He snaps his fingers. “Yes. They had that weird egging each other on. Fuck, Brandt offered me his sister to fuck at one point. And she was down with it.”
I press my lips together and glare at him. For a moment, I forgot about this morning. Are we even still together? He’s going off to a college campus. He’s ridiculously hot. Someone will hit on him. Will he fuck her?
“How in the fuck would Jackson Riordan know Brandt Stanwell though?” Cam asks. His hand squeezes my thigh. “Brandt is fucking loaded and has famous parents. They didn’t go to grade school together, and Brandt’s never held a hockey stick in his life. They live nowhere near each other. There’s no intersection of their lives.”
“His sister goes to a boarding school.” Damon rubs his temples. “I didn’t ask which one, but Jackson is at Kentwood Prep.”
It’s possible that’s a connection. How would we find out?
“You think Brandt’s sister is the connection to Jackson?” Hawk asks.
Damon glances at me. “She knew both Olivia and Chase. She was at Tom’s party. The way she talked she knew them. But it could have been her brother running his mouth to her.”
“We’ll look into your nerd, Heather’s phone, and the connection to Brandt while you’re gone.” Hawk leans back and looks between Damon and me.
I sit back and look away from Damon. I should ask where we stand, but my chest aches. I don’t know how we’re going to fix this.
Hawk sighs. “What you two went through this morning was messed up. Some time away from each other might be what you guys need. So you can figure out how to make this right. Because I’m all in on Annie. No matter what happens.”
“Same.” Cam takes my hand and threads our fingers together. My heart beats a little harder. “It wouldn’t be the same without all of us, but I’m not willing to give her up.”
My heart softens. Fuck, I love these guys. When I lean against Cam’s arm, I look up at Damon. If he decides he doesn’t want me anymore, can we still do this? There would always be a piece missing in my heart. How would I be with them and not think of Damon?
Damon nods at the guys like he understands. “Let’s head back to school.”
CHAPTER 18
Damon
The afternoon seemsto fly by. I packed yesterday before we picked up Evan. Fuck. My brain is fucked up. Hawk might be right that I need space from her. Everything in me wants to turn to her and say everything will be okay. To make her smile instead of cry. To take that anger in her and turn it into passion.
At the same time, I’m so fucking angry. That wasn’t for her to share.
But this morning was a trainwreck waiting to happen. It could have been avoided if she had been honest with her mom. I know I’m to blame for unloading all that shit, but her mom thought I was fucking Chase Chadwick’s understudy.
Fuck that. Evan belongs to me.
I’m not going to hockey practice, so I say goodbye to Cam and Hawk after school.
“Take care of her.” I swallow down the anger and pain. “Food, sleep. She’s getting worse about both as the performance gets closer. She’s worse when she’s mulling over something.”
“Maybe she’ll sleep better without you keeping her up late at night. Don’t worry, we’ll have a strict bedtime.” Cam smirks but then turns serious. “Honestly, we’ve got her. You’re free to go and focus on hockey and getting on the team. No chicks.”
I scoff. “Like I want anyone else.”
And that’s the rub. There’s only Evan for me, but fuck, our trust is broken. We didn’t have enough sleep and weren’t fully awake. I’m just as much to blame for this whole thing. Maybe Chase’s involvement would have come out eventually, but Dad doesn’t understand my shit or why I didn’t want to get the police involved.
“We’ll make you some quality movies.” Hawk holds his fist up for me.
I roll my eyes and bump his fist. “I need to know she’s okay.”
“You already watch her twenty-four-seven on video between the hallway cameras and the however many cameras you’ve got in your house.” Cam shakes his head. “I’m just glad you aren’t gay, man. I don’t think I could handle that kind of focused attention.”
I grab Cam’s hand and pull him into me to give him a hug. “Make her smile.”
“Not a problem. Focus on hockey this week.” Cam grabs his bag and heads into the locker room.
“Are you going to tell her goodbye?” Hawk picks up his backpack.
