I see Noah and Aubrey rushing in from the far side of the cafeteria, eyes wide with horror as they take in the chaos Nicole’s created.
Aubrey’s already moving, breaking into a run as she heads straight for Sam, her face etched with panic.Noah’s locked in, his gaze focused on Nicole as if he’s two seconds away from losing control.I’ve seen that look before.He’s done acting nice.Done warning her to back the fuck off.
My feet are already moving, rushing across the cafeteria floor while every cell in my body hums with fury.The cap crumples in my fist, forgotten.My vision is filled with her—Red, frozen in the middle of this chaos, Nicole spinning around her, looking like the ground is about to give way beneath her.
“Enough.”My voice cuts through the cafeteria, erupting sharply, loud and final.
Everything stops.Conversations jam.Laughter ends mid-breath.
The silence is abrupt and sharp, like a clean cut.Every head turns toward me, necks stretching out, phones half-lowered, jaws slack.
Nicole turns slowly and smug at first, until she sees my face.
Her smirk falters.
Good because I’m not here for drama.I’m not here for another scene in the twisted little show she plays.
I’m here to put an end to it.
“You want attention, Nicole?”My voice stays steady, even as my hands shake.“Congrats.You got it.Now shut your fucking mouth.”
She laughs, but it’s softer now, unsure.“Oh, look who finally decided to show his face.”
I take a step closer.Followed by another.Each step is deliberate.Controlled.There’s nothing casual about how I move toward her now—only purpose and fire.
I’ve spent weeks pretending none of this mattered.I’m done pretending.And if this is the only chance Red will hear me, then it has to be now.
“You want a show, Nicole?”My voice deepens.“Fine.Here it fucking is.”
Gasps break the silence.
“You’re correct.There was a bet.”
The noise is immediate.
Aubrey’s eyes widen.She covers her mouth.Noah’s jaw clenches so tightly I swear he might break something.Lola rushes in and stands next to Aubrey.But Sam doesn’t move.She watches me, wide-eyed and shattered, her entire world breaking apart all over again right there in front of me.
Her pain devastates me.
“Yeah,” I keep going, even when it burns.“It started with a fucking bet.I threw down a two-hundred-dollar bet to Jace, saying I could get her to fuck me before the end of the year.Thought it’d be funny.Thought she was easy.”
I turn my head, and my eyes lock on Nicole.
“You know, like you.”
The impact of my words hits harder than any physical punch.Nicole flinches, her face twisting, but I keep going.
“And I made that bet,” I say, voice hoarse, chest burning.“Because I was a piece of shit who couldn’t handle the fact that she didn’t want me.That she looked straight through the mask and saw every fucked-up part of me I tried to hide.That she shut me down without blinking.”
My voice cracks, and I don’t bother to fix it.
“She wasn’t easy.She wasn’t a game.She was fucking everything.”
I look at Red, and the words spill out of me as if they’ve been clawing their way up for weeks.
“She’s smart, brave, and sharp as hell.She walked into my world and tore it apart.All that fire, fuck-you attitude, and stubbornness as sin.She called me on every lie, didn’t fall for the charm, didn’t laugh at the lines, and didn’t melt like every other girl did.She stood there, unshaken, making me want more and feel things I didn’t have words for.”
My hands shake.I let it all show.I let it bleed.
