Chapter 3
EvanAnn
With a full belly and a light heart, I head up to bed after taking some pain meds and getting a fresh ice pack. The burning pain has faded to almost nothing, but Mom insisted on the meds. Just in case.
I didn’t really explain any more about the breakup or Chase to her. Or why Hawk was holding my hand. A few times I thought Mom might ask, but then she didn’t. I don’t want to tell her about the guys or why Chase and I broke up. That he was cheating on me and everyone knew except me.
It’s embarrassing. I still don’t know if she’d move my room away from Damon’s if she knew about us. It wouldn’t really change anything. It’s not like she has a nanny cam watching my every move. Only Damon does that.
But there’s a possibility she’d want to move out to get me away from Damon if she knew.
At least Chase can’t weaponize my mother’s ignorance about our breakup against me now. The rose? Pretty sure Mom thinks it was an accident of some sort. Even the doctor didn’t seem overly concerned. Just some irritant and a reminder to be careful picking up thorny roses.
They don’t know about the texts or the car. There’s no reason for them to be suspicious. I’m hoping the guys have something. It seems obvious that it’s from Jackson, but maybe it’s too obvious?
My head still feels a little fuzzy.
I walk into my room and hear voices through the bathroom. I’m already in pajamas. My pulse increases and warmth builds inside me just knowing they’re near. Locking my door, I walk through to Damon’s room.
“Hey, baby girl.” Hawk holds his hand out to me, and I go to him, letting him draw me down onto his lap. Cam reaches over and takes my injured hand delicately. He looks over the bandages like he can tell if everything was done correctly.
“Goody.” He lifts my fingers to his lips and kisses my fingertips delicately, one by one. A little shiver of awareness rolls down my spine.
My guys are all here. I can breathe.
I turn to look at Damon sitting at his desk. His expression is closed off, but I can tell he’s angry. Not at me, but for me. His love shines in his eyes and fills me with warmth.
“It was capsaicin,” he says. “On the rose. It was covered with chili pepper oil. The same thing they use in pepper spray.”
I look at my fingers. They’re considerably less swollen now than at the clinic. Chili pepper oil explains the burning. It seems so innocuous. Maybe the cuts made it worse? If you touch your eyes after touching peppers, it burns. Same concept with an open wound?
“There was a message on your desk. Did you notice it?” Cam asks.
I shake my head and rest it against Hawk’s shoulder. Once the pain started, the world could have ended around me and I wouldn’t have noticed. My head is heavy and I feel more tired than I did a few minutes ago.
I struggle to stay focused on what we’re trying to figure out. Someone wanted me to hurt. Who wants to hurt me? Jackson? I didn’t think he wanted to cause me pain, but those texts were aggressive. Finishing what he started?
A shiver crawls down my spine.
Even if it was him, how did he get into the school without being seen? Especially when not many students were there today.
A stranger in the building would have been noted by someone. Jackson isn’t the type of guy who can hide in a crowd. He’s tall and built like my guys. I can’t imagine him sneaking in without being spotted.
“It read, Enjoy your men, pretty girl. They’ll only leave you burned.” Cam rubs his hand over my knee to comfort me but also like he can’t resist touching me. I put my hand over his, and he threads our fingers together. The need to be connected is mutual.
“Jackson,” I say softly. The note’s words send a chill through me as I consider them. The author definitely burned me. “He calls me pretty girl, but how would he have gotten into rehearsal?”
“He could have someone at our school working for him or with him,” Cam says. “He doesn’t have money, but he has some influence. At least people might think he does because of the school he attends and his hockey record.”
“What do we know about Brandt Stanwell?” Damon leans forward with his hands clasped between his knees.
“Brandt?” I ask, a little confused and kind of sleepy.
It’s like all the energy just leaked out of me.
I try to force myself to make sense of this train of thought.
The other play rehearsal was happening at the same time today.
They had the smaller theater room. So, Brandt would have been at the school. But what does he have to do with this?
Someone came after me hard. If anyone can figure out who it was, it should be the four of us.
Right now, I’m safe, and Hawk is so warm. Everything in me just wants to curl up against him and go to sleep. But I also want to be present for this conversation.
“Brandt’s got money and connections,” Cam says.
It almost sounds like he’s reading a file instead of pulling it from his memory.
