Addison
Ithink Mindy is the only person in this school who doesn’t know about my scandal. Or she’s just really polite and doesn’t mention it. Regardless, I like her and even got her number before she left.
Three friends now?
As Theo locks up the greenhouse, I check my messages.
Dad: How are you doing today, honey? Want to come over for dinner?
Right after his text, there’s one from brother.
Cason: They couldn’t find how Lucy framed you, but I found something even better. Coming over tonight? Dad is mopey and sad because he misses you. Dinner with Dad and revenge for dessert?
I love Cason.
He’s my favorite.
After I shoot Dad a reply confirming I’ll be there, I send one back to Cason.
Me: Did I ever tell you I loved you?
Cason: Don’t be mushy and gross. Sneak me in an energy drink and I’ll take that as my thank you.
Me: Deal.
It’s funny to me that Dad is a cool, relaxed parent, but when it comes to energy drinks, that’s the hill he’s willing to die on “to protect” us.
“I like that smile,” Theo says when he makes his way over to me. “It’s happy. I love seeing you happy.”
I toss my phone into my purse and rove my gaze over him. “My family wants me to come over for dinner. Cason might have some information on Lucy.”
“As much as I wanted you to myself again, I think this’ll be good for you.”
We start walking toward my car and our hands brush a couple of times. I want to take his hand, but someone could be watching.
“I could come over later,” I say when we reach my vehicle and turn toward him. “Finish what we started later.”
His gaze darkens, eyes dropping to my lips. “I would love nothing more than to eat you alive tonight.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a but in there?”
“I don’t want to go too fast,” he murmurs, a frown tugging at his handsome mouth. “I just want to do what’s best for you.”
I take a chance and step closer to him, angling my head up so I can see him better. “Spending time with you is what’s best for me. This thing between us is inevitable. No fighting it, Theo.”
He looks around and when he determines we’re alone, he dips down and presses a quick kiss to my lips. “Come over later and tell me all about your dinner. See you soon, beautiful.”
I watch his cute ass as he strides to the faculty parking lot.
Later won’t come soon enough.
“Here.” I sneak out an energy drink and thrust it at my brother as I close his bedroom door. “Spill.”
Cason smirks at me. He cracks open the can and takes a long gulp before giving me any information. “It’s juicy. Like destroy her life juicy.”
I gape at him, shocked by this revelation. “Really? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
He pulls out his phone and shows me old social media pictures of her and her some girl around her age.
They must have been thirteen or fourteen at the time if I remember what Lucy looked like correctly at that age.
Both girls have Lucy’s red hair and freckles.
One of the pictures has a hashtag of #cousinbesties.
“Okay,” I say, shooting Cason a look of confusion. “This is her cousin.”
He plucks his phone from my grip and then navigates to some other screenshots he took.
The cousin’s name is Ophelia. Ophelia was happy and doing well until about the time the #cousinbesties picture was taken on what appears to be a summer lake trip.
Then, Ophelia’s posts got weird, darker, and eventually stopped altogether.
“What happened to her? Did she die?” My stomach twists with nerves.
“Better,” Cason says with a wicked grin. “She was institutionalized.”
I gape at him. “That’s not good, Cason. Is she okay?”
“She tried to take her own life multiple times. They committed her for her own safety. Once she was out, she was good for a bit, but then the next summer, she went off the rails again. While at the lake, she overdosed on a bottle of her mother’s pills.”
“This is a horrible story,” I tell him, feeling terrible for Ophelia. “Did she die?”
He laughs. My brother has always been a bit of a sadist. “Better. She was institutionalized again.”
“Where is this going?”
“It’s a pattern. The next year, same thing. She gets better until the summer. Each year it happens.”
“Poor girl.” I rub at my temple wondering how all this fits.
“This past summer, though, the pattern broke.”
“Thank God,” I say, relieved for this girl I don’t even know. “I wonder what changed.”
Cason’s eyes twinkle. “She got a girlfriend. A protective one. Let’s just say it didn’t sit well with Lucy.”
I’m starting to get a clearer picture, and I don’t necessarily like it because I can see how it might involve me.
“Ophelia’s girlfriend, someone she met at the facility, went off on her social media about Lucy.” He swipes through his phone and shows me more screenshots.
Basically, Leigh, Ophelia’s girlfriend, made multiple posts only a few weeks ago about what a psychopath Lucy was and even accused her of sexual assault.
“It was just a stupid kiss. Don’t be such a prude.”
But it was more than that. I woke up from my sleepover with her lips on me, fingers probing me beneath my shirt, and hot breath in my ear. At first, I thought I was having a nightmare.
It was Lucy.
Kissing me and fingering my nipple.
I kind of freaked the hell out and she played it off like I was being ridiculous. We never spoke of it again. In fact, I did my best to shove it out of my mind as something silly. Now I’m not so sure.
