Suddenly, the music cuts out, and the sound of someone slow clapping echoes through the room. I turn around to see Trey walking toward me. My eyes widen, realizing the threat I made earlier may have been a stupid one.
“What are you doing?”
He smirks. “I’m applauding you for your academy level performance that has had everyone here fooled for years.”
“Trey,” I plead, but he clearly doesn’t care.
“What? You don’t want them to know?”
Jace comes into the room, wondering what happened to the music, when his eyes narrow on Trey. “What the hell is going on in here? I don’t remember inviting any North Haven trash.”
“Well, then you’d probably be keen to know one of your own is exactly that.”
Looking ready to punch this kid in the face, Jace shoves his shoulder. “Listen shit-brick, you better explain what the fuck you’re talking about and fast, before I have my security escort you out—and they tend to get a little rough.”
Trey turns to me. “Savannah? Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
I look to Gray, but he’s too busy glaring daggers into the side of Trey’s head. Quickly going over it in my mind, I have two options. I can either give in to his insane demands and potentially ruin things between Grayson and I, or I deny it and hope everyone believes me over him.
Making a split-second decision, I stand my ground and swallow down my fear. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Suit yourself.” He rolls his eyes and focuses on Jace. “Your little princess isn’t as well off as she appears. In short, she’s dirt poor.”
Everyone breaks out into hysterical laughter, as if the idea is completely outlandish. It’s exactly what I wanted, and I relax a little, thinking this is going to play out in my favor.
“Okay, it was one thing for you to harass me after I already turned you down, but to come here with a lie like that? It’s pathetic, even for you.”
Glaring at me, he pulls something out of his pocket and my stomach drops. “See, I thought you might not believe me, so I brought proof.” My blood runs cold as he passes a handful of pictures to Jace. “See for yourself.”
Carter and Jace flip through a couple before looking at me in disbelief. Jace shakes his head and walks away, while Carter appears genuinely hurt.
“Seriously? I thought we were friends. How could you?”
Tears fill my eyes as I feel my entire world crashing down around me. “Carter!”
“Don’t. Just, don’t.”
AS I IGNORE DELANEY asking if I’m okay, I get out of the car and use the spare key to get inside Grayson’s house. Going straight into the basement, I start taking all my anger out on his punching bag. Right. Left. Right. Right. Left. By the time two strong arms wrap around my waist, my knuckles are already bleeding.
“It’s over,” I wail. “The only thing I had left, and he took it, for spite.”
“It’ll be okay.”
“It won’t. No one is ever going to look at me the same. If they don’t hate me, they’ll feel sorry for me. Kinsley is going to have a fucking field day and take over as captain. Jace and Carter will probably never talk to me again. And they probably shouldn’t.” I turn in his arms, looking up at him through the tears. “Make me forget. Please. Even just for a moment, I need to forget.”
Grayson searches my face for something unbeknownst to me before grabbing the back of my neck and pressing our lips together. I throw everything I’ve got into the kiss, trying to portray how I feel about him. It’s messy, with my tears making our mouths wet, but as he fucks me right there on the workout room floor, there’s nothing else I need. As long as I have him, I’ll be okay.
I LAY WITH MY head on his chest while his fingers run through my hair. I don’t know what this means for us. Everything has been so different between us lately, but if I’m the joke of the school, dating me would be social suicide. The thought of possibly losing him a second time makes me feel sick to my stomach. Which reminds me…
“Can I ask you something?” I question, and he hums, telling me he’s listening. “Why didn’t you tell me you were moving?”
“What?”
“When we were younger, I came back from my grandmother’s, and you were just gone. Why didn’t you say goodbye?”
He sits up abruptly and pushes me off him. “I know what you’re referring to, but why the fuck are you asking me this? You fucking know why.”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking,” I protest. Why is he getting so mad about this? It’s just a simple question. “Did you not want to? Did your dad not want you to tell me?”
In a split second, he snaps and gets up in my face. “Don’t you dare fucking talk about him, do you hear me? You don’t get to even think his name!”
As he backs up and tries to calm down, I can’t help but feel concerned. “What the hell happened to you between then and now? Who made you so cold? Because you’re sure as hell not the boy I remember.”
“Stop! Stop acting like you don’t know! I saw the fucking video! I heard the interview!”
My brows furrow. “What video? What fucking interview?” I try to take his hand in mine but he rips it away. “Grayson, talk to me!”
“Why? Why the fuck do you even care?”
“Because I’m in love with you!”
The declaration slips out before I even have a chance to stop it, and both our eyes widen at the revelation. However, the hope of him being happy about it dies as he shakes his head and looks away from me.
“You need to leave.” It’s so low that I almost wonder if I heard him right.
“W-what? Grayson, no. Don’t do this.”
His gaze meets mine, and the fire burning in his dark blue orbs is enough to scare even me. “I said leave! Go! Get the fuck out!”
Grabbing my clothes, I hurry upstairs and rush to put them on before racing out the door. The freezing December air does nothing to comfort me as tears pour down my face. I run across the street and knock on the door of the one person who can help me.
“Sav?” Delaney asks as she sees me. “Are you okay? What the hell happened?”
I shiver, half from the cold and half from sobs that rip through my body. “I n-need a ride.”
21
Grayson
I pace back and forth before grabbing one of the weights and throwing it against the mirror, watching as it shatters. Seven years of bad luck, right? Add it to the fucking list.
Why did she have to bring up my father? And to have the audacity to act like she doesn’t know the reason I moved away that summer. Like she wasn’t the catalyst of that whole shitshow.
Things between us were good until she had to go and make them personal. It was easy, separating my sex life with Savannah from the part of me that wanted to get revenge for what she did to my family. The little girl who ruined my life was a traitorous liar, while the one in my bed was a goddess. But when she dropped that emotional truth bomb, everything hit me like a truck. No matter how much I try to separate the two, they’re always going to be the same.