Chapter 26 – Reese #4
It was weird that Ashbrook had so many different athletics when it was primarily a music and arts school, but I supposed the elites considered their very expensive, very privileged sports to be an art of some kind.
There was fencing, dressage, water polo, and lacrosse.
The fencing team did indeed have a group photograph, and right under the picture were the names of all the members.
Everett was front and center, disgustingly enough. I read through all the names, found Jared’s, then tried to match it with their positions in the photo.
And fuck me, I wanted to laugh when I saw who he was.
But actually talking to him—getting him to admit that Everett had been the one to break his arm was going to be impossible, probably.
Why?
Because he was one of the friends of the guy who’d tripped Dakota that day. Not the one I punched in the face, thankfully.
Ugh, fuck. Why did it have to be him? Of all fucking people? Then again, it wasn’t surprising.
“Damn it,” I muttered, making sure that I’d correctly matched him with his name.
I had, unfortunately.
The two other guys who’d been there that day were also on the fencing team. Their names were Chad Delroy and Garrett Johansson.
This was going to be more difficult than I’d originally thought, but I wasn’t about to be deterred.
Fuck, would I have to apologize? Or could I find some way to blackmail them…
And where oh where had all of my morals gone if blackmail was the first solution to pop into my head? It was like they’d evaporated over the years, vanishing so slowly that I hadn’t even noticed until it felt like I’d always been this way.
Fine, blackmail was probably off the table since I wouldn’t even know where to begin with them, but how would I get Jared to admit it was Everett?
Some kind of lie?
That was what I did best, after all.
And how better to control him than with a lie the would scare him more than Everett did?
Or maybe I could go through his friends first. If I could get all three of them to confess, that held more weight than just one confession.
Was I being too optimistic? Probably. But I’d do anything for Dakota, and I would get this done no matter what.
Someone had to right all these wrongs that had been done to him. Someone needed to expose Everett for the vile human he was.
I was more than happy to do the job.
I would get vengeance for my man, and then I could maybe convince myself that I’d done more good than harm, in the end.
That when I left him, the guilt wouldn’t eat me alive. Not entirely, at least. Or maybe I’d just let it, because the idea of a life without Dakota…
I didn’t want to think about that.
I headed toward the athletics center to find Jared and his lackeys.
The Ashbrook athletics center, which was where the fencing team practiced, wasn’t a center so much as a modern building stuck on the fringes of campus. It looked completely out of place.
I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and kept my eyes on the double doors. It was kind of cold, but Dakota’s hoodie was really warm.
And it smelled like him.
I couldn’t stop smelling it, was absolutely addicted to huffing the sleeves like a fiend, and I ignored how weird I probably looked sitting on this bench with the sleeves pressed to my face.
It was helping keep me calm, for the most part. But fuck I was kind of nervous.
What if Everett saw me? What would he even do? Ignore me outright or try and talk to me?
God, I hoped not. It would be hard as fuck to keep my promise to Dakota to not fight anyone if he got within ten feet of me.
The door to the center blew open, and out walked a group of guys. I scanned them all, and hell yes it was some of the members of the fencing team.
No Everett. Good.
Yes Jared. Even better.
I watched as they talked and laughed and made weird gestures. Jared broke off from the group, and after he was far enough away from the group, I got up and followed him. He was alone, which was perfect. He walked fast, though, so I had to pick up my pace to try and catch up with him.
He rounded the corner of a building, and when I made it around the same corner, I stopped short.
He was talking to some guy now. Fuck. He wasn’t very far ahead of me, and damn it, what was I supposed to do now? Keep walking? Pretend I was going somewhere else? Stand around and look at my phone until the guy left and he was alone again?
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw a new message. My heart started racing with excitement as I opened it.
Horny Bastard :
Do you like tomatoes?
A laugh bubbled out of me at the random question, and I quickly typed one back.
Me:
Hate them.
His response was immediate.
Horny Bastard :
Okay so I’m gonna start making a list of the things you *don’t* hate because the other one is getting too long.
What about chili peppers? Jalapenos? Sweet peppers? Peppers of any kind?
Please for the love of god don’t hate peppers
I’m begging you
I’m on my knees for you right now
Want a pic?
You definitely want one
A picture came through two seconds later, and it was a selfie of Dakota in our room, on his knees, on my bed. He was sticking his tongue out and I wanted to bite it.
Me:
Put your tongue back in your mouth
Horny Bastard :
Come do it for me
Goddammit, I really wanted to. With my—
“Hey!”
The sharp shout had me jerking my head up and looking around, and then the guy that Jared had stopped to talk to—who looked really pissed off—started walking toward me.
Very aggressively.
He said something to Jared, who looked confused, but when Jared saw me, recognition flashed through his eyes and his expression hardened.
He followed after the guy, and honestly, I should’ve run away right then and there.
I should’ve.
But I stayed where I was, quickly hit the record button on my phone, and slid it back into my pocket. It kept buzzing with incoming texts from Dakota, and as much as I itched to read them, there were two enormous guys approaching me with angry expressions.
They looked like they wanted to fight.
Well I wanted to fight, too.
Except…I’d promised Dakota I wasn’t going to fly off the handle and fight anymore.
I intended to keep that promise.
But if someone else started it first, was it okay to defend myself? Damn it, we hadn’t discussed extenuating circumstances.
Did he not want me to use violence no matter what? Yeah, probably.
Okay.
Fine.
I’d just let myself get beat to a pulp, which is what was looking like would happen.
Then he’d pamper me like a princess again, as he put it.
