They locked us all up together in a big cell with benches along two walls. The cops had divested Tristan of his rope, leaving him in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants and the other students in various states of costuming.
The two women who’d joined the fight were locked up in a cell across a wide hallway. Eva wasn’t among them, so I had to assume she’d gotten away.
Assume.
My phone was still in property lockup, and she could be anywhere—hurt, scared, disgusted by my violence, neverwanting to see me again. The thought cut through my chest like a fucking blade.
Fuck.Fuck!
“You fucker,” snarled one of the guys who’d been making the nasty comments about Eva. “You started this.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Started what?”
“Started a fight—over that fucking girl.”
I furrowed my brow and scooted closer to Tristan, who draped his arm over my shoulders and tugged me tight.
“Not sure what you’re talking about.”
“That fat bitch,” he snarled.
My vision tunneled. Tristan’s arm tightened around me, holding me back, and it took everything I had not to cross the cell and finish what I’d started at the party. My hands curled so tight, my nails bit into my palms.
“Easy,” Tristan murmured against my temple. I forced myself to breathe, forced myself to stay still. This is what Eva did every day—swallowed her rage and kept on smiling because she fucking had to.
I could do this for her.
I would do this for her.
I swallowed hard then smiled. “I would never talk about a lady that way,” I drawled, getting comfortable with Tristan, or at least as comfortable as we could be.
He scratched my scalp. “You don’t have to stay in here if a responsible adult comes to pick you up, you know.”
I looked at him, confused. “What?”
“Yeah. They’re not going to actually arrest us,” Tristan said. “Just hold us for a night, maybe through tomorrow to fuck with us because cops are assholes, and then they’ll let us go.” He looked at me in surprise. “Do you ever pay attention to anything?”
I laughed quietly. I couldn’t blame it on never having been arrested before, because neither had Tristan.
“You’re going to call your lawyer, right?” he asked.
The moment stretched out. One call, and I’d be out of here in twenty minutes, the whole thing buried before morning. But then my father would ask questions. Why was I at a party? Who was I with? What started the fight?
He’d find out about Eva. He probably already suspected we were back together. Why else would he have given her that deadline on my medical records? But right now, it was just suspicion. If I called, if his lawyers came, if they pulled the police report and saw I’d started a fight at a party where Eva was, he’d know for certain. He knew everything and everyone in this town—I wouldn’t be able to keep her involvement a secret.
And then he’d renege on our deal not to touch her, because I’d already reneged on mine.
I’d handed him enough weapons against people I cared about. I wasn’t giving him another one.
I shook my head.
“Cole—”
“No.” The word came out harder than I meant it to. “I’m not calling him.”
Tristan’s hand stilled on my back. “You could lose your spot on the team.”
The new coach, whoever the fuck it would be, could kick me out. My father could cut me off entirely, but none of that mattered if Eva ended up in his crosshairs. “So could you. I’m done letting other people suffer for my fuck-ups.”
