Page 88 of Web of Lies
He brings it to me, and we all settle in for a small conversation until I use the restroom. When I come back, all the guys adorn serious expressions, their backs ramrod straight, and their hands are curling together.
“What?” I ask, stopping mid-stride, narrowing my eyes in on them suspiciously.
They’re up to something, and I’m not sure if I like the serious look on their faces. They all look at each other, nodding their heads. Zepp stands, apparently the speaker of the group, running his palms down the denim of his jeans, taking a few steps towards me.
“We’ve come to an agreement,” he says, settling right in front of me.
Body heat pours into me, our bodies almost touching, but with his tall stature, I have to tilt my head up to look into his worrisome forest green eyes. He nervously looks back at the other two, who encourage him with hand signals to continue. Zepp sighs, fidgeting with his fingers before meeting my stare head-on.
“And what kind of agreement is that?” I ask, getting lost in the depths of his beautiful eyes.
“You can’t walk around this campus alone anymore. I can’t go through another night of wondering where the hell you are or if you’re locked in a dumpster again or if they kidnapped you….” Zepp clears his clogging throat, words trailing off.
“Or fucking worse. We can’t have that again. We need to know you’re safe,” Seger says, coming to stand by Zepp.
“So, New Girl, you’re looking at your new escorts,” Chase says through a lop-sided grin, spreading his arms wide.
With their newest proposal echoing in my mind, I fold my arms and mull it over. To say I didn’t need it would be a big fat fucking lie. The biggest lie I could tell myself, and I can’t lie to myself or them. Not now. I have to think as logically as I can. If they walk me around this campus, they can protect me because I need it. Seeing how I got myself thrown into a dumpster for a few hours and wanted to die, I can’t go through that bone-crushing experience again. I’m as strong as I can be, especially with the circumstances I’ve been dealt with.
Hacking into their emails, changing their grades, and exposing their shitty parents is all in my skill set. But I can’t physically fight back, and I’ve had no training. I wonder how much damage my fist would do in someone’s face. Preferably Hadley’s. Over and over and…
“I’ve lost you. You’re overthinking it,” Zepp whispers in front of me, capturing my eyes with his again. I shake the thoughts from my head. “We care about you, seriously care, and we don’t want to worry about you getting hurt. Let us help you—with everything, please.”
“I wasn’t overthinking it,” I whisper back. “I was just thinking about how it would help to have you guys as bodyguards.”
“Escorts,” Seger corrects with a finger point. “We’re your escorts,” he snorts again, laughing at his joke, making Chase join in with a slap to his chest.
I grin, tilting my head again. “I don’t pay for that, though.” Seger’s eyes widen with humor as his growing laugh bounces off the walls.
“And you wouldn’t need to,” Zepp mutters from in front of me, probably more to himself than anything.
“We’re in this together, Kace. Whether you like it or not. We’re game.” Chase says through his smile.
I settle in on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Since my room is still a mess, the boys convinced me to sleep on their couch until the school cleans it—if they clean it out. Seger tried as hard as he could to get me into his bed—for cuddles only, or so he says. Yeah, right. His hands would have been everywhere on my body, and I would have let him all too eagerly. So, I said no. Besides, Seger is too tempting to turn down. He and Zepp offered me their beds, offering to take the couch, but I declined.
With his tattoos and snarky attitude, he’s my fucking wet dream come alive. Maybe my perfect nightmare? Since the kiss we shared—we all shared—I haven’t stopped thinking about them—their lips. The heat of their tongue dancing with mine. How much longer will I be able to hold out and not let my hormones rule the show? Not that I’m holding out for anyone special, but if it’s one of them, I’m okay with that. But which one? That would be another thought for another day.
Thankfully, Zepp got an email regarding my complaint ticket, stating they’d take care of it in the morning ASAP. Meaning I only had to hold my hormones in check for one night. Otherwise, I was going to blow, like literally. My fingers itched to inch inside my borrowed sweatpants and orgasm my frustrations away. But again, I’m on a couch in the boy’s living room. So, that’s a no-go.
Chase took off earlier to talk to Ainsley to make sure she knew the cult’s bogus information. He hoped in his heart we could all go back to normal. My mind swirls with the chaotic events of the day, making sleep slip through my fingers like fine white sand. The break-in. The dumpster throwing. The hiding in the dark for hours upon hours, with only The Hartbrakers to entertain me. Adrenaline pours through my veins at the thought of never escaping my metal prison, then my savior’s voice echoes through my brain.
Warmth spreads from the tip of my head to the ends of my tingling toes. His embrace. The way my legs wrapped around his waist. A perfect fit, way too perfect. He let me sob into him, and he held me. Really held me, whispering those sweet words of encouragement. Oh, Chase. My sweet, sweet, caring Chase. Our first—well, not so first—kiss washes back over me. More thoughts. More imagery of the dark, damn dumpster. No sleep will come to me at this rate. Thoughts shoot through everything that happened….
I jolt upright on the couch with a breath catching in my throat. A steady drum pounds in my ears as my heart pumps. The break-in. My computers! I turn towards the borrowed monitor and bolt for it, stumbling over the back of the couch and my own damn feet. They may have destroyed the camera capturing their break-in, but my tower should have stored every movement.
Just as I suspected. Carter. Oscar. Hadley. Trent. They’re all captured in over five hundred pictures—yeah, five-fucking-hundred—thanks to the motion detector I had set up from the previous break-in. And thank God I had, or else I wouldn’t have proof.
Hadley stabs my mattress with the largest, most intricate knife I’ve ever seen. It’s larger than my hand, and she’s barely able to wrap her fingers around it. Trent drags all my clothes out, disgustingly plucking my underwear from its drawers, sniffing them, and pockets them. What the hell? My panties? Why? Because men are gross, Kace. Ugh.
Bleach splashes from the bottle all over my clothes, thanks to Trent again. Bastard. Oscar takes a particular interest in Magnolia’s paintings, tilting his head and then throwing them off the wall in one motion. He danced on them, only stepping back to knock them around a bit, and finally, they settled turned over on the ground. He gives them one last kick, surprisingly not tearing the tanned leather on the back covering the frame.
Carter sneaks up on my monitor like it might bite his hand.It will, asshole, back away! That’s right, scary man; it’s a snake, it’ll bite you. Stay back.But he doesn’t listen to my inner monologue. He continues coming forward cautiously. He’s the least destructive of the bunch, even with the high flames of chaos swimming in his dark eyes. He looks back at the other criminals and then back at the computer. His blazing brown eyes stare directly into the camera lens like he’s sending a cryptic message. He tilts his head in a few more pictures, searing into my soul as I stare back, before rearing the ax in his hand back above his head and smashes my poor defenseless baby with the sharp ax until the glass shatters. Blackness greets me next, and then nothing after that. Emptiness. Blank spaces where more evidence should sit. And even though he cut off the evidence, a smile plays on my lips. Victory jumps for joy inside my mind. I got them on camera. I have cold, hard evidence.
“What is that?” I jump out of my skin, crying out at the voice from behind me, my hand slams against my raging heart.
“You’re like a sneaky ninja,” I hiss, trying to catch my out-of-control breaths. Sneaky, sneaky, asshole! Sheesh, give a girl a warning! Of course, I don’t say that, but my scowl and disapproving look do.
A tiny, playful grin plays on Zepp’s lips. “Sorry, Kace. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw you sitting here.” Taking a deep breath, I wave him off.
