“Go home, Becky!” he shouts before punching the door.
He stands there waiting for her to say something else, but seconds later, her car starts.
He runs his hand down his face, releasing a long sigh.
I make my way back to his bed and crawl under his sheets. They’re nice and cold and feel amazing against my heated skin.
His door slowly opens, and he peeks in to see me now awake. He’s changed his clothes from last night. I remember him sitting at the bonfire and Deke giving me the bottle of vodka. Me walking away and finding David. Then my sister giving me a drink before Eli and I got in his car. Everything else is kinda fuzzy. He wears a white T-shirt that has a band I’ve never heard of and a pair of black shorts. His dark hair damp as if he just took a shower.
“How do you feel?” he asks, coming to sit beside me.
“Lightheaded,” I admit. The room still spins but not as bad as last night. “I have a pounding headache.”
“Here.” He grabs a bottle of water off his nightstand and a couple of aspirin. “Take these.”
“I heard you,” I say, staring at his dark comforter. Tears sting my eyes. “Why would she …?” I can’t finish the question ’cause I know the answer. She hates me. Always has.
He reaches out, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look up at him. “You’re okay, Demi. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. You’re safe here.” Then he leans forward and places a soft kiss on my forehead.
Present
Becky didn’t give two shits about me. We weren’t close, but I never gave her a reason to drug me. I still wonder what would have happened had Eli not been the one to take me home that night. He took care of me. Protected me. I passed out thinking I loved him, but I woke up sure of it. But like anything else in my life, if I wanted it, Becky had this need to take it from me.
That’s why I willingly spread my legs for Deke. A part of her sick and twisted mind still loves him, and I wanted to take something from her that she’ll never forget. And Deke will hate me. Now more than he did before.
I was never a slut like my sister, but this one act made me one. I used him. And for what? To piss off my sister. To show them both I’m not to be fucked with? I had never had someone touch me the way Deke did at Silence. And so after I allowed him to touch me, it just went downhill. My mind. My decisions. Now my fucking life. Becky will think of something to do to me, but it’ll be so worth it. My entire body hurts. Will it be like this every time I have sex? God, I hope so.
“What happened the other night?” Lauren asks, sitting down in her seat next to me. “I’ve been calling you all weekend. Did you and Seth break up?”
“No,” I answer.
“What was that fight about?”
“He thinks I’m cheating on him.” I shrug.
Her dark brows pull together. Lauren and I never talk about my sex life or lack thereof. She just assumes Seth and I fuck like rabbits. He’s a college student, after all. A boy with needs. I’m just not the one who fulfills them.
“Are you?”
I give her a big smile. “Well, I wasn’t when we started fighting.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
DEKE
I STAND IN the kitchen staring down at my phone as it rings in my hand. Becky lights up the screen. I press ignore. And what I now see isn’t any better. It’s Demi’s message.
Demi: That you took my virginity. In her bed.
I blink and read it again.
No!
She was a virgin? That can’t be … but I know it’s the truth. I felt it. She was too tight. It had been a long time since I’d slept with a virgin, but you never forget what it’s like. It was too good. She felt too unbelievable. I almost had myself convinced yesterday that it was the alcohol. I was drunk and the liquor had enhanced what we did. What I felt.
I should have known!
“What’s up with you?” Cole asks, entering the kitchen.
“I fucked Demi,” I say more to myself than him.
He nods. “I was there.” He takes a drink of his coffee.
“In Becky’s bed.” He spits out said coffee. It dribbles down his chin and onto his shirt. I feel it land on my arm, but I ignore it. “And she was a virgin.”
“What the fuck?” I hear from behind me.
I turn to see Austin now standing with us. Her eyes are wide, and her hands on her narrow hips.
“I … I didn’t know …” I stumble over my words. Almost fucking speechless. My thoughts a mess. She was a virgin. I took her virginity. I shouldn’t feel proud about that because she tricked me, but I do. I fucked her first, before any other man. Why? Why would she give that to me? She hates me.
“You didn’t know?” she asks me skeptically.
I just shake my head. That’s usually the first thing a girl tells you when she’s throwing herself at you. Hell, I’ve had girls tell me they’re virgins when I knew they weren’t. They never lie about not being one. That’s just another thing about Demi that I’m starting to like. She’s unpredictable.
She runs her hand through her dark hair. “Does Becky know?”
I nod.
Her lips thin, and she steps into me. “Was this part of your game?”
Was it? I wanted her, yes. Would knowing she was a virgin have stopped me? Probably not. But I would have done it differently had I known.
“No.” Cole answers her question when I don’t.
“Did you know this?” she snaps at him.
He nods. “I thought it was odd that he was in Becky’s room, though.”
That’s why he looked at me strangely when I exited the bedroom. He knew I was on the wrong side of the balcony. I was too wrapped up in Demi and my dick to think about it. I would have fucked her in the laundry room if that was where she had taken me.
“I can’t believe this.” She growls. “This is beyond fucked up, Deke.”
“I didn’t know,” I repeat.
My phone rings again, and I hit ignore, not wanting to talk to Becky. I don’t have to explain myself. I’m single and can do whoever I want.
Seconds later, another cell rings, and Austin pulls hers out of her pocket. She sighs and hits answer. “Hello?” Her eyes narrow on me. “I’m so sorry.” She spins around, walking out of the kitchen. Letting me know that Becky has given up and called her best friend.
“She set you up.” Cole speaks my thoughts.
I nod. “Seems so.” She planned on me fucking her in her sister’s bed. She wanted to rub it in her face. But how did Becky find out? Did she text her, and Becky just believed it? I’m not sure, but I’m not going to ask Becky how she found out.
“Again,” he adds.
I grind my teeth and glare at him. “Why do you feel the need to state the obvious?”
He shrugs. “Surprised is all.”
“And what shall I do about that?” I ask, arching a brow.
He chuckles. “Whatever the fuck you want.”
DEMI
I lie on my bed doing homework and listening to music. “Nightmare” by Halsey plays softly in my room. My phone vibrates, and I ignore it. That’s what I’ve done all day. Deke and Becky could have messaged me a hundred times, and I wouldn’t know.