would feel sweetest seeing your reaction in person.”

I shift my weight on my feet, the skin on the back of my neck growing itchy. My hand grips the edge of the door still and I feel my nails dig a little into the wood. “What are you talking about?”

He stands up, pushing off the couch and taking a couple steps toward me. “You really thought you could get away with it, didn’t you? Thought they’d never find out. Thought I’d never find out.” He shakes his head, laughing harshly. His hard eyes meet mine once he’s done. “I always knew you were a little slut. The way you always looked at the other guys at my lacrosse games and paraded yourself in front of the cameras at your mom’s events.” He shakes his head in disgust and my mounting confusion swirls with dread. “I never thought you were this dumb, though, babe. Gotta say you surprised me with this one.” He advances toward me with each word, until he’s standing over me, hands moving to his pockets as his face grows red.

I freeze again, his words making my forehead wrinkle, as I wonder what the hell he’s talking about. But the ominous tone in his voice makes my heart thunder as my limbs lock into place.

“I caught you,” he hisses, pulling a hand out of his pocket and running the tip of his finger down my cheek. I turn away from his touch, the feeling cold and unwanted. He laughs, leaning closer anyways. “I figured out you were seeing them both,” he whispers, his breath fanning across my skin and making me nauseous. My eyes whip back up to his. “And, I have proof.” He pulls his phone out, scrolling through before turning it around. A picture of me kissing Bentley in the snow yesterday glares at me from his phone screen. My stomach drops as he flicks his thumb to the right, displaying a picture of me and Axel kissing over the candlelit dinner table from last week after our drive back to the Coast.

My eyes flick up to his, arms falling limply to my sides. “What did you do?”

He laughs again, the sound cracking through the space between us. “There’s the face I wanted to see.” He pockets his phone, walking back over to lean against the couch, arms folded in satisfaction this time. “Those pictures should be in the tabloid releases in about,” he lifts up his phone, checking the time. “Three minutes. And once the bigger outlets realize that’s Heather and Michael Marshall’s only son…” He shakes his head, whistling. “You’re going to be a trending topic. Can’t wait to see what Sandra thinks of your extracurricular activities . I’m sure this won’t affect her reelection campaign at all.” He twirls his hand through the air, cruelty lining every angle of his elated face.

All the air leaves my lungs and my hand comes up to cup the side of my neck. I rip my eyes off his smug face, trying to drag in breath. No air comes in or out and my thoughts crash together like tidal waves. Tabloids. Trending. Reelection.

Fear pounds through my veins, pressing against my skin from the inside.

Christopher continues to prattle on. “I’m sure these two aren’t the only ones. How many more men are there, Janette? Did one of them find out about me and that’s why you decided to end things? Couldn’t keep stringing them all along when you had such a publicly known boyfriend, huh?”

The sound of footsteps breaks through my rising panic and call my eyes away from the floor. I look past Christopher, watching Mira walk into the living room as she finishes tying her hair up. “Who was at the d—” Seeing Christopher, she pauses, looking over at me. “What is he doing here?”

“Can you text Bentley for me?” I manage to push out, semi-normally. Reaching for my practiced smile, I feel it waver a bit as I say, “Let him know I’m going to be a little late to class.” I force the smile to stay in place, feeling like my eyes are pushing against my skull.

Mira glances over at Christopher before nodding. “Sure,” she says, walking quickly back into her room with another look at Christopher.

His head swivels back toward me, humor glinting in his eyes. “He won’t make it here in time. I’ll be leaving right after the news is out anyway. I just wanted to see the look in your eyes as everything comes down around you.”

I try to ignore him as a buzzing starts in my ears. Taking a shaky step away from the door, I start to head toward my room, needing to get away from him.

Christopher shuffles his shoulders. “I already warned Dad about pulling funding.” My feet stop. “Sandra will probably make you move back home since school has clearly not been a good influence on you.” He chuckles, shaking his head and looking at his watch. “One more minute.” Standing up straight, he fiddles with his cuffs. “I’m curious, how does it feel to know you’re about to be ruined?”

I force myself to continue walking toward my room, the tips of my fingers feeling tingly and numb. “You need to leave,” I say, voice surprisingly level.

He laughs behind me. “Don’t worry. I’m not sticking around.” He walks around the couch, picking up the TV remote. Turning it on, he flicks through channels, the noise making me stop and turn in the doorway of my room. He finds an entertainment news channel, the ribbon on the bottom reading SENATOR’S DAUGHTER TWO TIMING THE MARSHALLS’ SON.

The buzzing rachets up to a ringing as I stare at the headline, feeling my stomach drop. I’m still somehow able to hear Christopher’s satisfied chuckle. The woman on the screen gleefully reports on my life as the photos Christopher showed me pop up on the screen. I still can’t hear what she’s saying but my breathing shallows and I stagger against my doorframe, eyes never leaving the screen as I catch myself. Christopher was right. I’m watching all my happiness crash into the ground.

A moment later, Christopher pulls up YouTube and starts searching for Bentley’s name. Videos start loading up underneath, most of the titles calling me out by name or calling me “Georgian congresswoman's daughter.” My vision swims a little as I feel like I’m going to puke. Christopher’s photos of my guys eat up each of the thumbnails. Christopher scrolls through them, a smile growing larger and larger on his face.

“‘Janette Davidson cheating on Bentley Marshall with classmate,’” Christopher reads. He looks back over at me. “Let’s read the comments, shall we?” He clicks around, pulling up the comments section under a video while I go back to focusing on taking shaky steps toward my phone.

His mocking voice follows me.

“‘What a bitch! She thinks she can do better than Bentley Marshall?! Who is this psycho?’ ‘What a whore.’” He starts laughing gleefully, calling after me louder and louder, the further away from him I get. “‘Just another slutty gold-digger, like her mom .’ These are amazing!” Christopher keeps laughing, reading more and more of the comments as I make it to my desk and finally pick up my phone. It buzzes over and over again, notifications popping up from every social media app I have as I try to get to my texts. Texts start to overlap with the notifications, most from people I haven’t spoken to in years, some just asking if we can talk while others spit vitriol through my screen.

I start hyperventilating, the phone seeming to move further and closer away from my eyes as I stare. Dropping it, I let my back slide down the side of my desk and put my head between my knees, closing my eyes and rocking a bit against the wood at my back. It’s all over. Flashes of happy moments with Axel and Bentley parade through my bleak thoughts, making my eyes water and chest concave.

It’s all over.

“You really thought you could just break up with me and there would be no consequences?” I pick my head up, finding Christopher in my doorway a few feet away. He shakes his head, smile still on his lips. He leans down, getting in my face and baring his teeth. “Good luck with your life, Janette.” He spits my name and then chuckles, swiftly standing and turning away from the door to walk out. I hear the TV still playing the YouTube video Christopher turned on as the suite door slams behind him.

My stomach rolls as his words replay over and over in my head, the ringing and buzzing split only by the sound of my phone continuing to ping and vibrate on the floor with more reactions to the first good thing I had in such a long time.

Tears start to blur my vision as I listen to the death of everything we worked to grow and protect. The comments of the video confirm what people will always think of me now. What they will think of me and my guys.