Chapter 17
Hawk
I push Damon into the nearest men’s bathroom and check the stalls for stragglers.
“What the fuck?” I glare at Damon. I’ve never seen Annie crumple before. No amount of pressure has broken her, but Damon seems to hold the fucking key to make her small. And she’s struggling from what happened this morning.
Damon texted to let us know we’d be responsible for Annie today, that something happened.
Damon runs his hand through his hair. “I can’t go to Crowne Mawr. I’m not going to leave. Heather’s getting fucking texts from an anonymous texter. They fucking set us up.”
I lean against the sink and watch him pace. If I’m going to have any chance to fix this, I need to know what I’m working with. “What happened?”
Damon stops and lifts his gaze to mine. “My dad walked in on Evan and me in bed.”
My eyes widen. I knew they’d fought, but Annie wasn’t saying anything. At least not to Cam. And Damon doesn’t communicate. All we knew was Annie looked fucking miserable, and Damon was being a cold bastard.
“We were asleep,” he adds.
“Okay. So the parents know. A bit earlier than Annie’s timeline, but that doesn’t explain why you look two seconds from dropping her, and she looks two seconds from crying or yelling at you.
” I run my hand down my face. “Seriously, I’m done watching Annie cry.
Swear to god, I’ll fucking deck you if you’re the reason she cries. ”
His eyes narrow on me. “You think I like any of this?”
“Then what—”
“She fucking ratted me out to my dad.” He balls his fists and looks for a target but decides against breaking his fucking hand. I was not looking forward to grabbing him before he did that. I’d likely become the target.
“I’m sure there’s more to it than that. What happened?” I blow out a breath.
“I told Heather it was her fault Evan was mine.” Damon turns and his eyes burn.
“Evan didn’t tell Heather that fucker left her out in the woods, alone.
She didn’t tell her mom Chase cheated on her.
She only said they broke up. So Heather thinks I’m a fucking rebound and that Evan is looking for solace with the closest dick she can find—like her fucking mother does.
It’s like she doesn’t know her own fucking daughter. Because she doesn’t.”
“Damon, you need to calm down.”
“Fuck that. Evan told my dad Chase was my hit and run.”
I cross my arms and look at my feet. “What did you expect?”
“That she’d keep her fucking mouth shut.” Damon flings his hands down. “Fuck. I can’t leave. Someone wanted us to get caught. They want her exposed. Alone.”
I don’t disagree with Annie. Maybe the method of delivery lacked finesse, but Adam Storm has always been on Damon’s team, whether Damon chooses to acknowledge that or not.
“You have to go, Damon.” I step away from the sinks and drop my arms. “This is your shot. You can’t miss it again.”
He runs his hand through his hair, and I can see the wheels turning in his brain. He’ll only make her hurt more if he stays. Part of him will justify it. That she deserves it. She’s strong, but she’ll break under the weight.
“You and Annie are going to shatter each other if you don’t get some space.” I shake my head. “You’ll only keep hurting each other if you don’t fucking leave. Cam and I can take care of her while you go and do what you do best, prove that you’re the right choice for their team.”
Damon looks like he’s going to argue, but fuck that. I’m right about this. And he’s not going to break the best thing we’ve ever had. The girl and relationship we’re willing to change our whole futures for to keep.
“You love her. What you do next could make or break the two of you. It could break all of us. Focus on hockey and let Annie focus on her play. Do what you two do best. Ignore the problem for a while. Watch your videos of her and tell us all what you’re doing.
Clear your head and figure out where we go from here.
” I clasp my hand on his shoulder and lower my head like a charging bull.
“Don’t fuck this up for us. We love her too, and I don’t want to have to make a choice between you and her. ”
He takes in a deep breath and argues, “She’s vulnerable.”
“She’s a survivor. And we’re here. You aren’t the only one looking out for her.” I squeeze his shoulder. “You two are stronger together, but right now your emotions are too clouded with anger. She’s still the girl you went to sleep with last night. The girl you love. Our future.”
He runs his hand through his hair, and some of the wildness leaves his eyes. “We need to find out what texts Heather has been getting.”
“Cam and I will get on that. Annie won’t go anywhere without one of us at her side.”
The tension drains from him. His voice is low and a little broken. “What if I can’t forgive her?”
I smile because he’s probably already halfway there. “You will. The real question is, how will you convince her to forgive you?”