“You think Lucy did something to Ophelia over the summer? Her own cousin?” I ask, my heart hammering wildly in my chest.
“I do. And whatever it was, it was bad enough to make Ophelia lose it. It explains how, when away from her cousin, she recovered, but when reintroduced to a private setting with her, she would rebound.” Cason flicks the phone screen.
“Now, with Leigh’s posts, I feel like my suspicion is confirmed.
” Then, he turns his probing stare on me.
“Question is, why would Lucy turn on you?”
My face turns beet red and I cut my eyes to the floor. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit. What did that bitch do to you?”
Tears well in my eyes. I shrug my shoulders. “It was stupid.”
Cason sets his phone and drink on the dresser and then makes me sit on the bed beside him. “Tell me. I’m your brother. I have always believed you. I won’t stop now.”
With bile creeping up my throat, I blurt out the sleepover from hell.
By the end of it, Cason’s jaw muscle is ticking, and violence is gleaming in his eyes. Not good. An angry Cason means someone’s life is about to get turned upside down.
“When was this?” he demands.
“A couple months before school ended last spring.”
“It makes sense now, Adds. Think about it,” he says, voice low and angry.
“You sent that picture. An innocent thing on your part. She took it as permission to put the moves on you. When you reacted badly and turned her down, she then saw you as a threat. That her secret would get out. So, what does she do? She sends your picture to your teacher.”
My stomach hurts and my head throbs. “Why do you think she waited until I got back to school to start tormenting me?”
Cason shrugs. “Could have been she just wanted her smear campaign to have more impact. Or, perhaps after Leigh protecting Ophelia over the summer, she was just pissed off and needed an outlet. To feel in control of something.”
“How do we make her stop?” I ask, knowing I’m about to open a big can of worms.
“I have a plan up my sleeve.”
“Should I be scared?”
He bumps his shoulder into mine. “It might get messy, but I won’t do it without your approval.”
“Messy, how?”
“I’ll expose it all on my YouTube channel. Ask questions. Get people talking. Who knows, maybe other people will come forward who are just too scared? Your ex-bestie is a predator. It’s time to put her down.”
I’m feeling lighter by the time I reach Theo’s apartment. Cason loves investigating people and exposing secrets. I’m glad he’s on my team versus the other side. He’s a menace for those who aren’t.
Theo opens the door and I grin at him.
“Hey.”
He grabs my hand and hauls me inside. “Come here, you.”
I fall against his chest and grin up at him. His mouth crashes to mine, kissing me like he’s been waiting an eternity to see me. I run my fingers up his solid chest to his shoulders and then spear them into his dark hair. Kissing him is my new favorite thing.
Our kiss intensifies. He grabs my ass, encouraging me to put my legs around him as he lifts me. I want him to take me to his bedroom, but he stops by the couch.
“Not here,” I breathe against his lips. “Please.”
He’s frozen for far too long. Then, he curses. But I win because he takes me to his room. Once there, he smoothly transitions us onto the bed with me beneath him. His body is strong and big, pressing me deep into his mattress. I could stay like this forever.
“This is dangerous,” he warns. “I want things I have no business wanting with you. Especially so early on in a relationship.”
I nip at his bottom lip and grin at him. “Relationship? What are you saying?”
He kisses me, groaning as his cock grinds against my pussy through our clothes. “You’re mine. My girlfriend or whatever you want to call it.”
“I accept,” I tease, breathing heavily at his intense grinding. “Boyfriend.”
“We’re taking this slow, though.”
“For the record, I hate this idea. We want each other. Why are we delaying what we both want?”
His mouth breaks from mine and then he nips at my jaw before moving down to my neck. “You’re so fucking precious to me, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I tug at his hair. “You’ll hurt me if you deny me what I want.”
He moves his way down to my shirt. I whimper when he places a teasing bite on my breast over my shirt and bra.
There’s too many layers of clothes between us.
He must agree because he pulls away from me long enough to rip off his shirt.
The man has an incredible body, with honed muscles everywhere.
I want to lick him from his happy trail to his mouth.
“Don’t look at me that way,” he growls. “It’ll make me crazy.”
I burst out laughing. “Like I want to lick you all over?”
He groans. “Yes.”
“It’s true. I’m so insanely addicted to you, Theo. You’re the hottest man I’ve ever seen. And the sweetest.”
His brilliant smile warms me to my core. “What did I do to deserve you?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re inside me.”
The transformation from adorable man to ravenous beast is almost comical. I love how I can set him off with my words. Theo Langford deserves all the good things and more. He had to put up with that horrible ex of his.
As he devours me with his starved gaze, I teasingly pull off my shirt. Then, I reach behind me to unhook my bra. Once they’re both gone, I’m feeling a little self-conscious. I start to cover my breasts, and he gives me a sharp shake of his head.
“These pretty tits belong to me now. And I want to see them. Taste them. Rub my cock between them. Fucking worship them.”
Dirty teacher has entered the chat.