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The image is zoomed in, but it’s clear that the girl in the video is wearing a wig. A few red strands peek out from underneath the fake blonde. My brows dip toward each other, and I try to hide my unease as I pass the phone to the guys, who take turns looking at it.

“Who is that?” Sam mutters in disgust.

“It’s Sadie, isn’t it?” My eyes find Bear’s as I process what I should have figured out days ago.

I told myself girls like her don’t simply walk away when rejected, yet I still didn’t see this coming. Now, though, it’s so fucking clear what she was trying to do.

“Yeah,” Bear confirms my thoughts. “I think it is.”

It only gets worse when she tells us about the crude note left on her car’s windshield the day we met at the pool.

She blushes as she recalls the story, and my lips twitch at the memory. But my amusement quickly turns to anger when she tells us about the night Sadie showed up at Static and the warning note she left.

The concerned looks from the guys make me squirm in my seat, but Bear doesn’t seem to notice. They know Sadie and I hooked up once, but as far as they know, that’s where it ended.

I never told them about her threats and pestering because I thought I had it handled. Or at least, I thought I did.

“I didn’t know what she was referring to at the time, but it makes sense now,” Bear says. “She hated me because I was with you, Levi.” I wish I could wipe the pain from her voice, but what we’re doing now is a step in the right direction.

“How did she know what you planned to wear to the party?” Austin asks, leaning in closer.

“Pia and I bumped into her the day we went Halloween shopping. She saw the skirt in my basket and made a snide remark about it.” Bear rolls her eyes. “Her parting words to me were something about watching my back.”

“Fuck,” I sigh loudly, running a hand down my face. “The night at the bonfire, when I went to get the blankets, she cornered me at my car, and we got into it. I told her to leave us alone, but she took it as some sick challenge.”

I clench my jaw to contain my rage for the shit she put us through, and for what? Because she had some delusional idea that we were meant to be together? It’s sickening, and I hate her for it.

I don’t throw that word around lightly, but it’s the only way to describe my feelings toward her right now.

I don't even realize how close Bear has gotten until our thighs touch, and she grabs my hand. That tiny bit of contact is enough to ease the tension rolling through me, and my jaw relaxes.

When neither of us speaks, the boys start talking at once.

“She’s nuts, bro.”

“Bat-shit crazy.”

“The girl has issues.”

Bear squeezes my hand, and I squeeze back. Austin’s eyes drop to our intertwined fingers, his brows furrowing.

“Let’s say Sadie convinced Levi that she was you,” he says to Bear. “Her face wasn’t covered. Surely you should have known it wasn’t Bear?”

The last part is directed at me, and he looks guilty as hell for saying it. But he’s always the one to say what no one else wants to, so it doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is when Bear comes to my defense.

“That’s a fair judgment,” she says firmly, but with the soft expression she gives Austin, it’s clear she’s not mad at him. “But Levi wouldn’t have been able to put up much of a fight if he wasn’t in the right frame of mind. And I think he wasn’t because someone might have—”

“Spiked my drink with something.” I finish for her.

Mack curses, and Bear jerks her head up.

She stares at me, those aquamarine eyes swimming with confusion.

“You knew?” she breathes.

“No,” I shake my head. “But I suspected it.” I let out a deep sigh, rolling out the kinks in my neck. “I guess it’s time I tell my part. My memory is hazy, but I know I wasn’t feeling like myself.”

Bear stiffens beside me, and I give her a reassuring smile.

“I kept trying to pinpoint the exact moment I started feeling off. It happened just before the drinking game. Which means it must have been after I took a pull from the beer bottle I hid behind the pot plant.” It was a stupid mistake on my part.

I thought I hid it well enough, but if someone were purposely looking for it, they’d find it.

“It tasted weird, almost like it had gone flat, so I barely touched it again for the rest of the night. But I guess the one swig was enough to have an effect.”

“What the hell were you thinking, hiding your drink behind a pot plant?” Austin asks.

That’s the thing. I wasn’t thinking. I had Bear on my brain. It was a mistake, one that nearly cost me the best thing to ever happen to me.

“I needed to use the bathroom,” I say quickly. The details of Bear and I’s sex life aren’t up for discussion. “It doesn’t matter. The point is, I did. And if someone saw me leave it there, it was the opportunity they needed.”

“How would we even prove that, though? If you were drugged, that shit could be out of your system by now.” Mack says, his nostrils flaring. “The party was on Saturday. It’s already Monday.”

“Especially if you barely had any in your system.” Sam tags on.

“I know. That’s why I spoke to Coach this morning after we gave him our urine samples.” It’s a standard thing we do before meets, but they don’t test for everything. “I asked him to have the lab run some additional tests.”

Drinking isn’t prohibited, but we’re expected to exercise caution, knowing that anything we do might jeopardize our scholarships or place on the team.

Needless to say Coach Schmidt was pissed.

Not at me, but at what I suspected had happened.

