Miranda stands up slowly, squinting at it.
“I heard something earlier from one of the Ruck House guys,” she says casually. “Apparently someone broke into Sebastian’s room and smashed a bunch of monitors he had set up.”
My pulse spikes because that part I know is true. Sebastian told me himself. But now my eyes are drifting around the room, suddenly seeing everything differently.
The corner where my dresser is. The smoke detector. The tiny black dot above the closet door. My heart starts pounding as I move quickly now, scanning every inch of the walls. And then I find another one.
And another.
By the time I finish searching the room, I’ve found six cameras.
Six fucking cameras in the room I change in, the room he spent the night with me in. It feels like the air has been sucked out of my lungs.
I’m shaking because Sebastian wouldn’t do this. Someone else must have.
My gaze drifts across the room to Miranda.
“They were camera feeds. His monitors, I mean,” she continues. “I bet he’s been watching you.”
The blood drains straight out of my face, and I feel like I’m going to start hyperventilating.
Juniper frowns slightly. “Can you two give us a minute?” she says quietly.
Lakynn is standing near the door now, her phone is in her hand and she’s typing. My chest tightens. Is she texting him?
Is that why she’s been so friendly?
Hot tears burn behind my eyes, but I force them back down before they can fall.
No.
I will not cry in front of anyone.
I swallow hard and straighten as Miranda follows Lakynn out of the room.
“Did you know?” I ask quietly.
My voice is calm.
Juniper hugs me, and I think she can feel how stiff I am because I’m not returning the hug. “No. I would have taken them down.” I look her in the eyes and I don’t see a hint of deception there. “I wanted the other girls to leave because Kalen has these same cameras in my room. But I know about them. I was there when he installed them.”
I raise my eyebrow because respectfully, what the fuck?
“We were in a pretty bad car accident when we were teenagers, and I was knocked out. Like I don’t remember anything that happened that night. He thought I was dead, liketruly thought I was gone. He’s never really gotten over it, and that’s why he’s so controlling. It’s probably not healthy, but it works for us. He wanted cameras in my room, and it’s Kalen, so I was all for it. Besides, I can flip him off whenever I want,” she chuckles, and I can feel myself loosening up at her calm voice. “I knew that Sebastian was stalking you, I won’t lie to you about that. But I also knew that he really cares about you and was afraid someone was after you. I didn’t know you well, and I was in a bit of a predicament because of Kalen. But please know if I knew that he’d put cameras in your room, I would have thrown a fit until he took them down.”
I give her a hug, resting my head on her shoulder. “I believe you. And I’m sorry you and Kalen went through that. I can tell he’s really worried about you all the time.”
She squeezes me and then says, “Someone we cared about died that night, and it’s just been shit ever since. You gotta do whatever you can to make yourself feel better, I suppose.”
Sparkles lifts her spotted head from Sebastian’s hoodie and gives us a curious look, her tail thumping once against the mattress. She’s so empathetic, and I think she can sense the shift in our moods.
I stare at the cameras and then look at the hoodie he left here. That probably has a freaking tracker in it or something. I’m mostly upset that I let myself believe things might actually be normal for once.
This is exactly why I’ve been better off alone all these years.
“Do you want me to go with you to talk to him? I’m assuming you’re not up for the game tonight.” Juniper says, brushing my hair away from my cheek.
I wipe quickly at my eyes before any tears can escape and shake my head no. “No, this is something I need to do on my own, but I appreciate you.”
