Chapter 7
EvanAnn
When I get out of my last class of the day, Keira walks with me to the black box theater for rehearsal. Mia leans beside the door waiting for us. It’s getting a little frustrating being constantly babysat, but it’s better than the guys following me around and missing their classes.
“Everything good?” she asks with a look at my hand.
“No more pain meds.” I give her my audition smile.
A year ago, I would have been happy with all this attention, so I let the smile sink in and soften.
My friend is worried about me. “The pain is more manageable now. Just a little sore from all the cuts and unintentional bumping that happens during the day.”
“Any word on who might have left the rose?” Mia cocks her head a little.
“No.” Nothing new, unfortunately. We really don’t expect anyone to own up to it.
“Mia!” Abby draws our attention as she walks over with a grin. “I didn’t know you had rehearsal tonight too.”
Abby tosses her long, dark hair over her shoulder and glances at me like she didn’t notice me standing here. Her face goes blank as her dark eyes flick up and down me with disdain before dismissing me.
I release my breath, grateful, because I don’t really want to play nice with her right now. And if she tried to include me in the conversation, I’d have to smile and be polite when I really want to start a catfight.
Hawk fucked her. I knew Chase obviously fucked her, but I was aware of it going into my relationship with him.
But the guys and I didn’t talk about exes or girls they slept with.
I haven’t really thought about all the girls they’ve been with until lunchtime.
Now I can’t help but wonder who else my guys have been with.
Which other girls know what they’re like in bed? Or how it feels to have their attention focused solely on her pleasure? Is it possible to be jealous of the people they were with before me? Is that really the person I want to be?
“Anyway.” Abby flicks her hair over her shoulder and focuses on Mia. “I wanted to see if you could come over to dinner at my house tonight. After rehearsal, of course.”
Mia’s gaze narrows slightly on Abby like she’s aware Abby’s trying to make me jealous. Well, congrats, it’s working. I haven’t even asked Mia over for dinner, but Mia hasn’t offered either.
It was awkward when she didn’t know I was living with Damon. But she knows now, so should I?
What about sleepovers? Damon’s going to be gone next week. Maybe she could come and stay with me one night. Tomorrow night after dinner, the guys and I are supposed to talk about the plan for next week. I could mention that option.
“That’s nice. I’ll see what my aunt says.” Mia doesn’t sound thrilled, which gives me a little hope. It’s hard to not be at least friendly with other people in our school. You never know who will make or break your career based on their experience with you in high school.
“I figured you’d have time since your bestie is busy with her men.” Abby’s gaze flicks to me with disgust. When I don’t react, she adds, “You know they’re just using you for sex.”
I chuckle. “That’s cute. Hate to tell you, but I’m using them for sex too.”
Abby rolls her eyes. “Whatever. It’s not like you guys are all going to get married. It’s not even legal. They’ll want girlfriends of their own someday.”
“Okay.” I shrug and turn to go into the theater room.
“You should enjoy it while it lasts,” Abby calls after me.
I pause with the door open and turn back. I give her a gloating smile, because they’re mine now. “I will.”
Rehearsal is the normal length today. After a couple hours, we take a break. It’s right around when hockey practice ends, so Hawk joins us. I nod at him from my desk as I look over the script and my notes, trying to make sure I’m not missing any important notes to give the actors tonight.
He sets his things down and comes over. It’s not exactly easy to ignore him. I could, but I really don’t want to. I blow out a breath, pull my focus from the script in front of me to meet his green eyes, and arch an eyebrow expectantly.
“Come on, Annie.” He holds his hand out to me. He’s got that determined look on his face, which means he thinks I need something. A little sizzle races through my veins, but I try to cool it. What I need to do is focus.
I glance at his hand, but don’t move.
He smirks and crouches next to my chair. “How long is the break?”
I glance at my phone. Long enough to eat if the cast needs to. He grins when he catches my expression.
“A long one then. You’ve been working all day, Annie. Take a breather with me.” He stands and offers again. “I promise not to take all your precious time.”
