Page 206 of Rebellious

“If I go to college, they won’t be able to stop me,” she snapped. “What’s the point in this conversation anyway? Diesel’s unhappy? Whose fault is that? He’s the engineer of his own fucking misery. I have my own problems to solve, so fuck him and you,” she said, her temper getting the best of her and making her forget her fear.

Torrin studied her, then asked, “You want a beer?”

“Have you been fucking snorting coke, jackass? I can’t fucking drink in the clubhouse. My parents aren’t here.”

“Lies, girlfriend. I don’t snort coke.”

She made a face at him.

“Are you completely happy with Kemo?”

“Did you seriously just combine Kaia and emo?”

“Brilliant, huh?”

“What do you want, Torrin?” she whisper-yelled, tired of him and the entire conversation.

“I don’t think you are happy with Kemo, sweetheart,” he continued, ignoring her question. “Your heart’s been set on Diesel for too long for a dime store replacement to satisfy you.”

“Why are you…did Diesel put you up to this?”

“That’s a busy man. An attorney. Does he have time for…?”

“Manipulation? Games? We both know that’s his middle fucking name.”

“He learned from the best.”

She didn’t pretend not to know who he meant. “Yeah. Daddy’s a master manipulator. Tell me something I don’t know. Diesel graduated from the Outlaw School of Mind Fuckery and surpassed the teacher.” She waved her hand to brush away that conversation. “And Kaia’s perfect the way he is. Don’t talk about him like he’s irrelevant. He isn’t. Not to me.”

“Stop being selfish, Rebel. You’re stringing Kaia along to torture Diesel. You pretend you’re above Fia and the rest of the bitches. You want us to believe your body’s a sacred temple when we all know the fucking truth. You’ve shown it to us.”

Rebel recoiled and he swept her with a look that she couldn’t place, although deep down she knew. She knew he was talking about her videos. Trying not to cry, she pressed her lips together.

La traviata sounded from Rebel’s phone and she snatched it, happy that Mattie was calling to distract her and give her a chance to process Torrin’s words.

“CJ’s here,” Mattie whispered once Rebel picked up. “Rory sent me this weird message. I thought CJ was about to kill him.”

Torrin shoved back from his seat and walked to the bar, then sat on the stool and turned to face her. The heat of his gaze unsettled her.

“What did it say?” Rebel asked, trying to act normal, but her heart was pounding. She wanted to run to her room and hide from the world. “Why would Rory think that?”

“Let me send you a screenshot of the message. Can you come over? I-I need support. I think I made the guys mad.”

“Who else is there?”

“Besides CJ, Ryan and Grant are with him.”

“Don’t worry about them. They’ll survive. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thanks,” Mattie said, and hung up.

Just as she started to call Bishop, Kaia walked up.

Shaken by Torrin’s presence, Rebel had never been so glad to see him.

“Hey, babe.” Kaia bent to kiss her cheek. “I think I have everything…” His voice trailed off and he frowned. “Are you okay?”

Not in the least. “I, uh, I—”