Page 109 of Dirty Roulette
“Yes!” She giggles and covers her face with both hands. “I’ll never unsee that now!”
“Yeah. I’m sorry about the pictures of you.”
“Brittni said it would ruin her reputation if I stayed at the sorority and kicked me out.”
That girl has some nerve. If it was her, I’m sure it would be a completely different scenario. Within minutes, she would be an outcast with the rest of us. I’ll never be like her. Screw that. Brittni wants to say I’m not good enough and I can’t make it? Nothing I do will prove that I’m better unless I tear them all to pieces and knock down their house of cards.
“You said Ryder was passing out flyers?” I ask.
“Yeah, I didn’t see him too long ago. He was down by the dining hall.”
“I think I’m going to try to find him.”
“Kiss and makeup, why don’t you?” Naomi wiggles her eyebrows. “I’d like to see Brittni squirm seeing him happy with someone else.”
“Thanks.” I push myself off the bed, snag my keys, and head out of the dorm.
It’s getting chillier as the sun starts to set. I stuff my fingers in the pockets of my light jacket and throw up my hoodie. The sky is mixed with pinks and dark blues. The dim orange street lights flicker on as I stride down the sidewalk.
The dining hall is still packed. The aroma of burgers and fries fills my nostrils as I walk through the double doors. The tables are full of faces engorging themselves.
Scouting the mass of people, I spot Ryder leaning on the wall, slapping the flyers against the palm of his hand. The sunken eyes and disheveled hair tear me to pieces. He’s white as a ghost and looks sick as hell. When a group of people walk out of the dining hall, he races up to them with the flyer, following them as they walk to the double doors, begging them to take a flyer.
They dismiss him with a hand and rush out. I remove the hoodie, and his eyes meet my line of view. My heart sinks as the defeat washes all over him and his hands drop to his sides. One of the flyers breaks free from the stack and glides to the ground.
Those gray eyes he shares with his sister glisten, and the flyers all flutter and scatter across the floor. My knees crumble where I stand, but I push them to work, walking to him – first one, then two, and finally a third step. I can’t bear the distance and dash across the tile floor running to him like nothing else exists in the world.
His arms cradle me the second I meet his chest. A heartbeat pounds in my eardrums, and it belongs to him. The ache in each beat causes me to break down into tears. His face is wet. Hands dig at the fabric ofmy jacket and his embrace is entirely different than anything he’s ever given me.
“How long have you been in here?” I ask, muffled under his long-sleeved shirt.
“I don’t know...” He mutters, and he rests his head on top of mine. His breath brushes against my hair.
“Do you need a break?”
He releases his embrace. We lean down and pick up the flyers with Charlie’s senior pictures.
“Probably. I’ve been doing this all day since I couldn’t at the game.”
All the blame in the world seeps into my veins, telling me this is all of my fault. If only I told her the truth, then we would’ve been at the concert together as friends. Brody would have never got his fingers on her, and she wouldn’t be missing.
I walk with him out of the dining hall, the flyers a complete unorganized mess in my hands. I follow him to the parking lot. We are silent getting into the Jeep.
Ryder’s hand rests on the steering wheel, his eyes hazed over staring out into the darkness of the night sky.
“I had to retract my statement about Brody.” He visibly swallows. The streetlights grant me small glimpses of the tears staining his eyes. He wipes his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. “The only way to get out of the charges was to write a statement that it was consensual. I watched her tell him no, and to get off her. Maybe at some point she agreed to sleep with him, but she said no.”
“They made you retract the statement?” I ask in shock.
“It was that or his father was going after the maximum amount of years. That’s why I got so trashed once they released me. I get it’s not an excuse...” He rests a hand on the door paneling, running his fingers across his face.
“His dad plays the same games.”
“Apparently.”
“I talked to Noah a bit. He said she lost her virginity to him and was telling him she loved him... there is no way she would have agreed to sleep with Brody. After the whole Brittni thing, she wanted nothing to do with him. She wasn't ditching me this summer for Brody, she ditched me for Noah.”
“I think he was still making her play Roulette. That would be the only reason.” Ryder lifts a brow and digs into his jeans pocket, pulling out clinking keys.