With a reluctant sigh and a hot burst of anticipation, I scoot my chair back and take his hand. He leads me into the hallway where some of the cast stand around looking at their phones or eating. They glance up as the door opens to see who came out and then return to what they were doing.
Hawk draws me down the hallway and around the corner. No one is here.
Shivers curl around my spine as he leads me to a closet and opens the door. With a smile, he tugs me inside, turns on the light, and locks the door behind us.
I swallow and look up to meet his green eyes. He’s studying me closely. When he slides his hand around the nape of my neck, I gasp in a breath at the rush of tingles sweeping through me.
Every fucking time.
Maybe I could use a little of what he’s offering.
“You look stressed out, baby girl.” He pulls me in tighter to him and strokes the corner of my jaw with his thumb. He tips my chin up so he can search my eyes, like he can see inside me. “What’s wrong?”
I’ve put Abby out of my head for the most part to focus on rehearsal. But now, with Hawk looking at me, I can’t help but wonder if he looked at her this way too. Did he ever care about her? How her day went? Or was it just a physical thing?
“I...” Fuck. I close my eyes.
“What is it, Annie?”
I open my eyes, and his are concerned. I put my hand over his heart and feel the steady beat against my palm, letting that warmth fill my cold veins. “It’s stupid.”
“If it’s bothering you, it isn’t stupid.”
I look to the side. “I can’t stop thinking about you fucking Abby.”
He exhales and turns my chin so our eyes meet again. The green is soft. “You knew we weren’t virgins.”
My cheeks heat. “I didn’t care when I was just using you to explore sex.”
The words slip out, and my heart thumps hard against my breastbone. Now, I love them, and that makes me so much more vulnerable to them. If they leave me, it will cut me so fucking deep. If they cheated on me, I’d be crushed.
His chuckle is a little dark when he backs me up against the wall. His hand covers mine over his heart. He brings his forehead down to rest against mine. For a moment, he’s quiet. His breath and mine are the only sounds in the closet. His heartbeat steady against my palm.
“Do you feel that, baby girl?” His voice is confident and soft. “Do you feel my heartbeat?”
“Yes,” I whisper back, feeling him surround me. That hint of citrus and parchment fills my nose. His heart rate increases, and mine does the same.
“I’ve fucked other girls. The sex didn’t mean anything to me.
They didn’t mean anything to me.” Hawk cradles my head in his hands and his lips brush against mine.
“You are my everything. My heart only beats for you, baby girl. It belongs to you. No one else has had it before. No one else will ever make me feel the way you do.”
My heart warms.
“Hawk, I love you.” Each word brushes my lips against his. I want to sink into him, give in to that need to be claimed by him, to prove that he’s mine and I’m his.
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.” He kisses me, gentle, claiming.
I keep my hand on his heart, feeling the way it races against my palm as we explore each other’s mouths like it’s the first time. Like we have forever to be in this moment. Time ceases to exist as we just kiss.
His phone alarm goes off and he pulls back, taking it out of his pocket.
“Time’s up, baby girl.” He smiles and brushes his thumb against my lips. “Did you get what you needed?”
I nod and step into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. My ear rests against his beating heart, and I breathe this moment in. Warmth spreads through me at the thought of his love, knowing I’m theirs and they’re mine.
That’s all that matters now.
Cam
Officially off house arrest, I stay at school after practice. Hawk went into rehearsal while I snuck into the back of the other theater room. Almost all of the cast is on stage. In the audience, Becca Anderson looks up from the magazine she’s flipping through.
She arches a perfectly trimmed and shaded eyebrow at me. “You done with your little freak? Need a real woman to satisfy your urges?”
I sit a few chairs down from her and put my feet up on the seat in front of me. I smirk. “Nah. Checking out my girl’s competition. For the play.”
Becca lets out an undignified snort. “Whatever. Just be quiet or Brandt will yell at me again.”
