Chapter 27 #2
Gavin who sat on the row in front of him was watching just as little of the movie as he was. Every time Ebony shifted or made a sound he was looking back at her. Cameron could see the worry and frustration in his expression.
Cameron pulled out his phone. It was far too loud to talk so he typed out a text and showed it to her, the soft glow of his phone lighting her tired eyes. She was like a flower wilting with every passing second.
"You should go ie down. Let me take you upstairs."
Ebony turned to him and again he could see the drained smile in her eyes despite the mask. She shook her head and waved a hand. He could practically hear the unspoken "I'm fine."
Determined he typed again.
"You look like you’re about to pass out. We can go upstairs and you can lie down. I'll sit with you until you fall asleep."
She had barely read the message when she started coughing again. The deep cough wracked her body and she leaned forward in her seat.
Worried, Cameron snapped the cap off the bottle of water and handed it to her but she was too consumed by her coughs to take it.
"That's it," the voice cut through the noise of the film and Gavin appeared at her side.
Bending down, he scooped her up out of the chair into his arms. Someone paused the film and everyone watched as he carried her out of the room.
Cameron barely heard the exclamations around him, his attention fixed on her instead.
The messy bun that had tried to hold back her curls lost the good fight, sending her hair spilling down.
Cameron hesitated for a beat, unsure what to do.
Finally, he got up and followed them out the room. He could've sworn he heard Ethan call out to him but Cameron ignored him. In the den, he saw a glimpse of Gavin as he took the curving stairs up. Cameron moved to follow but Taylor stepped in his way.
Jaw grinding in frustration, Cameron glared at Taylor. "What the hell do you think-"
Taylor cut him off, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know Gavin locks the door to the upstairs during parties. Besides, he wouldn't have let you go up to her room."
"Let me," Cameron repeated, the words scraped out of his throat. Like he needed Gavin’s permission.
Taylor continued to regard him with the same quietly appraising look. "Sometimes I wonder if you want Ebony as much as you want to one-up Gavin."
Cameron didn’t answer, he didn't trust himself to. But the question remained with him for the rest of the night, burrowing beneath his skin like a splinter.
Cameron pulled his car into a parking lot and parked it. Staring down the street in the direction of the Rosebank house, he imagined Ebony in her room. It had been a few days and she hadn't been to school—neither Rosebank sibling had.
Of fucking course, right? If Ebony wasn't there Gavin sure as hell wasn't going to show up. Not that it mattered, both of them were so far ahead on their classwork they could skip the rest of the year and still graduate at the top of the class.
Sometimes they were sickeningly perfect.
Rubbing his head at the forming headache, he propped his phone on the steering wheel and video called Ebony. The call connected on the second ring.
Cameron blinked at the image before him. It was the right background. The soft off-white walls and blush-pink tufted headboard told him it was the right number but he was staring at Gavin—a shirtless Gavin.
Leaning against the headboard with earbuds in his ears, Gavin smiled back into the camera. "Hey Cam, what's up?"
Cameron was tired of the games. Not wasting time on pretense, he leveled Gavin a bladed look. "Where is she?"
Gavin tilted his head, his smile never wavering as he considered him for a moment. His smile widened just before he tilted the camera downward.
Cameron sucked in a breath. The image on his screen felt no different than Gavin punching him in the stomach. Lying right next to Gavin was Ebony, sleeping soundly in a black bonnet, her face angled away from Gavin. She looked so unguarded.
When he had slept next to her in the hotel that one night and never got to see her sleep. They had been so tired they had both fallen asleep instantly only to be woken by the smug bastard who was now staring back at him wearing that fucking smile.
Cameron tried to hide his fury but he knew Gavin could see it. The way his demon blue eyes lit up with vicious pleasure told him so.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he rasped, his voice heavy with emotion. "With the both of you?"
Gavin stared at him, the moment stretching between them. He gave Cameron a look that resembled a wolf sizing up its prey, inhuman yet curious. "Let me ask you something instead, why keep fighting when the ending has already been written? She’s mine. Always was. Always will be."
Cameron hung up the phone, his hands shaking with pent-up fury. His breath came hard and uneven until the rage tore free in a bellow that rattled through the car, leaving his throat raw and his voice hoarse.
She had been withdrawing for weeks now. Why hadn't he seen it?
He hit the wheel. Again. And again. And again, ignoring the sting of it with each strike. Finally, when the pain seeped in, he stopped and sat back in his seat and let out a bitter laugh. Gavin was winning again.
He closed his eyes, thinking of Taylor's words. He was right.
Guilt clawed at him for even thinking it.
He stared at the image of her on his phone. It was a selfie of him and Ebony on the boat. Both smiling ear to ear like the world was theirs. She was so fucking beautiful it hurt.
"Fuuuuck." The word tore out of him deep and guttural.
All that spoiled bastard did was win, even when he shouldn’t be.
Everything always went Gavin’s way with disgusting ease.
While Cameron worked hard to maintain his grades, excel in sports, and make his parents proud, that bastard just waltzed in and took the glory.
It was Cameron’s fucking picture that hung on banners and posters around town with the other top athletes of Stardust High.
He was the one business owners and customers alike waved at and patted on the back with words of encouragement before swim meets.
He was playing by all the rules, goddammit.
He had the looks, the popularity, the drive to get himself to the top, but none of it fucking seemed to matter when it came to Gavin fucking Rosebank.
Because somehow, Gavin always outpaced him.
It was his 4.5 GPA teachers talked about, it was his tournaments people went to see, and it was him that Ebony looked for when she entered a room.
He was tired. Tired of taking losses. He was out of moves, but worse, he’d run out of wanting to make any.