AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Screw that. He needed to be punished for what he did.
“Are you all right?” Will asked, suddenly by my side. His gaze was on me, while mine was watching Travis walk away, tattooed hands in his pockets as if nothing was wrong. As if Declan hadn’t almost died.
He didn’t say he didn’t do it, and yet…watching his reaction to what I said, I couldn’t help but wonder if he didn’t do it, if Travis wasn’t the one who hurt Declan. But if it wasn’t Travis, who the hell was it? Someone Sawyer sent? A rich guy like him could pay someone to do just about anything, I’d imagine.
My phone…Travis mentioned videos on them. Did the videos have something to do with Declan and what happened?
Shit. I couldn’t trust any of these guys. I knew it, I’d known it from the beginning, and yet I found myself wanting to believe them all. Stupid of me, really.
After a while, I moved my stare to Will’s. His hazel gaze was still on me, eager to hear my response. “I’m fine,” I said, finally.
“Are you and Travis…” Will trailed off, unable to say it. While he normally looked kind and welcoming, right now he looked a bit annoyed, a tad pissed off, as if he was upset at watching Travis and I together.
“No,” I said, because we weren’t. We weren’t dating. I’d never date another man like him again.
“If you are, tell me now, and I’ll find a way to break it to Declan.”
I blinked, wondering why he’d have to break anything to Declan. “What do you mean?”
Will let out a sigh. “He likes you.” He paused, his eyes falling. “He likes you a lot, I can tell. I don’t want him to get hurt again.” The older brother, a knight in shining armor. Those were in tight supply around here—and by tight supply, I meant they were nonexistent.
“I would never hurt him,” I said, hoping desperately Will believed me. “Never,” I added, stepping closer to him. “Declan is a good friend.” A friend. That’s all he was…but then friends didn’t get caught in the positions we often found ourselves in, did they?
“A friend,” Will repeated, clear in his disbelief. I didn’t blame him, because I didn’t believe myself either. “If you say so.”
We headed back inside, finishing our dinner. My nuggets were cold, but that was okay, because at least Travis was gone. Gone, but not out of my mind. None of these guys ever were. I left my phone on my desk, refusing to look at it for the longest time.
Will slept on the floor between our beds, closer to Declan’s side than mine. As night fell and we got ready for bed, I went into the bathroom and closed the door, grabbing my phone before I went. The two guys were already changed and tired, and as I got ready to brush my teeth, I unlocked the screen.
Should’ve put in a passcode, but I never thought I’d need to.
As I began to brush my teeth, I held the toothbrush in my mouth as I used my good hand to get to the gallery. I turned the volume all the way down before clicking on the newest video, resting the phone on the counter before I resumed my nightly routine.
The video wasn’t of Sawyer hiring some Hillcrest student to stage Declan’s suicide, but it was of Sawyer. My gut hardened into stone when I realized what the video was. Sawyer was in his room, standing facing his bed with his back to the camera. A girl was between his legs, giving him head.
A girl with pink hair.
I assume Travis took the video, and I assumed he stood in the hallway, where neither Sawyer nor the girl would see him, and I knew without a doubt he wanted this video to hurt me. Sawyer and I just went on our date a few days ago, and for a few moments during it, I thought…well, I wasn’t stupid enough to think I’d gotten through to him, but I was sure we’d shared a couple genuine moments.
I knew Sawyer was a playboy, the tool of all tools, the douchebag of all douchebags. I knew it, and yet somehow, watching him face-fuck this girl hurt. I didn’t care about him, and I sure as shit didn’t like him, but a girl with pink hair? I mean, what was I supposed to think? He’d found his next Ash, a better replacement, someone who’d let him do whatever he wanted to her and enjoy it, since I refused his charms.
The video went on for a while, but I bit down on my toothbrush as I went to pause it. I paused it right when they were about to switch positions, right after Sawyer went to grab something from his nightstand—a condom, I think.
I couldn’t watch it. Maybe it made me weak, but I couldn’t. Sawyer wasn’t my boyfriend, we weren’t dating. I didn’t like him, and still watching him fuck a pink-haired girl—a girl who I knew was a replacement for me—was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. Hell, I didn’t think I could watch the full video.
I felt…mad. Angry. Like I wanted to scream. Travis had taken this video, hoping it would shatter whatever connection I had to Sawyer, to which I wanted to say: what connection? I didn’t like Sawyer; I didn’t want to date the man whore. I didn’t. Travis was delusional if that’s what he thought, and this? This was just pointlessly hurting me. This was cruel. I didn’t need this.
If I didn’t need it, why couldn’t I bring myself to delete the video?
Instead of deleting it right away, I locked my phone screen after pressing the home button and finished brushing my teeth. I went to bed that night, turning my back to both Will and Declan, knowing I wouldn’t get much sleep. Classes started again tomorrow, the long weekend over. My mom had texted me today, and Kelsey had texted me a lot over the weekend, and thankfully Travis hadn’t interfered with any of that. At least the sociopath had some boundaries, I guess.
Morning came all too soon, and I felt like I hadn’t slept a wink. I got up before my alarm went off, tiptoeing around as I got ready, exiting the dorm room with my backpack and my skateboard. I wore jean shorts, my high tops, and a few layers on top, my beanie covering most of the blonde in my hair.
I skated to class, zigzagging through the other students on the sidewalks, and as I sat through class, I couldn’t get my mind off that video. It was insulting all around. I felt used, even though that girl wasn’t me. I didn’t doubt Sawyer was picturing her as me the whole time—I mean, a girl with pink fucking hair, how he could not think of me as he fucked her? Maybe that’s why I was so upset. He was thinking of me, but he wasn’t with me. He was with someone else.
It shouldn’t bother me. I didn’t like him. He was attractive, but attractiveness wasn’t everything. Sawyer was a snooty rich kid with a mean streak when it came to Declan. There was nothing about him to like. And his ridiculous half-smile…
Ugh. I hated myself, because I could picture that half-smile perfectly, and even after watching him be with another girl, that half-smile made my stomach do a special kind of flip.
