Page 86 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)
BEAR
NOT A FUCKING PARTY
I couldn’t wait thirty minutes, I had no idea what Xavier had planned, and I hated that he had this kind of power over her. He was twenty-one years old for fuck’s sake. How could he keep terrorizing her and getting away with it?
I didn’t know.
But Xavier, excited to see me, wasn’t a good sign.
“Bear, come here,” he encouraged.
June hurried to wipe at her eyes—did this fucker make her cry? Her words were choked out. “Bear, can you go? Please? Can you leave?”
Xavier grinned. “She’s such a great actress, isn’t she?”
“What’s going on?” I demanded. “June, what’d he say to you?”
“Want to see what she says about you? ” Xavier asked, sliding over a folder.
I stared at it. Whatever was in that folder clearly scared June. What did that have to do with me? I didn’t know. All I knew was my girlfriend didn’t like it and that was enough for me.
Xavier nudged it closer, but I shook my head. “I’m not touching that.”
He opened it for me.
I gazed at June but she didn’t move. Oh, fuck. Reluctantly, my eyes fell to the folder. They were printed screenshots with the name ‘cupcake’ at the top.
me
You won’t believe this.
My stepbrother published his own nudes online
Cupcake
youre kidding are you serious?
why would you drop the link xavier im in a meeting
me
You don’t want to watch? Look at that view count, everybody else does.
Cupcake
why would i want to watch your stepbrothers porn
me
It’s funny?
Cupcake
no its pissing me off actually
me
Why lol?
Cupcake
he doesnt have time for his family but he has time to jerk off for a camera?
this isnt funny clearly hes desperate for attention and youre feeding into it
me
the top comment on this one is “quit playing in the crease and put it in already” I think it’s a hockey joke
Cupcake
okay thats a little funny
It took a few seconds for me to connect what the messages meant and the pages that Xavier fanned out underneath.
June…knew about the nudes. Like, since the moment we lived together.
Even before that. The more pages I read through, the more I realized it’d been a running joke between them for months.
They’d been laughing at me for months.
June was silent, this heartbreaking look in her eyes. The same look I’d seen on her face when I told her about the Kérouacs, when I was piss-drunk after Montoya’s birthday party.
The pain walloped me like a fist to the chest.
It wasn’t just the hurt—it was the shock at June’s messages. My girlfriend was the sweetest person I’d ever met, it was one of my favorite things about her, she wasn’t like the rest of the assholes in the world. The June I knew wouldn’t send mean shit like this, even as a joke.
I didn’t want to believe it, but she shirked under my gaze, bottom lip wobbling.
The realization hurt.
“I thought you were different,” I mumbled. “I guess I was wrong.”
Leaving Gianna’s gave me the distance I needed because I couldn’t stand around, looking at those texts. The campus was busy with the end of the summer, and I walked to Roman Villa, hands shoved in my pockets.
When I first got to Marrs, I felt like a ghost, like I could’ve vanished into a crowd and nobody would’ve noticed. I didn’t feel like a ghost anymore. That would’ve meant at some point, I felt alive.
Before I could think it through, I slammed my fist against Fridge and Nick’s door. Fridge answered in a durag, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. “What’s up?”
“Can I crash here for a bit?” I asked, my voice somehow disconnected from me.
“Sure, where’s June?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What?”
I shouldered past him for one of their chairs. A wave of emptiness hit me as I tried to piece this together. June only fucked me originally to get back at Xavier, I knew that, but was this whole thing to get back at Xavier? No. Of course not.
Right?
Xavier’s words repeated themselves from the fight at the art exhibit.
You think she’d take a two-second look at you in the real world?
Bits of the conversation buried themselves deep as Fridge and Nick muttered in the kitchen. The door opened, I was vaguely aware that Fridge left, and Nick took careful steps over, like I was an animal that could’ve attacked at any moment. “Hey…Bear.”
I grunted.
“How…are we doing?”
I didn’t say anything. My eyes were on the ground.
“That’s good…” He stood awkwardly near me. “We’re just—uh—waiting for Fridge…”
Another question hit me—did June push the lawsuit, take down the videos, whisper all of those things to me because she wanted to help? Or because she felt guilty? Is that what I was? A pity project?
The door opened again, and Fridge said something quietly to Nick.
“ What? ” Nick stood up. “What the hell did she do?”
“Is she out there?” I asked suddenly.
This whole thing had to be a mistake. Xavier could edit messages together, he could’ve paid someone to do it. Why would I believe him? I shoved myself out of the chair, heading to the door.
“I need to talk to her?—”
“Hey, Bear—” Fridge stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s take a breath.”
“No, this is a misunderstanding?—”
“Let’s sit?—”
“I need to talk to her?—”
“June’s gone. She grabbed some of her stuff and left.” I tried to push past him, but he shut the door. “No, you’re not leaving, you’re yelling—you need to calm down.”
I wanted nothing more than to head downstairs but how much shit had I gotten myself into by ignoring Fridge’s advice? What if I said the wrong thing or what if I was right about the worse-case scenario? I returned to the chair in pain. This hurt so much worse than the nudes leak.
The door opened again. Montoya. “Bear? June said I need to come in?”
“Not now, Montoya,” I muttered.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Fridge said. “We’ll order pizza, have a movie night.”
I shook my head. “I need fifteen minutes, that’s it?—”
“June’s gone,” Fridge told me. “You’re staying here.”
I hunkered down, silent again.
Denali came to talk to me like I wanted to talk to that pasty fuck, and I ignored him until I realized it wasn’t just him. More of my teammates arrived, everyone quiet, like I wouldn’t have noticed twenty grown men walking into where they weren’t wanted.
“This isn’t a fucking party,” I snarled.
In the midst, I saw the one person I didn’t have the goddamn energy to deal with. Elijah’s eyes met mine. He still looked like shit. Probably hadn’t been sleeping either, I could see that much.
That motherfucker had the balls to sit on the couch near me.
“I don’t fucking need you people,” I snapped. “I don’t need any of you—I don’t need anybody! GET THE FUCK OUT!”
My teammates didn’t listen. They filled the room, everyone lounging together, ordering pizza, bringing in drinks, and throwing games on the TV. The more I yelled, the more they ignored me until I just couldn’t yell anymore.
I threatened to leave but that was a lie—I didn’t want to go back to the dorm. I didn’t want to look at every reminder June and I had built into each other’s lives. Breaking down each other’s walls until I honestly couldn’t separate us anymore.
I put my head in my hands and only looked up when my phone buzzed.
June?
No.
I stared down at my screen, at the last person I expected to text me.