Page 37 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

Tension gripped my muscles as I climbed into the truck. I had no idea what that had been about, but all I could think was that I was damned happy Jess wasn’t a part of it anymore. Regardless of my decision to stay away from her, I still wanted her to be safe. Whatever it took.

Chapter 25

Jess

Pulling my jacket around me a little tighter, I clutched my Starbucks cup in both hands and sipped on my coffee, trying in vain to warm myself up. It was an unusually cold day, and all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a good book and dream about guys who didn’t fuck me around. Well, obviously, they would fuck me around, but in all the good ways.

Sitting down on the bench in the only bit of sun available, I stretched out and sighed. Even though I’d just been on break less than two weeks ago, I felt like I was ready for another one. I had no idea being the center of gossip could be so draining.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Emmy said, dropping down beside me. “Do you want the bad news, or the bad news?”

I groaned. “Awesome. But that sounds about how my life is going right now. Just tell me.”

She sighed. I could tell she didn’t want to tell me, but that’s how I knew she was a good friend. “I just ran into Victoria Holmes, and she said she had a little chat with Wyatt yesterday.”

I groaned louder. This was not going to end well. I could just tell.

“Apparently, she just asked him point-blank about the threesome thing, and guess what he said?” she said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Anxiety fluttered in my gut. “Do I want to know?”

She scoffed with hatred. “He didn’t deny it, Jess. He said, ‘What kind of an ex would I be if I spilled all our bedroom secrets?’”

I stared at her for a long time. I didn’t actually think I’d ever been so insulted in all my life. And as each passing moment moved on to the next, the disregard he had for my reputation drew forth an anger inside me that just kept building on itself.

Emmy scowled. “I’m so pissed off for you. I want to go smack him.”

Finishing my coffee in one big gul

p, I pushed up to my feet. “It’s okay. I got this.”

Her eyes widened as she scrambled to her own feet. “What are you going to do? Do you want me to come?”

Giving her a hug, I tried to reassure her with a smile. “I’ll be okay. I’m just going to go talk with him.”

Taking the keys out of my pocket, I waved goodbye and made my way to where I’d parked my car. On the outside, I looked calm, but inside, my blood was boiling. I was having real trouble believing Wyatt could’ve said something like that, and I hoped like hell it was a serious case of bad translation, because I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do to him if I found out it was true.

Pulling up to the curb, I cut the engine and stared out at the McGeorge dorms. As much as I didn’t give a shit about small-minded people and the rumors they so loved to revel in, I was not going to stand for this kind of shit.

Climbing from the car, I slung my bag over my shoulder and stormed up the path, my hands clenching at my sides. As soon as I reached Wyatt’s door, I bashed on it, hard.

The speed and velocity at which the door swung opened surprised me, but as soon as I saw Wyatt’s face, I remembered why I was there.

“Jess,” he said, obviously surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?”

I raised my chin. “Can I come in, or would you prefer me to yell at you out here in the hall?”

His eyes narrowed, his mind obviously calculating how serious I was, but after a few minutes, he stood to the side and opened the door wider for me to pass.

Striding into the room, I stopped by the foot of his bed, crossed my arms, and turned to face him. “I just need you to answer one question, Wyatt. Why the hell would you allude to Victoria Holmes that this ridiculous rumor is true?”

His expression gave nothing away. I was sure it was something they taught in law school, because Eli was practically the same. “What rumor?”

I was not in the mood to play games. In fact, I was far from it. My teeth clenched. “Don’t play stupid, Wyatt. You know exactly what I’m talking about. The gossips, I can handle. The small-minded, childish taunts, I can ignore. But blatant lies from the one person who could either choose to refute it or ignore it, I won’t let slide,” I said, growing angrier by the second. “I just don’t get why you would bother to lie in the first place. What good does it do? We’re not in fucking high school anymore, Wyatt. You don’t need to bullshit people to get some sort of notch etched into some fictitious fucking post. Where’s your goddamn honor in all this?”

Wyatt straightened, his chin rising a fraction with defiance. “I think you’ll find that I didn’t actually admit to it. I just didn’t see the need to refute it.”

His response only served to piss me off more. “Is this how little you cared for me all this time, Wyatt? That you give zero fucks about my reputation? Or is this one of those things that fits into the category of not wanting to rock the boat?”

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