Page 155 of Brutal Little Secrets

Damon takes her hand and kisses the back of it before lowering it to his lap. “Eat your dinner, little devil.”

She smiles at him before finally eating the bite of food on her fork.

“She also pushed Chase into the pool.” Damon smirks.

“He slipped.” She grins and takes another bite. “Who were you talking to?”

Damon glances at her. “Roger Farrell.”

“No way.” Cam leans back in his chair. “I swear my dad would faint if Roger Farrell spoke to me.”

“Who’s Roger Farrell?” Annie asks, glancing at all of us.

“The head coach for the Yale hockey team,” I say. I meet Damon’s gaze. “What did he say?”

“He wants me to come up in a couple weekends. Unofficial visit.” Damon glances at Annie.

She squeezes his hand. “That’s amazing, Damon. It’s a good team?”

“One of the best.” Damon’s smile has an edge to it, like he’s not happy. Annie hasn’t noticed, but Cam glances at me, and I give him a small nod that I’ve seen it too. We’ll let it go for now.

He told us about Chase. The coward hadn’t told his parents about their breakup, so Annie played along to get introduced to the right people. But she probably would have met them without playing along. Chase threatened to tell her mom though.

Cam should have punctured two tires.

I don’t want to rain on Annie’s parade, but this needs to be fixed. “You need to tell your mom about Chase, Annie.”

She looks up at me with wary eyes and sighs. “I know.”

“If you’re worried about being single, just say you’re dating me or Cam. Or me and Cam.” I smirk. “It’s not a lie. If you don’t, Chase will keep finding ways to use you.”

“I know.” She sets down her fork and stares at her cold pasta. “But what if she makes me change rooms?”

“Then you can still come to my room at night, little devil.” Damon puts their hands on the table.

She bites her lip like she can’t decide.

“We can figure that out after the movie.” Cam nudges her plate. “Eat, goody. It’s not like the special effects are going to make you hurl.”

The first movie from the list Annie picked isPoltergeist. She wanted to make it a haunting-type weekend.

Annie picks up her fork and spears a few vegetables. “I do want to tell my mom what’s happening in my life.” She glances up at each of us. “I just don’t like leaving any of you out. I love you, and I’m not ashamed of that. But I don’t know what my mom would do if she found out about Damon and me.”

“She won’t take you away from me.” Damon’s voice is determined.

“You don’t know that.” Annie shivers. “The only place that always has availability on short notice is that apartment complex Jackson lived at. I don’t know if he’s still there, but I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want to be afraid.”

“You won’t have to.” Damon blows out a breath. “She doesn’t get to control your life.”

Annie laughs bitterly. “Yes, she does. That’s how I ended up in the bedroom next to yours.”

“Just say you’re my girlfriend.” I sit in the chair next to her.

Her stormy eyes meet mine.

“We have a good story.” I glance at her fork meaningfully, and she takes the bite. “You’re the director. I’m the actor you didn’t see coming. We fell in love on stage. Easy.”

“Probably better than you blackmailed her into sucking your dick.” Cam grins and runs his hand through his hair.