Page 104 of Tag

She walked out without knowing I’d been two seconds from dropping to my knees and laying everything I was at her feet. I turned the lock again, and the mechanicalclickgrounded me, giving me something to hold onto before I lost what little control I had left. I crossed to the sink, gripping the porcelain until my knuckles strained white. I looked calm and controlled. Clean-cut quarterback. Heir to the Voss name. Strategic and polished. Underneath it was nothing but restrained violence and darker urges waiting for permission to break loose. I felt as if I’d just run thirty laps on the fucking field.

My dick strained against my waistband like it didn’t give a shit that we were in a public bathroom. Sass had been right; it was disgusting. Not to the naked eye, but in the way hundreds of people had left behind footprints and sweat and other things I didn’t care to name or think about too deeply because it made my fucking skin crawl. I wouldn’t have fucked her in here even if she begged. She deserved better than tiled floors with questionable stains and a faulty soap dispenser.

I pulled her Polaroid from my back pocket, the photo slightly bent now. It didn’t matter. I could still see her through the thick black ink. Roxxi’s photo was tucked behind it, the only other one I gave a fuck about in that entire stack she’d collected. I already had the full list of Marked. Xander gave it to us the day after we handled Chess Club. That’s what our circle did. We watched. We kept tabs. We made moves behind closed doors.

Ashton dropped the news of my girl being Marked while I was lacing my cleats in the locker room.

I knew exactly what it was, a weak ass power move. I wondered if he truly believed I hadn’t known. I hated that he had gotten the actual words first, but she said she was going to tell me, and I believed her. I only needed her to say it out loud. To hear it from her lips, so I could know she trusted me with it. I tucked her photo back into my pocket, right where it belonged. I washed my hands, using my elbows to work the sink and the one dispenser that functioned properly, then grabbed a paper towel to open the door.As I crossed the hallway, my phone went off. I flipped it around, already guessing who it was from.

1214

Golden boy always gets first pick.

But even trophies get stolen when they’re not guarded properly.

I was not amused. They really needed to come up with a new nickname. I texted back with one hand.

Get some originality. I’m not impressed.

No response came, not that I expected one. Whoever was behind this thought they were clever, but it was always the same old games, same old taunts. They wanted to see how far they could push before I snapped.

They were going to find out.

I backed out of the thread and thumbed over to the group chat with Cade and our dad. A message was sitting there, casual and predictable. He always took time off when we came up.

You boys want to do anything special this weekend?

I typed back:

Down to do whatever as long as what we talked about gets taken care of.

On top of handling a few loose ends that I couldn’t take care of on campus, I had every intention of showing Sanjana exactly what the fuck we were. I shot one last text off, a quick check-in to Cadence—my little sister, a meme, and a playful threat that she better be staying out of trouble. She was most likely with Sanjana’s sister, doing whatever it was that fourteen-year-olds did when they had too much money and resources on their hands.

By the time I walked into the main dining room, the music had switched to a track I recognized as my parents' wedding song of all things—Heart and Soulby The Cleftones. They sang and danced it at every anniversary and holiday party. Dougie was singing along loud enough for his voice to carry over the crowded atmosphere.

The Nest was always like this after practice meet-ups. It got worse when we won a game, but we all loved the place. I dapped up a few guys, nodded to a couple of girls, then slid into the booth beside Brooke. Cloe was eyeing Macy like she wanted to decapitate her with her straw. Knowing all the crime shows she binged and the twisted, fascinating shit she read for fun, she could probably get it done clean. Ari was shooting Xander the death glare of the century as he shamelessly sipped her milkshake. Roxxi was in a heated conversation with my brother and Nick. Aiden was people watching, as usual.

My girl wasn’t there.

I leaned back in the booth, one arm draped across the top, fingers tapping absently against the leather. Where the fuck was Sanjana?

“You all know now, so you can drop it,” Roxxi responded to something Cade said, her voice sharp and clipped like it always got when she was done putting up with someone’s shit.

He nodded once and gave her some space.

They’d been talking to the girls while I was with Sanj, getting us all on the same page, for the most part. Brooke shifted closer to me, her lips brushing too close for comfort.

“What happened between you two? Is she upset about something?”

I turned my head and stared at her until she visibly swallowed and had the decency to look apologetic. Brooke had been different ever since that night in my room. We were supposed to just watch a movie and eat something. She’d tried to get me to do more the next morning, and I was forced to turn her down as respectfully as I could manage. I wasn’t fucking her, I didn’t want to fuck her, and I could barely remember the last time was, I had fucked her. She couldn’t miss the signs that our relationship was drawing to an end, but she still wasn’t about to willingly give up her title.

That didn’t matter to me.

The outcome was going to be the same regardless, and seeing the way she was behaving lately, getting closer to Layla, and more brazen with how she talked to me, it solidified that I’d taken the right approach to how I would finish things.

“Ryder?” she prodded softly.

“Do you talk about the people you’re close with as soon as they leave a room?”

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