That was easy.
I hear the door open and close again, and I smile behind the rim of my coffee cup. That would be my sister. She walks in, pulling a rolling suitcase behind her. “God, I just saw Isabella leaving. Where the hell is she going? She needs to get in here and do her job. This place is disgusting.” She huffs as her blue eyes roam around the kitchen.
“How was Collins?” I ask, ignoring her.
Her lips pull back in disgust. “The same hellhole.”
“Then why did you go?”
She doesn’t answer. I think she’s seeing someone in Collins. Why else would she go back and forth so much? And it’s never for a week at a time. She only spends a day or two there.
This time, she chooses to avoid answering my question and goes to walk out. “Oh, wait. Who is Evan Scott?”
She comes to a stop and spins around to face me. “Why?” she asks slowly with narrowed eyes.
“Because I got a friend request from him Saturday night. I have you as a mutual friend.” She snaps the phone from my hands. “Okay, then,” I say, taking a drink of my coffee.
She begins to type on my phone.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
“I’m sending this fucker a message.” She growls.
“What? Why?” I reach for it, but she spins around, giving me her back. “Message him back from your own phone,” I snap, setting down the mug.
“This motherfucker … talking to my sister.” She rambles to herself. I don’t correct her that he didn’t message me. He just sent me a friend request. “I’ll kick his fucking ass.”
“Is he like an ex of yours?”
She gives a rough laugh. “He’s an ex all right.”
She turns to face me and holds out my phone.
I look down and see she still has messenger open. “I’ll kill you, fucker.” I nod in approval. “Nice. I bet he’s scared to death.”
“He should be.” She tosses my phone onto the countertop.
“Thanks,” I say as it bounces a couple of times before stopping right before it falls off the edge. “Not like I have important shit on that or anything.”
“Let me know if he says anything else to you.” She growls. “And by the way, tell Seth to lighten the fuck up.” She glares at my neck. “He’s a man, not a vampire.” She looks over my hickeys and bite marks.
“Oh, you noticed them?” I ask, pressing my fingers to the sensitive skin. I’ve heard of a few tricks to get rid of them, but I chose to wear them with pride. I didn’t even bother caking on the makeup.
“Of course,” she spits out. “Cover that shit up.”
“Have a nice day,” I singsong as she walks out of the kitchen.
I smile, picking up my keys and walk out the front door. The moment I sit down in my car, my cell begins to ring. “Hello, darling.” I greet Seth.
He snorts at my pet name for him. “So did it work?”
I smile to myself as I pull through the open gate, waving to the guard who sits in the guard shack. “A woman never kisses and tells.”
“Deke wanted to kick my ass.” He growls.
“He still might.”
“Cole too. I might be able to take one of them, but not both.”
I hide my laughter at that. Either one of them would knock his ass out with one hit. And I didn’t need to read Austin’s journal to know that.
Sighing, he adds, “I hope it was worth it.”
“It will be.” I hang up without telling him goodbye.
Twenty minutes later, I pull into the high school parking lot and park my car. I’m going through my locker looking for my books when my cell dings.
Smiling to myself, I pull it out of my back pocket knowing exactly who it is. And she doesn’t disappoint.
Becky: YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!
“What has you in such a great mood today?” Laruen asks, coming up to me.
“It’s Friday,” I answer.
“No.” She frowns. “It’s actually Monday. Are you high?”
I shrug. “Same thing.”
My phone dings again, and I look down at it.
Becky: I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, DEMI! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! YOU FUCKING BITCH!
My sister hates being ignored, so that’s exactly what I do. Instead of responding, I exit out of her message and look up Deke in my phone. The night he and Cole had broken into my house and he tied my hands behind my back, Cole had taken pics of me and Deke. I’m not sure why and haven’t asked, but Cole had sent them to an unknown number in my phone. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it was Deke’s number. I pull it up and send him a message.
Me: My sister knows.
I stand in the hallway holding books in one hand and my phone in the other waiting for a response. He doesn’t make me wait long.
Deke: What exactly does she know?
I smile and type out my reply.
Me: That you took my virginity. In her bed.
Then I turn the bitch on silent and throw it into my locker with a smile on my face.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DEMI
I STAND BEFORE Deke with my head down, biting my lip to hide my smile. Did he really think I’d let Seth hurt me? Put his hands on me? I forget that he doesn’t know me all that well.
“What happened?” Deke asks.
I sniff for effect. “He found out about us.”
“Us?”
It’s a long shot ’cause we both know there is no damn us, but I’m gonna work it. I nod. “I was texting my best friend about what we did at Silence …. and he read it.” I haven’t told a soul what happened at Silence or at my mother’s house. The only person who knows what is going on is Cole, and I’m not even sure how much Deke has told him. But I’m not one of those girls who runs to their friends and blabs about boys.
“Fuck.” He hisses.
I look up at him, a tear runs down my cheek, and he watches it. “He thinks we’ve had sex.”
Have you thought about it, Deke? I have. Over and over. And every time, you get better and better.
Stepping into me, he reaches up and runs his knuckles through the single tear.
I place my hands on his shirt and grip it tightly. “Deke.” I whisper his name, and I pray that it’s enough to get what I want. We stood here days ago, and I watched him make out with my sister after he stayed the night, and I decided right then what I needed to do. I was gonna win him over. Becky can have him but not until I’m done with him.
“You’re with Seth,” he says, and I know I’ve won. He’s thinking about it.
I lift my eyes to meet his. He looks ready to throw me to the floor and fuck me right here. Caveman style. “He already thinks I’ve betrayed him.” I lick my lips. “Might as well give him a reason to put his hands on me.”
“Don’t say that,” he growls, stepping into me.
I tilt my head back. “It’ll be worth it.”
He slides his hand into my hair, and I close my eyes, letting out a moan, and for once, since he followed us out of the kitchen, something I do is real. The butterflies in my stomach, the trembling in my knees—he does this to me. The last time I felt like this for a man was with Eli. And this time, the tears are real. The thought of him hurts my soul. I need Deke to cleanse it with his evil. Betrayal. Eli was as good as they came even though no one knows that but me. “Kiss me, Deke.”