When Monday hit, I promised myself to pretend like nothing had ever happened and prayed Fox wouldn’t release the video. I hoped our former friendship might mean something to him. Him wanting to ruin me for reasons I couldn’t comprehend had me on edge. I’d never done anything to him but care for him. He was my everything growing up.
“You look like crap,” Jamie commented as I shouldered my bag. I’d barely slept. Dark circles rimmed my puffy eyes. “Are you sick?”
“Sick of this place,” I muttered. Jamie’s eyes widened as someone tugged my hair. I glanced over my shoulder to see Enzo smiling at me. My heart plummeted at his presence.
“How was your weekend, Sunshine?”
“Shut the hell up,” I snapped at him. His grin widened as Jamie glanced uneasily between us. “I’m sure you know how my weekend went.”
“You’re right. I do. That’s why I think we should talk before things start happening.”
My stomach clenched. Trepidation coursed like a raging river. “What things?”
His dark-eyed gaze moved from me to Jamie who had the sense to back away slowly before hightailing it out of there right before she offered me an apologetic smile.
“The sort of things a girl like you wouldn’t want to get out into the world.”
My body vibrated with barely contained anger.
“Did Fox tell anyone?” I demanded through gritted teeth.
“I think you already know none of us has said a word yet.” He reached out and wrapped one of my curls around his finger from my ponytail, a smile on his face. “It’s in your best interest to accomodate our demands.”
“What?” I took a step toward him, my anger barely contained. “What demands? What do you jackasses want from me?”
Enzo stared back at me, the humor leaving his face. “We told you that we want you. You’ve been chosen, baby girl. You really should consider our offer. Things could get ugly if you don’t.”
I glance around fearfully. Some students cast us odd looks, no doubt confused about why Enzo was talking to me.
“Imagine things going from bad to worse, Sunshine.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear, his words cold. I shivered from the weight of them. “It begins today in case you need a little prompting.”
“Enzo, wait!” I called out as he turned to go. He paused, his dark eyes locked on mine. “Please—”
His lips curled up into a smile. “Meet us on the bleachers at lunch. Oh, and Sunshine? Save the begging for later. You’ll need it.”
I stared after him, my heart racing.
Things really were going from bad to worse.
I SPENT the morning with my stomach aching. A million scenarios raced through my mind at what the guys wanted from me. Do their homework for the rest of the year, clean their lock-ers, wash their gym clothes, and basically be their beck and call bitch. Cole’s colorful words from his bedroom raced through my mind, making me blush. I hadn’t had the guts to talk to Ian yet. I needed to do that. If he told Jamie… My stomach clenched harder.
“Earth to Rosalie!” Jamie called out.
I shook my head and glanced over at her as I stuffed my bag into my locker. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
Jamie rolled her eyes at me. “Where we having lunch today?”
“I-I have to meet the guys at the bleachers,” I muttered.
She frowned at me. “What the hell is going on with you and them? I mean, they’ve been paying a lot of attention to you lately. What happened?”
I shrugged. “Probably want me to do their homework for them.”
“Ugh. What a bunch of dick bags. Fine. Find me when you’re done, OK? We can plot out how to fail them slowly over time. I’m going to see if Ian wants to have lunch.”
I gave her a weak smile and a nod before she disappeared down the hall to the cafeteria. The moment she was out of sight, I raced in the opposite direction, knowing Ian was in the li-brary since I’d seen him go in there right after the bell rang.
He sat at a table, flipping through a textbook when I approached him.
“Hey,” I breathed out in a shaky voice.
He looked up at me, a smile playing on his lips. “Hey.”
I twisted my hands nervously in front of me as I stared at him.
He put his pencil down and sighed. “Are you OK? I was worried about you on Saturday. The guys didn’t hurt you, did they?”
“No,” I answered, sitting down in the chair beside him.
He turned to face me, his brows furrowed. “I had fun, Rosalie—”
“It shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t want it. You drugged me. I’m sure it was just a mistake. You’re a nice guy.”
Our sentences came out at the same time. He nodded and gave me a tight smile.
“Maybe for you it was a mistake, but I meant what I said. I did have fun. I’d like to finish what we started. It seemed like you were into it.”
“Ian, no. Jamie really likes you. She’s my best friend. I don’t want to hurt her, so I’m not going to tell her what you did. I-I was drunk and upset, so that didn’t help things. If she finds out about what happened—”
“So what if she finds out? It’s not like you’re the first girl I’ve ever fucked, Rosalie.”
I widened my eyes at him. “We did not have sex, Ian. You know we didn’t.”
He shrugged. “Prove we didn’t. Prove you didn’t want it. I can tell Jamie what happened. I can tell her how I was knuckle deep in that tight pussy while you stroked my dick. Then I can tell her how quick you were to spread your legs for me after I fingered you.” He gave me an innocent smile before continuing. “We can finish what we started, and I’ll keep quiet. If we don’t, I’ll have to tell her. It’s what a friend would do.”
I stared at him open-mouthed and in disbelief.
“Are you serious? You know half that shit didn’t happen, and the half that did, certainly didn’t happen the way you’re saying—”
Ian shrugged again. “If I tell her it did, then it did. Who’s she going to believe? Me, coming to her in honesty, or you, hiding it? I want you. It’s that simple. Give me what I want, and it all goes away. Tell me no and watch your world fall apart.” He surveyed me with a confident smirk on his lips. “Seems like an easy choice to me.”
I got up from my chair so fast it toppled over behind me.
“You’re a fucking pig, Ian.”
“I’m your dirty little secret.” He reached out and took my trembling hand in his, his thumb rubbing a circle on the top of it. “If you want to keep it that way, best pay up.”
Disgust washed over me, and I tugged my hand from his grip before backing away.
