Chapter 25
EvanAnn
As I leave Mia to head to second period, a girl pulls another girl closer to her and whispers behind their hands as I pass. This isn’t anything new. Usually it happens when one of the guys is draped over me though.
Which, speaking of... usually Cam meets me to walk me to class, but he’s not here. Odd, but with Jackson out of town and being watched, maybe the guys will be a little more lax in their focus.
I try not to notice the whispers following me down the hallway. I sweep my hand down the back of my skirt just to make sure and glance at my shoes, but Mia would have told me if something was out of place before she let me leave her.
The classroom is mostly empty, so I walk to our seats and glance at Damon’s as I take mine. It will remain empty all week. My heart aches, but I turn and pull out my phone. There’s something I wanted to look up in Othello.
I ignore the background noises around me as the other seats fill in. There’s more chatter than usual though. I glance up to see if the guys are here yet, but it’s still just me so far. Weird. Usually Hawk is here early.
Chase glances toward me briefly before facing front. It’s strange but now that we’re officially nothing, it feels like our relationship didn’t really happen. Which it really didn’t. After all, he wasn’t really committed to me.
We went out once in a while, but nothing serious. He did try a little harder to get into my pants once we were back in school, but was that because of the Devil’s trio’s attention on me?
I release my breath and turn back to my phone and Othello.
“Annie,” Hawk whispers as he takes his seat.
Cam drops into the chair ahead of me and turns with a small red paper flower to give me. Before I can ask where they were, the teacher calls for attention.
Class seems to take forever, but when we’re released, Cam pulls me against him and kisses my temple.
“Morning, goody.”
“Morning, Cam.” I relax into him, feeling a little easier moving down the hallway with him at my side.
Hawk presses his hand against my ass before he peels off for his class.
“Did you have any trouble this morning?” Cam asks.
“Not really.” We’re moving quickly. Everything feels rushed. More rushed than normal, it sets off an alarm in my head. “Is everything okay, Cam?”
Cam releases a breath and glances at me. “Yeah, I just have to meet with someone before my next class.”
I pull away and smile. “Go on, then. I’ll be fine.”
He steps into me and tips my chin up. “Goody,” he chastises.
“We’re at school with hundreds of other students. I’m good. Go on. Do what you have to, and I’ll see you at lunch?” I push his chest. “Go. Class is right there.”
I step away from him as he hovers for a second before giving me a quick grin and disappearing into the crowd.
I shake my head and go to my classroom. Honestly, I forgot what it’s like to have quiet time.
Yes, I still get quiet time at home, but there’s always this buzz of anticipation under my skin as I wait for Damon.
The class is fine. I notice a few girls talking and glancing my way, which is annoying, but whatever. A guy looks at me with a smile that’s not exactly friendly, more suggestive or like he’s seeing more than what I’m showing.
I smooth my skirt down, thankful once again that Mom got me new ones.
When class ends, it’s a rush out to lunch. I go with the flow like I always used to. It’s nice to just be a cog in the machine again. I don’t even think about it as I walk to the salad bar to get my lunch and then outside to our table. We’ve done it every day for weeks.
As I step out, laughter bursts out from Abby’s table. I glance up, but figure it’s not about me. Mia isn’t with them, but Abby and Becca watch me walk by with pleased grins on their faces.
That’s a little alarming. They’ve mostly been ignoring me, but I push it out of my head and sit at the table to wait for Hawk and Cam. Mia comes out the doors without her lunch and zeroes in on me.
Abby laughs again as Mia ignores her and heads my way.
“Oh my god, Evan.” She sits next to me and looks me over. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good?” I say but it comes out with a question.
“I’m sure the guys are on top of this.” Mia nods her head and clicks something on her phone.
My phone buzzes, and I glance at the link she sent me. I don’t do anything immediately because Mia sends me a lot of thirst trap links.
“Have you already seen it?” Mia looks me over again, like maybe I put my outfit on backwards. “No, you wouldn’t be this calm if you had.”
Mia shakes her head and unlocks her phone. She hands it to me with a somber expression.
I wipe my hands and take her phone. She’s got a social media app open. The image posted is of me with Damon talking in the hallway. Obviously not from today.
I shrug and try to hand the phone back to Mia. “It’s not that bad of a picture. A little grainy, but at least they got my good side.”
“Evan, that’s not...” She puts the phone down in front of me and scrolls. Photo after photo of me with the Devil’s trio. Sometimes one of them. Other times two. A few capture all three.
