Page 74 of Brutal Little Secrets

But will it? There’s a part of me that wants to believe this could be something more and that it could be as easy as it was to fall into bed with them.

Right now, we need time to discuss this. We need time for Damon to get his revenge on Chase. And that means I can’t be theirs yet. Not in school. Not anywhere but here.

“You can’t claim me at school, Damon. I’ve thought this over and it’s not going to go well. Not with Chase and Olivia still in power. It just won’t work.”

“Why not?” He closes in behind me and runs his hands up my sides, drawing me back into him. This man. His touch. Everything.

I melt, because how can I not? “Olivia won’t say anything. She wouldn’t want to admit that I have you. You can tell her you were just messing around.”

“I wasn’t.” He pushes my hair off my nape and presses his lips against the sensitive skin. My breath catches. Already I want to turn into him and let him take me to bed. That’s where we make sense. That’s where we belong together.

“Don’t you want your revenge?” I turn to him and he grabs the back of my neck, but I’m not trying to get away. I search his eyes. “Don’t you want Chase to pay for everything he’s done? I thought that was the whole point of this.”

I gesture to my room. He runs his thumb along my jawline.

“Chase has lost you. He just doesn’t know it yet.” His blue eyes search mine. “You’re ours, and it’s time he knows he can’t have what’s mine.”

“But—”

He cuts me off with a kiss. I sink into it but try to hold back a little. When I don’t part my lips, he presses small kisses along my jawline. I tip my chin up to give him more access.

I groan because he’s making it hard to think. “Damon.”

“Evan.” He lifts his head. “I know what I’m doing.”

I put my hand over his heart. It beats so hard against my palm. Searching his blue eyes, I want to give in to him so badly. To be his. To go out at lunch and sit with him, Hawk, and Cam. To not have to pretend to be happy with my life the way it was.

“What are you doing, Damon?” I ask softly. “Why now? Is this because of Jacks?—”

“I’m protecting you.” He traces his thumb over my lower lip as he tracks the movement.

“Why?”

“Because no one else does.” His eyes turn hard and focus on mine.

My breath catches and my heart thumps hard.

“Not even the people who should protect you.” He undoes my tie and drops it on the ground. “I watch you, Evan. I know your life.”

He’s wrong.

“You don’t?—”

“I’ve watched you be alone a whole week. If we hadn’t shown up, it would have been only you. No mom. No boyfriend. No friends. Fuck, Evan. You belong to us, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. You don’t have anyone else. Let me take care of you.”

I can’t speak. What can I say to that? But he doesn’t understand my life at all.

“You caught a glimpse of my life. That’s not my whole life. My mom works.”

“She was here every night. How do you think I got in to place the cameras? Why do you defend her?”

“Because we lost my dad, and it tore her apart.” I pull away from him, but he follows me, backing me against the wall and unbuttoning my shirt. “Stop, Damon.” I don’t grab for his hands though. But I do search his eyes. “You should know what it’s like. To watch your parent get sicker until you know it’s going to end. That there’s nothing left for you to do but prepare yourself. She didn’t just lose my dad. She lost her life partner. The man she planned to spend the rest of her life with. How was I supposed to demand she pay attention to me when she needed to take care of my dying father?” Tears stream down my face.

Those last months were so hard. I went to school, but I didn’t live. Every piece of me was grieving and waiting for the end. I lost weight. I barely slept. I’d go into their room at night to make sure he was still breathing.

Holding my breath as I waited for my dad’s chest to rise.

I brush the tears away, but they don’t stop. Damon’s brow furrows, but he doesn’t stop unbuttoning my shirt.