“An ant. Director of The Crucible. He doesn’t make waves.
Attends parties every now and then. Thinks he’s the shit because of his famous parents and will tell anyone within earshot who his father is.
But mostly, he does whatever it takes to win.
Overall, I haven’t heard anything too salacious about him. ”
“Would he go this far to sabotage Evan?” Damon’s words are fading.
Sabotage? That’s ridiculous. This is clearly Jackson from the note, and it didn’t do anything except make me miss one rehearsal.
Definitely not sabotage level. Besides, why would Brandt try to sabotage me?
He already knows so many more industry professionals than I do.
My eyelids are growing heavy. I need to pay attention.
But I’m so tired, and the pain meds are making everything fuzzy around the edges.
“If it was something he wanted, maybe. It’s questionable.
His family has connections. He’s going to make it one way or the other.
He’s in the fall showcase and there’s an opportunity attached to it.
But he’s already set for success. The win won’t matter in the long run.
What would he really get from hurting Evan?
” Cam brushes his hand over my hair, and a smile tugs at my lips. “She needs sleep.”
“I have to go home.” Hawk shifts me on his lap. I snuggle into him. “Both my parents are there and want to pretend to be a family. This morning Dad said we needed to talk.”
I open my eyes. When did I close them?
“Mine too.” Cam stands. “Or not exactly the same, but Dad wants a status report on my studying and grades, so kind of the same.”
When Damon lifts me against him, I wrap my arms and legs around him and rest my head against his chest, inhaling his earthy scent and letting my whole body relax into him. Crazy as it is, he’s my safe space.
Maybe he coerced me into being his, but now he’s mine.
“I’ve got her.” His words burrow into my heart and make a little home there.
I don’t open my eyes as he walks with me to the door and locks it after they leave.
I mumble my goodbyes at some point, but I don’t even know if they’re still here when I do.
I wake up on his bed a little disoriented.
When I try to turn, I’m drawn in closer to a body.
My face is pressed against his warm chest and I release my breath.
“Go back to sleep, little devil.”
My mind feels foggy. I try to wake up to think clearly, but the room is dark, and he’s so warm beneath me. There’s something he was talking about. Something I needed to ask. I want to understand his reasoning.
Oh, yeah...
“Do you really think Brandt is involved in what happened?” I ask.
Damon releases his breath and rubs his hand over my back. “He mentioned both Chase and Olivia at the party. It’s like he was whispering in their ears about what they needed to do this year. Meaning you and me, respectively. The way he was talking felt like he was trying to get into my head too.”
“Mmm, sounds like Iago.”
“Iago?” He rubs my back soothingly.
“The manipulative character in Othello who causes everyone’s death.” I release my breath, not really thinking about what I’m saying. “That’s who Chase wanted to be. His machinations are what drive the plot. His jealousy over Cassio...” I sigh, and the bed drags me into it.
“Sleep, little devil.” Damon pulls me in tight against his warmth, keeping me safe.
I touch his face with my good hand and pat his cheek. “You’re a good boyfriend.”
He chuckles and takes my hand to rest it on his chest. His finger trails over my fingers and the ring.
“You moved your ring.” Damon’s voice is soft.
I lift my left hand in front of my face. Not that I can see it in the dark, but I imagine the weak light casting shadows glints off it. “My right hand was swelling. Seemed like the thing to do at the time. I could move it back now, probably.”
“You don’t need to, little devil.” He catches my hand and brings it to his lips, kissing my knuckle above the ring. “I like my claim on you.”
My heart spins happy and warm as I burrow against him. “I like your claim on me too.”
Hawk
I walk into the kitchen unclear on what to expect. The last time both of my parents had been home at the same time, the house felt cold and hostile. The silence was like a presence hanging over all of us.
But Dad said they wanted to talk this morning.
Part of me hopes this is it. When they stop everything and figure out their shit, divorce and find something happy in their lives.
I’m not naive enough to believe they should continue being together just for me.
If they don’t love each other anymore, it’s time to let go.
We’ll figure it out, but avoiding each other isn’t helping anything.
I don’t normally seek my parents out when they’re home. We text so they know what I’m up to, and I know where they are usually. It’s not like they completely neglect me, but I’m self-sufficient.