“What is this?” I furrow my brow at the pictures.
She sighs. “Abby sent me the link. It’s a social media page named Hockey Wh*re.”
“Original,” I scoff and turn back to my salad. “Okay, there are pics of me on the internet. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Mia picks up her phone and holds it to her chest. “The pics are kind of stalkery, but they aren’t the worst part.”
I swallow and glance toward her phone. I take a breath and open the link she sent me. The posts with the photos are borderline pornographic. Okay, full on pornographic. They say how they want to use me like the Devil’s trio. What exactly they would do to me and make the guys watch.
I put my hand over my mouth, but I can’t stop reading.
“I figured you’d be happy with three hot guys, EvanAnn.” Abby’s voice pulls me back to the present. “I didn’t figure you’d be so desperate to make up a whole other guy to be obsessed over you.”
“What?” I can’t even fathom what she’s saying. “You think I wrote this?”
She chuckles like I’m beneath her. “Let me guess. You have a stalker?” She uses air quotes around stalker.
“And he’s so desperate to have you, he made a social media account all about you.
Please,” she scoffs. “I don’t know how you’re keeping the Devil’s trio on the hook, but they’ll grow bored of your innocent act soon. ”
My insides are numb.
“Did you do this?” Mia stands and gets in Abby’s face.
Abby laughs and holds her hands up. “Why would I spend any amount of time on someone as trashy as EvanAnn?”
“Fuck off, Abby.” Mia pushes her.
Abby straightens and glares at Mia. “Know your place.”
“It’s right here between you and Evan.” Mia glares at Abby. “I tried to be your friend, but fuck, it’s so much fucking work keeping your ego fed. It’s a wonder you’ve ever had a boyfriend. They’d have to be a sycophant to please you.”
“You know, I’ve been nice to you, Mia, but I don’t have to be.” Abby steps up into Mia’s face. “I’m not like Olivia. I know how to bite.”
Hawk strides over to where I am, and Abby turns to him. “Hey, Hawk.”
He ignores her and sits down next to me. He glances at my phone screen and flinches. “We’ve been trying to get it shut down, Annie.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” I ask softly.
“Maybe they thought you’d like it.” Abby looks me over like I’m beneath her again.
Hawk stands and crowds Abby. “Go away, Baker. No one wants you here. If you talk to Annie about anything other than classwork, I’ll make your life hell.”
Abby smirks. “But I look so good in glitter.”
“Go,” his voice is quiet, but deadly.
She seems to take the hint this time and giving me an evil little smile, she walks back over to her table.
“I don’t think she’s behind this.” Mia sits on the other side of me at the table. “As much as I hate her, this is too much work for her, and she’s seriously allergic to work. But then again, she does have money and access to a lot of people who are really smart. She could be using one of them.”
“Whoever is doing this has way too much information and access.” Hawk runs a hand over his hair before sitting beside me and taking my hand. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. With everything going on, we were hoping to let you know it was taken down.”
“Is that what Cam’s doing?”
Hawk nods. “Actually, he’s talking to Damon’s guy now, so hopefully we’ll know whether or not he sold out. And we need to double check security. All the photos on the website are PG.”
A shiver of fear runs through my center. If they had access to Damon’s cameras, that would be a catastrophe.
“We have someone checking to make sure there aren’t any videos out there,” Hawk says quietly next to my ear. “If there are any, we’ll take them down and clean up Damon’s cameras.”
“Have you told Damon?” I turn to Hawk.
He gives me a short nod.
“He can’t come home.” I grab Hawk’s wrist. “He needs to stay there.”
“And he will, Annie.” Hawk kisses me softly. “He’ll want eyes on Jackson, and he has them there.”
I release the pressure that had been trying to suck me under. I won’t be the reason he doesn’t follow his dream. It won’t be me that ruins his future.
Damon
There’s a routine to this life that I like. It’s similar to the routines I built for myself. Workout, eat, class, eat, class, practice, eat, workout. Our schedule is based on our roommate’s, but mine had a bit too much to drink on Sunday night and decided to skip class.
Axel shakes his head when I show up at his door. “If Ivan keeps up this shit, he’s going to be off the team. Coach is serious when it comes to class and practice.”
I actually like Axel better than Ivan, but unfortunately, that means I’m also with Jackson most of the day. We’re just leaving a freshman seminar when my phone dings. I glance at it and see a message from Cam.