And I sniff. “I shouldn’t have come here …”
He pulls back and places his hands on my face, forcing me to look up at him. “You’re exactly where you need to be, Demi.” His clouded blue eyes search mine before they look at Cole’s. He nods at Deke once.
“Where was he?” Cole asks me.
I’m not sure what they plan on doing, but Seth deserves it. After everything I’ve done for him … “At his parents’ cabin on Lake Travis.”
Deke’s body stiffens against mine, and Cole’s eyes narrow on me.
“Lake Travis?” Cole yanks Austin back from me and Deke, cutting her off, placing himself between her and us.
“What were you doing there?” Deke demands.
I pull away from him, wiping my face confused to what is happening. “I told you. He messaged me to come over.”
“Bullshit!” Cole snaps, taking a step closer to me.
Deke reaches out, placing a hand on Cole’s bare chest bringing him to a stop. But his next words say he doesn’t believe me either. “Can you prove that?”
I’m starting to get pissed off. I’ve had one hell of a fucking night. I cross my arms over my chest. “Why does it matter? I just told you that he confessed he was gonna rape me. Why do I need to prove that?” I snap.
“’Cause I don’t believe you,” Cole answers.
I snort in disbelief at these guys.
“Cole, stop!” Austin tells him.
“No.” He turns to face her. “The guys and I get a message from Evan Scott and possibly go to the very same cabin that Demi’s boyfriend owns, and you don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
She opens her mouth, but I speak first. “Evan Scott? You got a message from him?”
This time, it’s Deke who steps into me. “You mean the message you sent us?”
My eyes widen. What the fuck?
“And it’s game over for you, Demi.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
DEKE
MY BLOOD IS pumping, my fists are clenched, and my mind is screaming that this bitch played us better than anyone else ever has. I reach out for her, and she takes a step back from me. Her eyes are wide, and her face drained of any color. Finally, she shows true fucking fear. Good for her to realize that I can and will hurt her.
“There has to be an explanation.” Austin speaks.
“That was why your name was on the list,” I say more to myself than anyone else. “You put it there to throw us off.” Fuck, Shane was right.
“List? What list?” Demi asks.
Her eyes going from mine to Cole’s. He wants to murder her. I can feel it. Anything that threatens his sweetheart, he would destroy without thought. But I won’t let him have Demi. I’ll handle her myself. She’s had it coming since she pretended to be her sister at Silence.
Austin steps out from behind Cole. He tries to grab her, but she manages to get away from him. “Demi, you have to explain why you wrote that note. Did Seth make you do it? Was he the one who sent out the messages?” She rattles off questions, the next one sounding even more desperate than the first.
“The one from Evan Scott?” Demi asks still putting on her best fucking show of confusion. Like a little lost girl in a forest that is about to swallow her up.
She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her cell. “I got a friend request from him the night of my Halloween party. I have yet to accept it, but I showed it to Becky a couple of days later and she got pissed. Sent him a message. He responded earlier this week, but I blew it off.”
I yank her phone from her hands and look at it. She has her messenger pulled up, and sure enough it has a message to him a few days ago.
“She said it was an ex of hers.” Demi adds.
Her: I will fucking kill you.
“Becky sent this to him?” I ask, still skeptical.
“Yes. I don’t know the guy. We only had one mutual friend, and it was her. Why?”
I look over at Cole and hand him the phone so he can read it. “He responded to you.”
She nods frantically. And Cole reads it out loud. “Not if I kill you first.”
“It didn’t make any sense, so I ignored it,” she whispers. “Is Seth Evan Scott?”
“Fuck!” Cole hisses. “This explains why Becky was so pissed to begin with. Demi slept with you the night of the Halloween party and then shows this to Becky. She knows you’re Evan Scott …”
“You’re Evan Scott?” Demi interrupts him.
We all ignore her. “She probably thinks you both set her up,” Cole finishes.
A cell begins to ring, and Cole looks down at the one he holds in his hands. “It’s Seth,” he announces.
I rip Demi’s cell out of his hands and hit answer. He begins to ramble instantly.
“I’m so sorry, Demi. You have to understand. I had no choice. I tried to think of a way around it. I even offered them money. You know I’m good for it. I would never hurt you, not like that, if I didn’t have to. If you would have just taken the drink, I wouldn’t have had to force you. You probably wouldn’t have even remembered it.”
He tried to drug her? What the actual fuck? And he actually thought he was doing her a favor. I stare into Demi’s blue eyes while I listen to this guy who is supposed to be her boyfriend, and I can’t figure out what I’m missing.
“Please say something,” he begs. When my silence lingers, he breaks down like a fucking chick. “I’m sorry,” He sobs. “They have a video of me and Hayden … you know that can’t get out, Demi. It can’t …” He sniffs. “Please tell me that you forgive me.”
“If you’re afraid of a video getting out, wait until I’m done with you.”
He gasps. “Wait … What? Deke, is that you?”
I don’t answer.
“I didn’t …”
“But you tried,” I shout, interrupting him, knowing where he is going. I can literally see the evidence on her body as she stands in front of me. He tried to drug her!
“She has to understand,” He growls no longer begging for forgiveness since he knows I’m not Demi on the phone. “I helped her out when she wanted to fuck you. Putting on that fake fight for you to sweep in and feel like a fucking man trying to save her. The least she could have done was let me do what I needed to do to save my ass. It’s not like she was still a virgin anymore.”
My eyes swing to Demi’s at his confession, and I take a step toward her. “You’re dead.”
DEMI
You’re dead?
He still holds the phone to his ear, but his eyes are on mine. I’m not sure if he meant that for me or for Seth, but my heart pounds in my chest, nonetheless.
He pulls the phone from his ear, holds down the button to turn it off, and then throws it across the room. I hear it slide on the tile hallway that leads out of the living room. His eyes never leave mine. “Cole, take Austin—”
“No.” She interrupts him, coming to stand beside me.
My eyes shoot to Cole. He looks like he’s debating on staying. As if he wants to have a hand in whatever Deke plans on doing to me. Why do they think I’ve somehow betrayed them? I haven’t done shit to Cole.