Chapter 18 #2
“To give up trying to get him. He wouldn’t be interested if you weren’t giving him some kind of encouragement.
” Olivia looks at me like I’m not as smart as she is.
“You may get great grades in school, but you have no social intelligence. If he gets no encouragement or outright rejection, he’ll give up.
He doesn’t have time to seduce someone.”
I think of those nights he works out and returns to our room hot and smelling like sin.
He grabs me up and takes me into the shower with him.
I’ve been fucked in that shower often. I’m hoping he’ll fuck me tonight.
He doesn’t seduce me because he doesn’t have to.
There’s something between us that I never expected. He makes me want him.
I know he feels it, the draw, the magnetic pulse that’s irresistible. I shake myself out of it and focus on the queen bee thinking I’m encroaching on her territory.
“So what? You want to pay me to stay away from Damon, but what happens if he keeps coming after me?” I raise an eyebrow. How stupid does she think I am?
“Tell him no. Duh?” Olivia pulls her phone out. “So how much?”
“You really think I can be bought?” I’m curious.
“Everyone has a price, EvanAnn. Besides, I’ve heard you’re a cheap whore, so I’m sure the number won’t even make my allowance flinch.” That evil smile again.
“No.” I turn to walk out of the bathroom.
“What do you mean, no?” she huffs out.
I turn back and smile at her. “That’s what you tell someone when you don’t want what they’re offering. I know you might be unfamiliar with it, but my answer is no.”
“So you won’t stay away from Damon?” Olivia crosses her arms with a glare.
“You make a lot of assumptions about me and about Damon, but I don’t think you really know what he wants, or you’d know he doesn’t want someone to control him.” I step toward her. “And if you knew me, you’d know I’m loyal to whoever I give myself to.”
“I heard Chase had an open relationship with you.” She smirks.
“That’s what he thought, but it wasn’t something we discussed.” I laugh. “Is that the best you have? My fuckboy ex?”
“I fucked him this summer, gave him some quality road head.”
My heart skips. She was the one in Chase’s car, or was that another time? What if Damon wants to blackmail her instead to get revenge? My chest aches. I couldn’t sit by and watch that happen. It would crush something in me I’m trying desperately to ignore.
“Maybe I should just tell Damon you’re a stuck up virgin who won’t give it up.”
“Go ahead. I won’t take your money to ignore Damon Storm.”
She steps toward me menacingly. If someone more comfortable fighting with money than her fists could be considered menacing. “I can make school hell for you.”
“And how would that be different from the past three years?” My anger that was on simmer burns through me.
“Do you think it’s easy to go here when you aren’t rich?
Do you think this has been easy for me? That I’ve been happy being alone?
What are you going to take from me? My ex?
My best friend, who I’ve known for a few weeks? ”
“Damon is mine,” she bites out.
“If he is, then I’m sure he won’t even try anything with me because he’d be with you, so we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.” I take a step back and hold in the fact that he’s mine. Maybe he won’t be for long if he finds out Olivia was the girl in the car that night. My stomach churns.
“Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know why I ever thought he might want someone like you.
” She looks me up and down like I’m the trash beneath her feet.
“He wouldn’t even let you come near him.
Even your name is stupid. EvanAnn? It’s like your parents wanted to brand you as a loser. You’re low class and have no future.”
Fuck this bitch. Yes, she’ll always have money, but that doesn’t make her better than me.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I straighten. “I have a future. Whatever it takes, I’ll rise, because that’s what I’m meant to do.”
She smiles. “Not if your play doesn’t do well.”
I shake my head. “One play will not make or break my career. Yes, it might set me back if I did something wrong, but that’s not what’s going to happen. And if you think you can threaten me—”
The door opens, and I turn to see who came in. I swallow as Damon meets my eyes. My body softens with his nearby. My chest aches. Will he want revenge against Olivia? Isn’t that the whole reason he went after me to begin with?
“Did you miss me, lover?” Olivia smiles and knocks my shoulder as she walks over to Damon. She puts her hands on his chest. “We were just negotiating a deal.”
I turn away. I can’t watch her paw him. He needs to act the part to make her give up on her quest to pay me off. But that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.
“Are you okay?”
“What?” Olivia practically shrieks. “She doesn’t want you. She wants her skeezy boyfriend.”
His hands fall on my shoulders, and I suck in a breath. I don’t dare turn around, because I’m sure everything is written all over my face. Olivia will know. What is he doing?
“What are you doing, Damon?” Olivia is practically melting down. “She’s nothing. She’s worse than nothing. She’s an ant.”
I turn to glare at Olivia. Money isn’t everything.
Damon gazes down at me with those sharp blue eyes, but I don’t dare look at him. I try not to give anything away.
“Evan?” He tips my chin up, and I swallow. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” What is he doing? I search his eyes. This isn’t the plan. I look at him like he’s lost a screw.
His fingers glide along my jaw, sending a shiver through me. He smiles before he turns his head to Olivia.
“Are you still here?” He arches an eyebrow and gives her a look that would make some girls cry. “Next time you try to buy Evan, you might want to find out who owns her first.”
Olivia huffs. “I suppose you do?”
“She’s mine. And she’s not for sale. You fuck with her, and I’ll do something I never do.” Damon’s fingers glide down the side of my neck.
Something inside me is bursting. This is going to change everything.
“Why would you want her when you can have me?” Olivia narrows her gaze at me like I’m something she needs to destroy.
Damon moves between us and tucks me behind him, protecting me. It makes my heart ache because it won’t last.
“Fuck around and find out.”
She pouts. “What would you do?”
“I’ll destroy you. I’ll take away everything from you if I even think you have Evan in your sights.” He steps toward her. “And don’t think of having another guy go after her. I’m not playing. I don’t want you. I belong to Evan.”
My heart is in my ears. What is he doing? Maybe this is because of the texts? Did he find out Olivia sent them?
The door opens and closes. Olivia left. Fuck. I should have stopped her.