Page 136 of Twisted Play

Buzz.

“Turn that off,” Violetta hissed from beside me. “Professor Xiao hates phones in class.”

I wanted to. “Can’t,” I said, twisting my lips. “Team stuff.” It wasn’t quite a lie, not if I stretched the definition of team stuff to include the depravity Cole and Tristan subjected me to.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

Cole

Are you ignoring me?

Are you in class?

Fine. But after class, you’re mine.

I switched the chat to silent, but then my otherphone buzzed.

The Devil

I want the playbook. All of it.

Me

I’m in class.

The Devil

I don’t fucking care.

Me

I can’t. That’s different from medical records.

The Devil

Do you think your father will know the difference with a bullet in his chest?

My hands trembled so hard, I almost dropped the burner phone. He’d never asked for strategy before, just medical records, injury reports, things that felt less like betrayal.

“Shit,” I muttered, loud enough that the guy in front of me turned around to glare.

“Everything okay?” Violetta whispered.

No. Nothing was okay. I hadn’t slept more than four hours a night this week, between Cole and Tristan’s demands, practices, and Carter’s increasingly aggressive timeline. I was shattering into a million pieces, with nothing to hold me together but my tears.

“Fine,” I said shortly, instantly assailed by guilt. It wasn’t Violetta’s fault.

Rory

Girls’ night tomorrow? Haven’t seen Eva in forever.

Sage

Down! Eva?

Violetta looked at me out of the side of her eye and watched as I typed my refusal.

Me