EvanAnn
Hawk and Damon come back in after history class starts. My heart aches, but I ignore Damon. I take notes even though my hand hurts. It’s not that bad anymore. I looked it over this morning and decided not to rebandage it.
It’s healing. I also had a few new bruises this morning from last night. It feels bittersweet right now and like it was so long ago. This morning gutted me.
I glance up at Hawk, and he smiles reassuringly. I avoid looking at Damon. Those cold eyes are like knives to my heart, and I don’t know that I can take the bleeding without yelling at him more. He’s determined to ruin what we have. Just like he does everything else.
When the bell rings for lunch, Hawk comes around the table and draws me against him, heading outside instead of toward the cafeteria.
I don’t glance behind me to see if Damon is following.
I also don’t ask where we’re going. I don’t want to deal with other people seeing the cracks in our foundation.
Hawk stops at his locker and takes my books from me. He grabs his spare helmet, but before I can take it, Damon holds mine out without a word. I take my helmet, but avoid looking at him.
“Come on, let’s get some lunch and talk.” Hawk takes my hand and leads me out to the bikes. Cam waits on his motorcycle for us.
I climb on behind Hawk and hold on. I close my eyes and try to remember last night.
To hold on to that feeling because this morning sucked.
Last night we were all together and it was fun and thrilling and everything I could ever want in a relationship.
I didn’t know how fragile the thing we were building was. How fragile Damon and I were.
We ride for about ten minutes and then pull into an Indian restaurant. Cam helps me with my helmet and wraps his arm around my shoulders to lead me inside. He puts me in the booth before he slides in next to me.
“Chin up, goody.” Cam presses a kiss to my cheek. “I’ve got you.”
Hawk sits across from me. Damon is next to him, looking away from me. Hawk and Cam seem determined to hold this together. Good, because I can’t do it on my own.
Once our order is in, Hawk clears his throat. “We already know someone’s out to get Annie, but Heather’s getting texts too.”
He tells Cam about the reason we got caught, and how Mom said she’s getting anonymous texts.
Cam scrubs a hand over his face and shakes his head. “Jackson makes sense, but who does he know at our school who would deliver that rose? No one saw who put it there.”
“Unless it was just a coincidence and someone else planted it.” I fiddle with the straw in my water, trying to focus on the conversation and not the emotions swirling inside me. “Maybe someone knows about Jackson and wanted to prove a point. Maybe it’s a girl who wants one or all of you.”
It’s not a ridiculous theory. There can be more than one thing happening at a time. And the rose could just be throwing us off. Whoever gave it to me may not even know about Jackson and just used the term pretty girl for whatever fucked up reason they thought of.
“Or he’s not working on his own.” Hawk studies me. “There might be a connection, and I just haven’t figured it out yet. There’s something we’re missing.”
“Evan can’t be left alone.” Damon’s gaze darts between them, but not me. “I’m not leaving unless I know you two have her.”
“For fuck’s sake, you aren’t the only one protecting me. You aren’t leaving me alone. You have to go,” I say. His gaze flicks to me, and for a moment our eyes lock and clash. “This is your opportunity. Don’t use me as an excuse to fuck this up.”
“Whoever is after you knows too much.” Damon leans back in the booth and looks out over the restaurant. “They found out about Evan sleeping in my bed. That can’t be common knowledge.”
“There are still cameras in Annie’s room?” Hawk asks. Of course there are.
“They’re secure.” Damon shakes his head. “No one else can access them.”
“Are we sure?” Cam looks at Damon. “You don’t think your nerd can be out-nerded? He build the wall around your server. Someone else could probably tear it down.”
Damon chews on that for a moment. Even though he isn’t paying attention to me, somehow I know he’s aware of my gaze. That muscle ticking in his jaw gives him away.
“Or maybe your nerd found a higher bidder.” Hawk drops it like a bomb ready to explode, because anyone can be bought. For the right price. That’s the problem with outsourcing.
“It would explain how they knew I wasn’t in bed last night,” I say. “Not that I’m ever in that bed.”
“What about your staff?” Cam asks.
“Someone could have noticed Annie’s bed is always made,” Hawk says. It would make sense. “I don’t know how else someone would know about you two sharing a bed. The only proof is inside the house. So it’s either your nerd or the staff.”
“Or someone could have been guessing.” Cam leans back and rubs his jaw. “It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to put together that if the two of you live together that you’re probably fucking in the house and might share a bed.”
“Lucky fucking guess,” I mutter.