I glance toward the stage and then at Becca. “Are you in time-out?”
She laughs softly. “He didn’t like my energy tonight.” She glances toward him and flips off his back. “He’s such a little nepo-baby.”
“You’re not wrong.” I stretch out and watch as Brandt walks Abby through the scene step by step. She doesn’t look impressed.
When his back is turned to her, she glances over at Becca and makes a face.
“So, no love for the director over here then?” I ask. Everyone in Evan’s cast treats her with respect, because she treats them with respect.
“Hardly.” Becca rolls her eyes. “But what are you going to do? He’s got loads of contacts at his beck and call. EvanAnn is obviously the better director, but they just tote her around as the scholarship kid.”
“They?” I keep my tone politely interested.
She waves her hand vaguely. “Them. They. Like, the people at the school who matter.”
I nod. “So you’re in here hoping to get in good with Brandt for the potential lift he may give to your career.”
“Duh.” She looks down at her magazine and flips the page. “At least we’re past the point of having to do other stuff to get a role.”
My lips tighten. I’m kind of grateful Evan is on this side of the camera. I don’t know how I’d handle it if someone made her uncomfortable on a set. But I can guarantee it wouldn’t end well.
“EvanAnn doesn’t need to worry. She’s got it made.
This school is determined to make her something.
To have her come back in twenty years and give some grand speech about how she couldn’t have made it without this program.
Some of us aren’t so lucky.” Becca frowns at the page in front of her.
“We’re just here to keep the lights on.”
That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve heard. “You’ve got a shot. It’s not like your parents won’t help you out.”
Becca scoffs and lifts her blue eyes to mine. “I look like a thousand other wannabe actresses. I’m not even the lead in plays at school. I’ll be lucky to be cast as an extra in the future. Hot girl at party number thirteen.”
She flips the page, clearly dismissing me. Which is fine, because I’m here to find out what I can about Brandt. Damon doesn’t like the guy. I don’t know him well enough to have feelings about him. He definitely uses who his father is like a sharply honed weapon.
A few girls dated him because he said he’d introduce them to his father. I’m sure they did more than date him for that opportunity.
Brandt yells at the cast to reset and turns to Becca. “You too, Becca. Bring a better energy.”
Becca sighs loudly, clearly put out, and drops her magazine on the chair next to her before walking over to the set with a practiced smile. The stage lights are on, and it’s mostly dark over here, but Brandt squints at me.
I don’t give a fuck if he knows who I am or that I’m here to watch him.
For all I know, he or one of these fuckers put the rose on Evan’s desk Sunday. She may be doing better, but fuck them. It was meant to hurt her. I still haven’t figured out why. It’s bothering me.
If Brandt wanted to sabotage her, hurting her on Sunday didn’t do that. It took her out of rehearsal for a few hours, but she has an assistant director who took over. They didn’t lose any time. It didn’t hurt her production, which might have been a motive for Brandt.
But it hurt her.
So who wants to hurt her? Abby? Chase’s ex fuck buddy/girlfriend. Becca? She doesn’t really have a motive, but anyone in this play might be bitter about not getting a part in Evan’s play. Bitter enough to hurt the girl who made the decision to cast someone else?
Maybe, but then why wait so long? And what would be the point? The rose wasn’t a great revenge plot for someone hoping to hurt the director. But the boy she ran from? The boy who took her first kiss? The boy who watched us get what he couldn’t have?
That boy makes sense.
She hurt him because she didn’t want him. So he hurt her to prove that he can get to her. That he can make her hurt physically while he hurts emotionally. Does Jackson think he’s in love with Evan? Or is it just obsession? The one who got away? The one he’s always wanted?
Damon, who gets everything, has her. I’m not blind to the way Jackson hates Damon. Damon supposedly has everything. Money, a good school, hockey.
And Evan.
I’ll stay and see what I can pick up about Brandt besides the fact he’s a huge asshole. But the rose was a message. A message to us that as long as she’s with us, he’ll hurt her.