“When I caught you coming out of his office, it wasn’t school related. You were spying on Sam.”
“No,” she stammers.
“You’re lying. I just heard it all.”
“I swear, it’s not what it looks like.”
My nostrils flare. “Then how is it?”
Gracie stares at me for a moment. I can see the wheels turning for her.
She exhales deeply. “I was the one that reported Jackson last term for raping me.”
Shock drops my jaw. “Gracie, I’m so sor—”
“It’s fine. It’s over now. But when I reported him, instead of them holding him accountable, they protected him. Just like they’re doing with Sam. If I didn’t drop the charges, didn’t pretend it never happened, Richard would use information he has to ruin my father’s reputation. And, as much as our relationship isn’t great, I can’t let that happen to my family. But Richard didn’t stop there, and now he’s been blackmailing me into telling him information about Sam. But I promise, I never told him anything important, and I never would. I’m just stuck, Kane, and when I learned Jackson tried to hurt her, too, I—”
“You’re not stuck.”
“You don’t get it.” She pauses. “I don’t think we know the half of what we’re up against. The things he has on my father… something tells me it’s nothing compared to the chancellor.”
I tense at that, my mind racing a mile a minute. I don’t know what I expected us to find, but it wasn’t this. Wasn’t this dark, this dangerous. If he’ll go to these lengths, exploitation, coercion, threats—Gracie might just be right.
“But, Kane.” She sighs and sniffles again. “There’s something else.”
Just then, Sam, Alex, and Mountain come briskly down the stairs.
“We got it, let’s go,” Sam orders.
Gracie stands, silently pleading with me not to say anything. I nod, not because I want to keep another secret, but because I wouldn’t know where to start. Besides, this isn’t really my story to tell.
Once Sam reaches the bottom, she throws her arm around Gracie’s neck and squeezes her tight. No words, only comfort as if she knows that something isn’t right. Gracie peers at me over Sam’s shoulder, and I shrug.
Then I look over at Alex. He’s the last to descend the stairs, and his eyes are piercing me like daggers.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
SAM
We rejoin the crowd, blending in as if we aren’t pumped full of adrenaline.
Gracie and I settle toward the back of the room, neither of us feeling quite like we fit in here.
A second later, Jackson comes into view, touching his lips and checking for blood. Thankfully he doesn’t notice us and angrily hobbles toward the exit. I notice Gracie’s body lock up, her breath changing drastically. Then I remember him cornering me in the hallway, admitting everything.
Maybe I’ll finally do to you what I did to that bitch Gracie. Only you’ll have to be awake through it when I fuck you.
I reach for her, realizing that she’s shaking. It all makes sense now. Her warning me when we first met, the literal unease that riddled her body when I practically made her attend the game, her reluctantly agreeing to do this tonight, her questioning what happened when I broke his knee.
Gracie peers at me, her eyes brimming with tears. There’s a pit in my stomach seeing her like this, hating that I can never take away her pain. Gripping her hand, I pull her away, not stopping until we’re back in the hall and far away from everyone. Assoon as we’re out of sight, I wrap my arms around her neck and squeeze her tight.
“I’m so sorry, Gracie. I didn’t know he did that to you,” I choke out.
She stares at me, speechless.
“You could have told me what he’d done. I would have been there for you. I hate that you’ve been dealing with this alone.”
The tears are heavier now, but no sound escapes her. It’s as if for the first time she’s truly allowing herself to feel her own pain.
