Chapter 23
Damon
I want Evan to ride my bike to school. I want to put my arm around her shoulders and make sure she gets to her classes. Instead, I follow behind her as she drives my car, watch her park, and walk into the building. Alone.
She’s right. While we showered, she told me all her reasons for not wanting me to claim her right now. And she’s right. We don’t know why Chase wants her. I haven’t taken everything away from him yet. We’re so close.
But my revenge means nothing if I lose her because of it.
This was never supposed to happen. This feeling welling up inside me. It wouldn’t have happened if it had been anyone else. Anyone except Evan.
I text her when I get to first period. She’s with Cam this morning. She sends me her location on her phone. I smile a little. Like I don’t know where she is.
Olivia breezes in and sits at the desk next to mine. “I’m assuming you’re through with whatever yesterday was about. Maybe it was a test to see if I’d spread the rumor around.”
She arches her eyebrow and taps her pen on her notebook.
I don’t say anything. I know Evan wants me to tell Olivia it was a joke. That I didn’t mean it. But fuck this girl. Olivia wants something from me she’s never going to get. It’s time she knows it’s not happening.
The real question is, was Olivia the girl in the car with Chase? Because she’s just as guilty as Chase if that’s the case. And with the way she came after Evan, she needs to be taken down.
“I mean, she’s cute I guess, but no one would ever believe you wanted more than a fuck from her.
” She sighs and looks at the front of the classroom like she’s put out.
“I appreciate you playing hard to get, but it’s getting ridiculous, Damon.
What if I were as big a tease as you are? You’d call me out on it.”
I lean back in my chair and narrow my eyes at her.
“After all, this is our thing. Some girl chooses you, and I make sure she backs off. It’s been fun.
” She turns and smiles at me. “I’ll give you one thing.
This one doesn’t appear to be able to be bought.
Which is new. She doesn’t have any social standing I can take away.
She’s basically nothing, which is why I know this is just another one of your games. ”
Olivia smiles like she’s figured me out. “Maybe it’s just too early in the school year and you don’t want to satisfy my curiosity quite yet.”
I blow out a breath. I never should have let this bitch in. If I were still trying to fuck Evan over, Olivia was my best bet. But that plan’s long gone. Evan isn’t going anywhere. The only reason I continued to let Olivia believe she had a shot with me was to protect Evan.
“Maybe you should take the hint, Olivia,” I say it louder than necessary and turn to look at her. “Maybe I’d want anyone more than you.”
Some of the guys make burn noises in the background as her eyes narrow on mine. When some girls giggle, Olivia shoots them a look that makes them stop.
There’s hell to pay in her eyes, but I’m done giving in to this bitch.
The teacher comes in. “All right, let’s focus, people.”
Olivia straightens. She glares at me before she remembers herself and smiles softly. This isn’t going to end well.
When class ends, Olivia is out the door before I can say anything more to her.
I blow out a breath. That might have done more harm than good.
When I walk into second and Evan looks up at me with those eyes, my chest feels tight.
It’s not just Jackson I want to protect her from. It’s everything and everyone.
Chase, Olivia, even her own mother.
We need to make sure Olivia hears me loud and clear that we’re never going to happen. Not sex. Not a relationship. Nothing.
Without getting Evan hurt.
Hawk
Damon isn’t happy, but Annie wants to stay the course.
I want Chase to pay for what he did to Annie and Damon, so I’m all in on the revenge plan to take everything from him.
The party on Saturday will take away Chase’s freedom.
Our other plan will cost him his dignity.
We just need to find the right moment to pull the trigger.
He’s lost the girl he wants, but I want it to hurt when he finds out.
Cam did his job and everyone knows about the party. All we have to do is show up and make sure Chase’s parents find out.
I’m waiting outside Annie’s third period class when the bell rings. When she walks out, I wrap my arm around her shoulders, leading her to the doors instead of toward the cafeteria.
“Hawk, what are we doing?” She doesn’t struggle. I love how she’s never really shoved me off her, even when I shouldn’t have been doing this. There was only one time she pushed me away. Back when she wasn’t mine.
“We need to go somewhere we can talk.”
She pauses next to the trash can and throws away three highlighters. I open the door and lead her to our motorcycles.
“Talk?” she asks suspiciously with a small smile.
