Chapter Fifteen #2
Mila lingered half a second too long. Our eyes met. “Now,” I told her quietly.
She went. The glass door shut. Locked. Only then did I turn back toward the railing.
“Stay inside,” I added, voice carrying through the glass.
Jax was already moving toward the edge of the deck, eyes scanning the perimeter.
Theo had gone quiet. Chase straightened.
The night hadn’t escalated. Not fully. But the crack was there. Small. Intentional.
My phone buzzed again.
Logan: You’re being watched.
I stepped off the deck and into the dark alone to take the next call. The second call came through from Drew before I could message Logan back. That tightened something deeper than the anonymous threat had. I answered immediately. “What?”
“What the hell are you doing?”
No greeting. No buffer. His voice carried that familiar edge—half irritation, half warning.
“Define doing.”
“At a party that’s being blasted all over social media.”
My spine went rigid. “What?”
“You’re trending locally, genius. Someone posted a full panoramic of Theo’s house. Tagging location. Tagging names. Including yours.”
Ice slid down my back. “That house isn’t public.”
“It is now.”
I turned slowly, scanning the tree line again. The driveway. The faint glow of headlights lower down the mountain road that hadn’t been there earlier.
“How many views?” I asked.
“Enough.”
I exhaled through my teeth. “Who posted it?”
“Account’s private. Recently created.”
Of fucking course.
“Can you take it down?”
“I’m trying.” Drew cursed under his breath. “But screenshots are already circulating.”
Headlights crested the lower bend in the road. Then another pair. Then another.
My jaw flexed. “Stay on it,” I muttered.
“Luke.”
“What?”
“This isn’t random.”
“I know.”
The line went dead.
I stood there one second longer than necessary, watching the first unfamiliar SUV crawl up the drive.
Then I turned and walked back toward the deck. Jax read my expression before I reached the stairs.
Chase stepped up beside him, towel slung low around his hips, posture rigid. “How many?”
“At least three cars so far.”
Theo grimaced when he saw the headlights. “No. Absolutely not. I didn’t post anything.”
“None of us did,” Jax muttered.
As we approached the sliding glass door, Avery reached over and unlocked it. Mila stood just behind her and Tori, arms folded loosely across her chest. Watching me. More headlights appeared at the curve.
“This party was blasted online,” I announced evenly.
Theo’s face drained. “That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
Chase’s gaze snapped toward the house. “Who’s been on their phone?”
Everyone. Which meant nothing.
Avery stepped forward immediately. “I didn’t.”
“I know,” I answered without hesitation.
Her shoulders eased an inch.
Jax looked toward Tori.
She stood near the door, wrapped in a towel, damp hair clinging to her collarbones. Her expression flickered between confusion and something tighter. “I didn’t post anything,” she insisted.
Theo moved subtly in front of her. Not aggressively but protective.
Chase swore under his breath. “Chloe.” His date.
I stepped inside without waiting. “Where’s Chloe?” I asked.
Chase followed on my heels. “Kitchen.”
We found her near the island, phone in hand, screen glowing. She looked up too slowly. “What’s going on?” she asked, tone pitched high.
“Hand me the phone.”
Her grip tightened fractionally. “Why?”
“Now.”
The music cut off completely behind us. Theo must’ve killed it. Outside, car doors slammed. More than a few.
Chloe hesitated. Chase stepped forward and plucked the phone clean from her fingers before she could react.
“What the hell—”
He was already scrolling. His expression darkened. “There it is.” He turned the screen toward me.
Panoramic shot from the deck railing. Full sweep of the house with Mila and I wrapped in each other’s arms. Geotag active. Caption: Mountain nights with Blackwood’s finest.
Tagged accounts. Including mine. Posted an hour ago. Boosted ten minutes later.
Chase’s jaw ticked. “Why the fuck did you do this?”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think—”
“No,” I cut in. “You didn’t.”
Car doors slammed again outside. Voices drifted through the open windows. Uninvited. Unvetted.
Jax stepped in from the back hall. “At least fifteen people already in the driveway.”
Theo muttered something vicious under his breath.
Avery moved toward the blinds, peeking carefully without exposing herself. “More are coming.”
Mila hadn’t moved. She stood near the edge of the room, watching Chloe, assessing her.
Chloe’s composure cracked. “It was just a picture. I didn’t send it to anyone specific.”
“Boosting doesn’t happen accidentally,” I replied.
Her silence confirmed enough.
Chase dragged a hand down his face. “You just compromised a private location.”
“I didn’t know it was private.”
“That’s the point,” I snapped.
Outside, someone whooped loudly. A car engine revved. The mountain air no longer felt isolated.
I turned to the guys. “Lock the side entrances. No one inside that we don’t know personally.”
Theo moved instantly. Jax headed toward the back.
Chase stayed rooted in front of Chloe. “Pick someone to give you a ride back, cause you’re not staying here,” he told her.
Her face paled. “You—you want me to leave?”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
Avery crossed the room slowly, stopping beside Mila. Quiet solidarity. Tori lingered near the doorway, shaken but steady.
Mila’s gaze lifted to mine, a small crack in her composure. This was Blackwood bleeding into the one place we’d tried to keep clean.
I stepped toward the front door just as someone knocked. Hard. I opened it only a few inches. Three guys I recognized from school stood on the porch, grinning too wide.
“Didn’t know this was invite-only,” one of them joked.
“It is,” I answered flatly.
Behind them, headlights continued to spill into the driveway. I closed the door in their faces. Turned the lock. And exhaled slowly. This wasn’t a full escalation. Not yet. But it was proof that we weren’t as removed as we thought.
I pulled my phone from my pocket. The signal was strong now. Another call incoming from Drew. I stepped away from the group and out onto the front porch alone to answer.