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“Better that than paralyzed. Now come on. You need to go get your phone, and we need to do damage control before we go to the police.”

CeCe moves to lead me into Grey’s room, but he holds out his hand, stopping her. “I’ve got her. You two, eat and wait for Seraphina and Linc. Ava, I will call our parents.” He grabs my hand and leads me down the hall into his bedroom. Reaching for my bag, I pull out my phone, noting that it has a 13% charge, and am immediately bombarded by missed calls and text messages from my parents and siblings. I click on Sera’s name, opening up her text chain.

Sera(10:21 pm): I’m staying in your room with Lincoln. Don’t be mad.

Sera(10:54 pm): Why do you have a dick beer funnel?

Sera(8:13 am): Ava!!! What the fuck is this? I’m telling Mom.

Sera(8:37 am): Aves, I was just tagged in a video on all of my social media of you and Greyson. What is this?

Shit, they tagged my sister, too? I feel the tears roll down my face as I select Bianca’s thread.

B(8:30 am): Call me right this damn minute, you hot bitch. I cannot believe you had sex and got a boyfriend as soon as you went to college. My freaking hero! But, also, I’ll kill the motherfucker that fucked with this family. Celeste taught me everything she knows.

I roll my eyes and leave it to B to be impressed and bloodthirsty all at the same time. I look back at my notifications and see fifteen missed calls from my mother, as well as a text.

Mom(7:51 am): Ava Maria, answer your phone. The firm received an emailed video of you in a compromising position with a man.

“Shit,” I whisper, running my hands over my face. My parents are going to kill me.

“Hey.” Grey grabs my shoulder, squeezing in reassurance. I look up at him, taking in every feature on his damn face. I should be annoyed with him that he pushed me to publicly acknowledge him, but it’s not his fault that he leads women—and possibly men—to obsession. I think back to last night and this morning, how he confessed that he loved me, and how I confided in him my body struggles.

No, I can’t be annoyed with him because why should we have to hide that we want to be together?

“We need to call your parents, vixen. The sooner we do it, the better. Let’s plug your phone in and call them on speaker.” He grabs the phone and plugs it into the charger.

“We?” I question. “I need to call them alone.”

“No, vixen. We’re a team now. We face this shitstorm together and lean on each other to get through this fucking mess. We’re not letting this fucking divide us.” The gentle caress of his fingers on my jaw contradicts the aggression of his words. “Okay, baby?”

I stare at him, taking in the man that ignited both my downfall and my passion.

“Yeah, okay. Fine,” I respond.

He rolls his eyes, picking me up before sitting on his bed and depositing me on his lap. “We’re facing this together. It’s you and me, vixen. Now”—he grabs the phone from his nightstand, still connected to the charger—“call your mom back.”

I tap on my contacts and scroll to my mother’s contact information. Saying a silent prayer to the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, I hit the icon to call her and hold my breath while the line rings.

I don’t have to hold my breath long; she answers on the second ring.

“Ava Maria Gregori,” my mother growls. Shit, she used my full name, adding the last name to drive home the disappointment. Grey squeezes me, lending me strength.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Ava! What the fuck is going on up there?” “I will drive up and sue so many fucking people, they’ll lose their assholes in the settlement process,” my dad shouts from the background. I stifle a laugh at the imagery that evokes.

Taking a deep breath, I begin, “Before you start on your questions and assumptions, just let me explain, okay?”

They both fall silent, and I can hear the ticking of the antique grandfather clock in their office. My sisters and I found it at a garage sale and bought it for our parents so that they’d always be on time since they’re habitually late. The ticking gives me comfort.

“I have Grey—Greyson Jansen—with me. He’s my”—I pause to look at him—“boyfriend. We met on move-in day and hit it off. The video you saw was not consensual.” Grey stiffens beside me, and I realize what I said. “I mean, the action on the camera was, he had my consent, of course.” Kill me now, please. “But the filming was not consented to. We found out shortly afterward that someone had taken a picture, but we just found out they filmed us in a… vulnerable position and planned to use that to keep Grey and me apart.”

“How do you know this Greyson isn’t behind this?” my father asks. I’m not surprised by this line of questioning; he’s one of the best lawyers because he’s shrewd and trusts no one.

Grey clears his throat, signaling that he wants to answer my dad’s question. “Sir, I love your daughter, and I would never do something to put her well-being, both physical and mental, in jeopardy.” My dad grunts in response, which for him is a glowing review.

“Ava,” my mom begins, “why would you have sex in a public place, in a school of all places? Do realize that the school could expel you for misconduct and public indecency? You both put your futures in jeopardy when you could have waited fifteen minutes for a damn bed!” My mom’s voice rises at the end, and I shrink, absorbing the disappointment and chastising through the phone.