Page 65 of Brutal Little Secrets

I smirk and run my hand through my hair. “What else would you be?”

Her smile softens and then falls. Her eyes widen. “What about Chase? Damon, this could fuck that up. You need to go after Olivia and tell her it was a joke.”

“What? No.” I grab her elbow and pull her toward the door.

She resists. “You didn’t think this through. Our parents?—”

“Can fuck off.” I spin on her. “Did they consult either of us on whether we wanted to live together, or did they make the decision and hope that our feelings would remain that of reluctant siblings?”

Her mouth opens and shuts, and then she glares into my eyes.

“Olivia said she fucked Chase this summer,” she bites out. She drops her gaze. “That she gave him road head.”

My heart stops. The blond in the car? Could that have been Olivia? It doesn’t matter now.

“I don’t care.”

Her eyes flip up to mine in shock.

I narrow my eyes on her. “Did you think I’d go after her if you told me that, little devil?”

From the look on her face, she did. “It doesn’t matter,” she says.

“Yes, it does.” I back her into the wall. She looks up at me with those panicked eyes, but I’m done. “You fucking matter, little devil. I’m done watching you take everything everyone throws at you. I’m done pretending. At least here at school. We can do whatever we need to at home to make our parents comfortable so they don’t try to move you to the other side of the house.”

“Damon—”

“You’re mine. You’re ours. I need whoever is coming after you to know that. Chase, Olivia, Mia… anyone who wants to get between us. They need to know you’re protected.”

“This won’t work.” She puts her hand over my heart.

“I’ll make it work.”

EvanAnn

I’m numb. What the fuck did he do? We don’t have classes together in the afternoon. So unless Olivia spreads it around, no one knows what happened in that bathroom.

And I doubt Olivia will tell anyone. It wouldn’t feed into her story.

I’m just going to pretend Damon didn’t make my heart leap in my chest like he might feel something more for me too. I sit in my acting class wondering if I shouldn’t have told him about Jackson.

Maybe it’s just misplaced protectiveness. We’re together in our own little bubble, but he’s poking holes in that bubble. I may belong to them, and they belong to me, but no one else knows.

Maybe he’s just tired of Olivia coming at him and he wants to use me as a shield. That makes more sense than I meansomething more to Damon. Before class, Mia chats at me like nothing’s changed.

But my lips still feel stung by his kiss. I didn’t let him drag me into the hallway from the bathroom. He kissed me and left. I waited until after the bell rang to slip into the hallway and find my way to my class.

The topic today in our lecture series isn’t one that interests me, but I can always rewatch it later if I need to study.

What I really need to do is figure out how this is going to work.

It’s in Olivia’s interest to keep it quiet. That only leaves Damon. Has he told Hawk and Cam what he’s done? Does his claim include them? I rub my pounding temple. I need to focus on school, not on what’s going on in my social life.

Laughter bubbles up inside me because I have a social life. A sex life. I’m fucking three guys. I may not have a status at this school, but I do have a reputation as a good girl. Damon will taint that reputation, but wasn’t that his goal all along?

Take me from Chase. Make it hurt.

I’m on board with hurting Chase. He didn’t deserve my loyalty or any piece of me. He fucking used me.