“I’m in this with you,” I remind him. “I’m not going anywhere. I keep my promises. But this is only the beginning.”
His jaw flexes. “I can … I can protect you. I’ll—”
My eyes close and I exhale a sigh. “Teddy. It’s so sweet that you think you can, but you’re not a god. You can’t control an entire campus.” Extricating my fingers from his, I add, “Don’t worry. I’m a big girl. I’ll get over it. Besides, it’s on me to learn to control my feelings.”
And get over the past, I think to myself.
“Vanessa!” he calls when I walk away. He jogs after me, tugging on the sleeve of my puffy coat. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What’s going on?”
I glance down at the ground, surprised by how intuitive he is. It’s so much easier to look at those worn stones than his worried face. “When I was in high school, the most popular guy in school started taking notice of me. I was so flattered. He was a senior and I was a freshman. He played football and was the guy all the girls wanted, and I couldn’t believe he wanted me. It was all a lie, an elaborate one where the rug was yanked out from under me at the homecoming football game when…” Tears fall from my eyes at the horrible memories. “When my own sister revealed that he was her boyfriend and she’d put him up to seducing me just so she could mock me about thinking he’d actually liked me.” I shake my head, unable to meet Teddy’s horrified gaze. “She still doesn’t know I lost my virginity to him.” I huff out a tragic, humorless laugh. “He wasn’t supposed to go that far, I guess.” I shrug. “Let’s just say, I’m a little extra sensitive to people thinking I don’t belong with the popular guy. I’ve been through that, and they were right, because it was all a lie, and here we are again.” I wave a hand at him. “At least this time I’m a willing participant.”
He swallows thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Van, I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“Yeah, me too.” I wipe away a tear, burying those memories down again. I don’t want to relive that time period, the horror and embarrassment I felt. “Seriously, don’t worry. I’m okay. I’m in this.”
This time, when I walk away, he doesn’t chase after me.
7
Teddy
“What are you doing?” Jude asks from the doorway of my room when he finds me aggressively typing on my computer.
“Looking for this fucker I want to murder,” I utter through clenched teeth.
After I searched Vanessa’s name online, it was easy enough to find her old high school. Now, I’m going through the online yearbooks, looking for the guy who fucked her over. Her sister too for that matter.
No one ever deserves to be treated like she was.
“Uh…” Jude hesitates, wiping a towel over his damp head. “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.”
“Well, maybe not murder, but I might send a glitter bomb. Or shit. Can’t you mail poop to people you hate?”
“What the fuck is going on?” He steps further into my room, and I finally look up.
“Dude, why’s your cock out? I thought you had pants on.”
“I just got out of the shower. Stop acting like you don’t see wagging dicks in the locker room all the time.”
“Doesn’t mean I need to see yours,” I mutter, scrolling through photos.
“Fine, fine. I’ll go put pants on.”
He walks away and I call after him, “Would it be appropriate to send a potato that says, ‘Get Fucked’?”
He comes back in thankfully wearing a pair of jeans. “Ted, give me more information than that.”
“Don’t call me Ted. I ain’t Bundy.”
Jude chuckles. He likes riling me up. The problem is I’m already livid. After I fill him in on what happened to Vanessa, he’s as pissed as me. Jude might be a manwhore but he doesn’t talk shit about women or treat them like it.
“Fuck, grab Mascen, that dude has enough hatred to fuel an entire country, and let’s pay this asshole a visit.”
We both peer at the senior photo of the smug fucker. Tristan Samuels.
I flick over to the photo of Vanessa’s sister. The slender cheerleader who played an unforgiveable prank on her sister. Fuck, I don’t think it can even be called a prank. It’s a flat out hate crime against her own flesh and blood. I scroll to the freshman section, my heart jerking when I find Vanessa, her smiling braces covered teeth staring back at me, blue eyes behind a pair of red glasses. She looked so happy, so innocent, and those two fuckers hurt her. I knew she was trying to brush it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but the pain in her eyes said everything she wouldn’t.
“Do you think we can be back by morning?”
I’m dead ass serious.
“The three of us can take turns driving and sleeping.”
I wet my lips with my tongue. “Let’s do it.”
My normally easy-going personality has gone out the window. All I want is to see those two people realize that the shit you do has consequences. Vanessa deserves better than to be treated in such a horrible way, and I’m absolutely fuming over the fact that the bastard had the audacity to take her virginity too.
“You call Mascen and get him on board and I’m going to pack my shit.”
He’s only taken a few steps when I say, “Thanks, Jude.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
“Listen, all I’m saying is you need to let me know if I need to have a lawyer on call.” Mascen pumps gas into his Land Rover. We decided to take it since it had the most room. It wasn’t like the three of us were going to fit in my sportscar. I was a tad surprised when Mascen agreed readily, but after I explained the situation, like Jude, he was livid too. Cole will probably be mad we left him out, but I’m not about to drag him into this mess in case we get arrested. It’s not likely, but the three of us have the money to bail ourselves out. Cole’s a scholarship student, so he can’t risk his status.
“I’m not going to get arrested,” I scoff like the idea is preposterous despite the fact that this is the very concern that’s kept me from inviting Cole along. Mascen eyes me like he doubts that. “I’m not. I just want to talk to the guy.”
And her sister who I found out is married to the fucker. Like Jesus Christ, Vanessa can’t escape the psychopaths.
“Talk with your mouth?” He mimes moving his hand like a mouth. “Or with your fists?” He forms one.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
The gas pump dings, and he finishes up, hopping in the SUV and finding all the snacks and drinks I raided from the convenience store. He doesn’t say anything, merely shakes his head with a huff and shoves everything in the back with Jude.
“Treat my snacks with some respect. At least give them a little kiss on the cheek before you smack their ass and send them on their way.”
Mascen snickers, slipping sunglasses on to shield his eyes from the setting sun.