Jared pulled the other guy to a halt right in front of me. “Daniel, don’t—”
“Where’s your boyfriend?” said the guy whose name was Daniel, apparently.
My boyfriend? Dakota?
I liked the sound of that, but not from this ugly fucker’s mouth.
I tilted my head and scrunched my brows together in faux confusion. “Who’s my boyfriend?” I let my eyes drift down his body in an unimpressed once-over. “It would definitely never be you.”
The ugly guy growled and grabbed for me, but I darted out of reach.
“Daniel, let’s just—” Jared tried to grab his arm, but he shook him off.
“No, that’s him,” he said. “That’s the one who tried to bite my fucking ear off at that party!”
Oh.
Oh, shit.
This was the guy who’d shoved Dakota at that party?
Anger flooded my veins, and I balled my hands into fists.
Fuck. I wanted to hurt him so fucking bad for touching Dakota with those dirty fucking scumbag hands.
No. I had to stay calm.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and kept buzzing, meaning someone was calling me and it was definitely Dakota because that was the only person who ever texted or called me these days.
I needed to try and defuse the situation.
How the fuck was I supposed to do that when I could barely control my own anger?
I held my hands up, palm out. That was a good start, right? “Look, I was really drunk and I don’t remember doing that but for what it’s worth, I’m…sorry.” I choked on the last word, but he didn’t seem to notice.
Daniel scoffed. “Yeah? Well your boyfriend’s gonna be sorry when I do to you what he did to Jared. An eye for an eye sounds good, don’t you think?”
“Oh? Not an ear for an ear?”
He growled and lunged at me, but Jared grabbed him back and I stepped to the side and held my hands up. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, that wasn’t nice.”
I was ruining this.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, trying to seem sincere.
He spat on the ground to his left and glared at me.
“So you were saying? What was he supposed to have done to Jared?” I asked.
“Are you kidding me? He broke his fucking arm. He was in the hospital for three days. The only reason Dakota’s still here is because he’s the dean’s son.”
I looked at Jared, who was rubbing his forehead like this was giving him a headache.
“Yeah, except he didn’t do that, did he?” I said.
Jared’s surprised eyes flashed to mine.
“Did he, Jared?”
He looked wary and nervous now. “What are you talking about? Of course he did.”
“No, he didn’t. Nobody broke your arm, but what I don’t understand is why you’d go around telling everyone that. I’ve been wanting to talk to you, Jared.”
Jared’s mouth fell open in shock, and then he laughed nervously. “You’re as crazy as Dakota. Come on, Daniel, let’s—”
“Should I go get Everett?” I threw my thumb over my shoulder, as if Everett was standing somewhere behind me.
This was a last ditch effort that I really didn’t think would work, but I was desperate. I’d do anything to clear Dakota’s name.
When Jared paled but didn’t say anything, I shoved my hands in my pocket and started to turn around. “Yeah, I’ll go get Everett. He’s practically my brother-in-law, y’know? We’re super duper close.”
Jared stepped forward. “Wait. Wait, I—” He looked at his companion and said, “Just go without me, I’ll meet you there.”
“No fucking way, I’m not leaving you with this little psycho, he—”
Jared shoved his shoulder. “Go. Now, Daniel.”
Daniel grumbled something and glared at me, then stomped off.
Jared looked around, like Everett would pop out from behind a bush at any moment, then grabbed my elbow. “I’ll talk to you. But not here. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
That meant he was going to kill me or confess.
Well, he could try to kill me, but I’d fight back because I was pretty sure Dakota would make an exception for me using violence in the event my life was in danger.
I pulled my arm from Jared’s hand and followed him around the building. He made his way to a short tree that stood about ten feet off the path, then turned around to face me.
“Look,” he said, licking his lips nervously and glancing around again. “Everett forced me to say Dakota did that because otherwise he’d tell everyone that I was sleeping with one of the professors.”
I raised my brows because what? He was sleeping with one of the professors?
“I’m not,” he said quickly. “Fuck that, I’m not sleeping with one of the professors here.
My point is, he was going to spread the rumor that I was and get me—and that professor—kicked out of here.
And ruin our lives. I’ve seen what he’s capable of.
I went to high school with that asshole, and he gets off on that kind of shit.
So yeah, I faked the broken arm and told everyone it was Dakota because…
.” He shrugged, like it was no big deal that he’d dragged someone else’s name through the mud, that he’d let someone totally innocent take the fall.
I mean, according to him, he was innocent too, but still.
He wasn’t Dakota, so I didn’t give a single fuck about him. I only cared about what he’d done to Dakota.
Dakota, who’d already spent a year in a behavioral health facility because of Everett.
Dakota, who wouldn’t hurt anyone. Who couldn’t hurt anyone. He fucking hated violence, and if his parents ever took the time to get to know him, they’d fucking know that.
But they didn’t. I wasn’t sure why they’d even adopted him in the first place. To treat him like utter shit?
Fuck, I wanted to kill them all.
And that psychotic piece of shit Everett had hurt him again.
I vowed it would be for the last fucking time. That I was going to put a stop to this. To him.
He was going to regret he’d ever fucked with Dakota.
And me.
A burning rage bubbled in my chest, and I inhaled deeply, counting to ten.
My exhale exploded out of me, though, and I wasn’t able to hide the anger in my voice.
“You know, Jared, it must be hard going through life such a coward. I hope you get everything you deserve. You could’ve told the truth, but instead you wanted to save your own ass.
I can’t say I’m surprised, though. You people really are all the same. ”
Without a single glance back, I turned and walked away.
I had what I needed and I didn’t trust myself to spend a single second longer with him.
I’d made a promise and I was going to keep it.