“That’s fine. I’ll give you some time to think it over. I’d hate for the story to get out and all that considering what you could lose. Don’t wait too long. I’m not the patient sort.”
I couldn’t bother to reply to him. The disgust had turned to a sickness which twisted my guts. I thought we were friends, but hell, I’d also thought that about me and Fox and look how that turned out. I stumbled out of the library, my heart in my throat. Not only did I have the horsemen on me, but now Ian was gunning to ruin my life. All for something that happened that I didn’t even want.
MY DAY KEPT GETTING WORSE. As much as I wanted to avoid the horsemen, I had to go out and meet them at the bleachers. Drawing in a deep breath, I steeled myself and made the trek to the football field. I could see the guys milling around the bleachers—Cole and Ethan sitting on them with Enzo and Fox standing. They were all talking like they didn’t have a care in the world.
“Hey, she made it,” Enzo called out, smiling at me.
Fox cast me a look over his shoulder while Ethan’s eyes raked over me. Cole didn’t bother looking at me, the jerk.
I folded my arms awkwardly over my chest and stood in front of the guys.
“Welcome to our inner circle,” Enzo continued with a grin.
“Can we please get this over with? I’m already having a bad day, and you assholes proba-bly aren’t going to make any improvement on it.”
“Watch your mouth,” Fox growled as he moved behind me.
I shivered but kept my head held high.
“Your boy Ian?” Cole lifted a brow at me, his signature smirk on his lips.
I ground my teeth as I stared past him, noting that Fox moved so I could see him.
“It’s going to get worse. You were warned.” Fox folded his arms over his chest and leveled his gaze on me. “You just don’t fucking listen.”
“Tell me what you want me to do. Homework? Laundry? Write your papers?” I sighed in exasperation, throwing my hands up in the air.
“That could be nice.” Cole nodded. “But I don’t need homework help. I’m second in our class rankings right behind your sexy ass.”
I widened my eyes at him. I hadn’t known he was ranked second in our class.
He gave me a nod. “Surprised?”
“Yeah, you don’t strike me as the scholarly type.”
He laughed. “Ah, how little you know about me, Rosebud. We’re going to fix that. Hell, maybe I’ll even take over your spot. Or maybe you’ll let your grades slip for me.”
Dread filled my body at his words, a strange buzzing coursing through me. I couldn’t lose my ranking. I’d worked so hard for it the past four years. It might even cause me to lose my scholarship to Pendleton. My dad would kill me.
Cole nodded knowingly at me. “Be a real shame, huh?”
“Stop teasing her,” Ethan broke in. “She’s already upset.”
“She should be,” Fox snapped. “After all the shit she’s been pulling, she deserves to squirm a little.”
“I haven’t done anything!” I shouted at him. “It’s your girlfriend who teases and bullies me. I’ve never provoked her. I’ve never provoked anyone. I only try to survive here. Why can’t you let me? Why torment me?”
“I told you why.” Fox took a step closer to me. I stepped back until I found myself against the bleachers. “You owe me—”
“For what? Because you came to my rescue after your abusive bitch of a girlfriend accosted me in the cafeteria for an accident?” My voice became shrill as I stared up at his intimidating figure. “If that’s the case, punish me now, but don’t keep punishing me.”
Fox reached out and fisted my hair, angling my head painfully. I let out a hiss, my eyes watering, as he glared down at me, his grip tightening on my curls. “Oh, Rosie, I do plan on punishing you. The thought of putting you on your knees satisfies me more than you know. So keep it up. You have no fucking idea how much I want to punish your ass.”
“We only want to get to know you,” Ethan interrupted Fox’s onslaught. Fox released me, sending me shifting into a bleacher. I winced as one caught my ribs. “It won’t be as bad as you think, Rosalie. We picked you out of the hundreds of other girls here.”
“For what?” I whimpered, looking at all the guys in turn. My eye caught Cole tucking a black notebook into his bag before looking back at me, no trace of emotion on his face. “Why me?”
“Because you’re beautiful. Smart. Fragile. And honestly, we just want to break someone.” Cole shrugged, giving me a big smile and a wink. “You’re chosen. And since Fox has to exact some revenge on you, it seems perfect. We all get something out of it.”
“You’re nuts.”
“Maybe.” Enzo shrugged. “But by the time we’re all done here, you’ll be just as crazy. You’ll be one of us.”
“I don’t want to be one of you—”
“Well, you can definitely choose to deny us.” Fox pulled his phone out. My heart raced as I stared fearfully at him. “But this video can either stay hidden or it can be made public. Judging by how close you are to your friend Jamie and how much she likes Ian, I bet it would really hurt that friendship of yours. Imagine how that’ll be. Quiet Rosalie Bishop fucks the guy her best friend’s in love with. It’ll break her heart.”
I swallowed down my tears and glared at him.
“What’ll you do once you’re all alone?” Fox murmured, moving closer and thumbing my bottom lip. I flinched away, but he took my face roughly in his hand and squeezed, forcing me to look up at him. “No friends. Everyone thinking horrible things about you. You knowing those thoughts are true. What will you do, Rosie?”
My bottom lip trembled as I stared up at him.
“I used to love you, Fox,” my words were choked as I said them. His eyes widened, his lips parting. “You were my everything. Now you’re my nothing. Forcing me to do your bidding only makes me hate you.”
Fox froze, staring down at me. The silence around us was deafening. It took him a mo-ment, but he came out of whatever daze he was in to lean in and whisper in my ear words that made my heart break as he gripped my face
“I never loved you, Rosie. I only ever pitied you.” He released my face, but not before giving me a quick, patronizing pat on the cheek.
I pushed past him, not bothering to stop as Ethan called out to me. Even when Cole joined in calling my name, I kept moving.
I had to get the away and breathe. To hell with finishing the meeting.