I want to pull her in and kiss her because I love that she’s as down as we are to fuck. But that’s not the objective today.
Her eyes light up when she sees Damon and Cam ready to ride. Damon holds out her helmet. She goes to him, and he helps her put it on, but she turns to look at me.
“Go on, little devil, ride with Hawk.” Damon pushes her hip, so she comes over to me.
I climb on and she easily slides on behind me. Her arms wrap around me, and she rests her head against my back. Her trust warms me. We start our bikes and take off.
Not the burger joint. Damon has plans, so he wanted somewhere private, where we can talk and not be overheard.
We drive to a park that’s empty. It doesn’t have playground equipment, just green space, so there are never a bunch of kids and moms here. When we stop to get off, Annie laughs.
“A picnic?” She hands me the helmet, and I put it on my bike before taking her hand. Damon has a pack and brings it over to a picnic table.
He takes out the food his chef made. She kisses his cheek, and he smiles.
“I swear your cook is trying to fatten me up.” She takes the eggplant parmigiana.
“We’ll help you burn it off.” Cam sets a red paper flower in front of Evan before he straddles the bench next to her and eats a sandwich. He takes in every inch of her like she’s next on his menu.
She smiles at him and touches his jaw. Her fingers touch the petals on the flower. Something inside me settles and acknowledges this is the way it should always be. At school, on weekends, every fucking night. Just us and our girl. Fuck everyone else.
Damon clears his throat, and everyone shifts our attention to him.
“We need to discuss what’s happening.” Damon sits across from Annie. “Evan is ours and I’m done pretending anything else.”
Annie opens her mouth, maybe to protest, but snaps it shut at the look in Damon’s eyes.
“Chase wants you to back off.” I lean my elbows on the table. “He talked to me before rehearsal yesterday and basically asked me to tell you to fuck off and let him have Annie. Confident he meant me too.”
“Good. He’s nervous. We just need to keep poking until he explodes.
” Damon straightens. “He’s going to be on lockdown after his parents find out about the rager at his house.
We need to figure out why Evan is so important to him.
It can’t be just about fixing his reputation and having an alibi when he’s out partying. ”
Annie watches Damon like there’s something more there now. There’s a softness between them. There’s always been passion, but this is different. We’re different with her. Fuck.
“We need to make sure everyone posts on social media at the party. That should do the trick if he manages to keep it under the radar by cleaning it up or some bullshit.” Cam takes a bite of his sandwich.
“We need to be careful about getting other students in trouble, especially after the bust at Fletcher’s. ”
Cam is big on the party foul. The fact he took that video of Chase weeks ago is a testament to how much he wants to take Chase down. Or prove to Annie how big a sleazeball her boyfriend was.
“I’m not worried about the party. What we really need to talk about is Jackson Riordan.” Damon locks eyes with Annie. She squirms beneath his gaze.
“What bugs me is why now?” Cam asks. “After all this time, if he’s the one who sent the text, why is he coming after you now?”
Annie clears her throat. “It was summer when we lived at those apartments. We were only there for a few weeks. I didn’t wear my uniform around him and didn’t tell him I went to Anteros because I wanted to be a normal girl for once.”
I rub her thigh under the picnic table, and she leans against me.
“When he kissed me, I stopped leaving the apartment. Mom was having some issues too, so she was eager to move. We never really talked about it. She found our house. Mom needed to change phone plans, so we both got new phone numbers. And I never let Jackson know.”
“So you didn’t see Jackson again?” Cam asks.
“I kind of ghosted him after the kiss. So, not until that night at the football game.” She swallows. Her hand slides beneath mine and she laces our fingers together. “He called me pretty girl and asked to sit with me and Mia. Of course, Mia didn’t know our history.”
“And still doesn’t know your history,” I add. “I asked her about him. She gave him her phone to put in his number. Knowing she was your friend, he could have gotten your number then.”
“That makes sense. I got my first unknown message the next day.” She straightens.
Damon clears his throat. “At the football game, when I grabbed you and pulled you under the bleachers…”
“I thought you were Jackson at first.” She ducks her head. “It wasn’t rational. It’s been two years since he kissed me. But my instincts say he’s still after me.”
“If we let everyone know you’re ours, then maybe he’ll back off.” Damon looks determined.