I left out a lot, but he got the gist of what I was saying.

He encouraged me to file a police report, but I told him I couldn’t do that based on a hunch alone.

He eventually gave up trying to convince me and told me he’d take care of it.

“This is some fucked up bullshit,” Sam spits.

“He said he’d rush the results, so I should have them in the next day or two,” I tell them.

Which is also when I was planning on telling Bear everything. I knew she might not take my word for it, and she’d have every right not to after seeing the video. Hell, there were moments when even I questioned myself.

I also didn’t want to make her feel like I was backing her into a corner with my story. If the results come back positive, what happens between us will still be her choice.

But I need her to know that what I did wasn’t done willingly. I can’t bear the thought of being another person who hurt her that way.

Beside me, Bear has gone quiet. When I look over at her, her eyes are glassy. She quickly wipes at her face, but it's too late. I've already seen the stray tear slide down her cheek.

Seeing her this upset kills me. She lets go of my hand before excusing herself to the bathroom.

I’m seconds behind her, leaving the guys to talk amongst themselves.

The door is closed, but it opens without resistance when I try the handle. Bear’s hunched over the sink, hands gripping either side of the basin, and when she turns, the anguish on her face makes me rush toward her.

I pull her into my arms, and she melts into me.

“I’m sorry,” she says between sniffles. “For doubting you. For not realizing sooner that you’d never purposely do something like that to me.”

“Shh, you don’t have to apologize for anything,” I murmur, running my hand down the back of her head.

My hate for Sadie intensifies. Not just for what she’s put Bear through these last few days but for everything leading up to it. I know there’s no use in looking back and thinking of the should-haves, but I never should have dropped my fucking guard when it came to her.

At this point, I couldn’t care less about what happened to me. The girl in my arms is all that matters.

She is my everything.

I feel like I’ve let Bear down in more ways than one, and if I’m lucky enough to get a second chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her.

I hold on to Bear until her choked sobs quiet down, and she takes a deep, ragged breath.

“I don’t understand why she would do this to us,” Bear croaks.

A pit forms in my stomach. I know what I’m about to say will only hurt her more, but I can’t keep this to myself any longer. I close my eyes, breathing in her scent, wishing so badly that my past didn’t have to come back and bite me in the ass.

“Bear,” I whisper, and whatever she hears in my voice makes her step out of my embrace.

She’s as beautiful as ever, even with red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

“What is it?” Her voice is small and unsure.

“About Sadie. There’s something you should know,” I say. “I didn’t tell you before because it was in the past and meant nothing to me.”

“Just tell me, Levi.” She pleads. “No more secrets.”

“Sadie and I hooked up.” The words taste acidic as they pass my lips.

Bear’s eyes widen a fraction, but other than that, her face remains guarded, so I push through.

“It happened months before you and I even met. It was a one-time thing, I swear.” I rush out. “There weren’t any feelings involved, at least not from my side.”

Bear stares at me for the longest time, my confession hanging heavily between us.

“Please, say something,” I beg when I can’t take the silence anymore.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” she repeats with a slight nod. “The night she came up to you at Static, I figured there was some history there. I’m not going to hold your past against you, Levi.”

My shoulders sag in relief, and I pull her toward me again.

Burying my head in the crook of her neck, I whisper, “I thought I lost you.”

The pressure behind my eyes builds, but I refuse to cry—too many tears have already been shed these past few days.

Bear pulls back just enough to look at me.

“I’m right here with you, I promise.” A small smile touches her lips.

“What did I do to deserve you?” I ask around the lump in my throat.

Her eyes soften as she presses one of her palms against my chest, right over my heart. “You made it hard for me to let go.”

“Will you stay with me tonight?” I know it’s a long shot, but I’m terrified that spending more time apart will make her change her mind about us.

Bear shakes her head and steps out of my embrace. My heart drops to my feet, and my arms fall limply to my side.

“I—I don’t think we should. Not yet.” She wraps her arms around her waist. “These past few days have been an emotional roller coaster, and I need a moment to process everything. Just give me tonight.”

I don’t want to let her go again. And, even more selfishly, I don’t want to spend another night away from her.

Whatever she has to do, she can do it with me next to her. But I’ve taken enough from her already, and I won’t demand she give me more.

“I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“I want to be with you when you get the results,” she blurts out. “To be there for support.”

“You’ll be the first to know when I have them,” I promise.

Her posture relaxes, and it’s an instant relief to my tense muscles.

“I love you,” she says, and those three words cause all the stress and bullshit from the past few days to melt away.

I frame her face with my hands. “I love you too. So fucking much.”

Her responding smile is like a beacon to my soul, lifting a heavy weight off my chest.

Seeing that video hurt Bear in ways I can’t fully comprehend. I know it’ll take time for her to move past it, but my girl came back to me.

She’s willing to fight for us.

And that’s all that matters right now.

We’ll figure out the rest as we go.