Page 56 of Brutal Little Secrets

She looks at it again before passing me the phone. She turns on her side to watch me read it. “It’s not really a threat, right?”

I clench the phone. Anger burns through me upon reading it again. “You don’t have any clue who this is?”

She blows out a breath and drops her gaze from mine. She knows. Somewhere deep inside her, she knows. But will she tell me? When she lifts her gaze, she’s torn.

“It could be someone, but I don’t know how he would have gotten my number. Or how he would know where I live. And I’m probably overreacting.” Evan drops her gaze. That tracks with the girl I’ve gotten to know. Evan is logical. But fear isn’t always logical.

“I don’t believe you could overreact, Evan.”

She lifts her gaze to mine. “It could be any of those possibilities…”

“Or? Tell me, Evan. I can look into it, at least.”

She takes a deep breath. “When I was sixteen, the apartments we lived in, there was a boy who I knew from elementary school living there. He flirted with me and gave me candy and made me feel special.”

From what I know about Evan, she’s attention-starved. I’m sure it wasn’t easy back then. If her mother was with her boyfriend, leaving Evan alone to take care of herself, someone paying attention to her would have drawn her. Like Chase did. Like we did.

“He caught me alone and kissed me. I froze. I didn’t want him to kiss me.” She holds my gaze like she’s begging me to believe her. “If Mom hadn’t come looking for me, I’m not sure what he would have done. I don’t know that I would have fought whatever he had planned or if I could have.” A tear slips down her cheek. “But I got away so…”

Something falls into place. I reach out and brush the tear away. “Your first kiss?”

She nods. “I’m being stupid.”

But why wouldn’t she tell us the name during truth or dare? Is it someone we know? I try to think of anyone at Deimos or Anteros who would live in an apartment complex. One of the scholarship kids?

She sits up and holds out her hand for the phone. I look at the texts.

“Someone wants you to be afraid.” The more I think about these messages, the more I’m convinced whoever sent them wants her to be frightened. To be watching over her shoulder. Maybe they get off on that. The anticipation, her fear.

“It’s not like I don’t have a bunch of things happening right now. It might not even be him.” She searches my eyes.

I put the phone in her hand. “Who is it, Evan?”

She lifts her gaze to mine. “Jackson Riordan.”

Chapter 17

Damon

As soon as I get to school, I track down Cam and Hawk and pull them into an empty classroom. The whole ride to school my brain spun around what Evan revealed. I also followed her to school and watched her walk inside, keeping an eye out for anyone watching her.

“We have a fucking problem.” I send both of them the screenshot.

They both look at their phones.

“What the fuck are we looking at?” Hawk looks pissed.

“This was Evan’s phone?” Cam asks.

“The texts came in this morning.” I run a hand through my hair. Part of me is grateful she gave me her story. But every piece of her she gives me ties me tighter to her. Makes me more reluctant to let her go.

“Did she show this to you?” Hawk raises an eyebrow.

“I saw them first. When she saw them, I asked to see them.”

“Did she let you?” Cam is already doing a search on the number. He has access to all the numbers at Deimos and Anteros. If it’s someone who’s ever walked on this campus with us, he’ll have it.

“Yeah, and she told me about her first kiss and the asshole who took it.” There aren’t many people I hate, but Riordan always rubbed me the wrong way. Too eager to please the adults around us. He thought he was hot shit on the ice as a kid. And he’s good, but I’m better.