Everett had been arrested—probably for hurting Evelyn—and although bail was set, Albert refused any contact with him. He was stuck in jail for the time being.
What did they think now that they knew the truth? Everett had betrayed them, irrevocably destroyed their reputation.
And in the middle of it all was Val.
Sweet, innocent Val who’d just wanted a family to love and to love him in return.
He was in shock. Had been for days now. His entire world had just been turned upside down, inside out.
It was all so veryfucked.
I never should’ve brought Reese to that party. Why the fuck did I think it would be okay? I knew what Everett was capable of. I’d convinced myself I could protect him from my family, and what a fucking joke that was.
The night we got back, he finally capitulated and allowed me to take him to the school infirmary, clinging to me the whole time. The doctor who looked at him said he’d gotten a concussion. His left eye was swollen shut, there was a nastyscrape above it, his neck was riddled with dark, ugly bruises but was otherwise fine, and…
It was all my fucking fault.
If I had tried harder over the years to defend myself, to get someone to believe me about Everett, this never would’ve happened. If I hadn’t been so indifferent to my own reputation, if I hadn’t been so pessimistic about any kind of justice being done, this never would’ve happened.
If I’d cared aboutanything, this wouldn’t have happened.
The only things I cared about were right here in this room with me.
Val was staying with us in our room, oscillating between crying and sleeping and getting angry, then crying and sleeping some more. He’d finally gotten out of bed—Reese’s bed—to go get some food. I’d wanted to go with him but he told menovery firmly. Told me to stay with Reese.
None of us really wanted to leave the room because of the sheer amount of publicity this had gotten. People wanted to talk to us, hear our story, and never had I ever wanted to tell the world to fuck off more than I did now.
Where were they when these things happened? Kneeling at Everett’s feet and kissing his ass. Fuck them.
I got up from my desk and moved to my bed, unable to stop myself from sliding onto it and curling myself around Reese.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into his hair. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
I wanted him to wake up, to tell me it was okay, to run his fingers through my hair and kiss my cheek and bite my neck and tell me to shut up and just kiss him. To tell me he forgave me.
I wanted to go back and tell him not to come to the manor.
Everett might have been the one to physically hurt him, but I was the one who’d brought him there in the first place.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered again, as if those words could fix everything.
“It’s okay,” he whispered back.
“How long have you been awake?” I smoothed my hand down his side, all the way to his thigh, then dragged it back up to his shoulder.
“For like ten seconds,” he murmured, snuggling back into me.
“Reese—” His name came out in a croak. He shifted, looked over his shoulder at me, then turned around, pushed me down onto my back, and straddled me, lowering himself until he was plastered against me.
I wasn’t sure when I’d started crying, or when Reese’s hands had found their way under my shirt, warm fingers stroking my stomach and chest as he kissed my neck. When he realized I was crying, he drew back and frowned at me.
“Well, I can safely say that your tears don’t turn me on,” he told me.
I laughed and wiped them away, but Reese grabbed my hands and moved them to his waist, then brushed my tears away for me. The feel of him beneath my hands, having him on my lap, every part of him touching me, was all I needed.
“I’m really glad you’re so vicious,” I whispered.
He nodded, lips twitching in a smile.
