Page 41 of Whisper Pretty Lies (Lust & Liars #1)

Hawk clears his throat and breaks the stare down between me and Damon. “Obviously, this would be easier with you willing to help us.”

“Willing? What exactly am I willing to do?” I cross my arms under my breasts.

“Whatever we want.” Damon’s words draw my attention as his gaze drops to my breasts. They grow heavy and tight beneath his gaze. He touched me there. Held my hands above my head and touched me wherever he wanted. I was helpless to stop him. It was intense and so fucking perfect.

“Everything?” I ask with an arched eyebrow.

He smirks.

“We need to bring Chase down, but we can’t come at him directly. We want to hit him where it hurts, and that’s you.” Hawk reclaims the floor. “With his cheating, we figured you might be willing to get some payback of your own.”

The problem is, Chase didn’t cheat just once. According to them, he’s cheated the whole time we were dating. Everyone in school probably knew it except for me. How humiliating. But he never considered I’d cheat on him.

Why should he? I’m easy. He takes me out once in a while and introduces me to his parents, and I’m happy to go back into my little box while he’s off screwing whoever he wants.

Do I want to know why he keeps me, when he could easily be single, fucking everyone in sight?

Is it the rush of doing it behind my back?

Or do I give him something the others don’t?

It can’t be the part in the play, because based off his audition, I would have cast him as Iago anyway. And now that I know how devious he is, the part suits him.

“If I was willing?” I lean back in the chair. My gaze locks with Damon’s blue eyes.

“Where were you on June eighth?” Cam asks. Damon jerks his head to glare at Cam.

“Probably at home.” I shrug. It’s where I spent most of the summer, working on Othello .

“Not out with your boyfriend?” Cam leans forward with his elbows on his knees. The muscles in his arms grow more pronounced. Fuck.

My heart picks up pace. Why are they so attractive? I focus on the question he’s asking. A specific date? “Why?”

“Was Chase in a car accident this summer?” Cam’s dark eyes meet mine. “And were you with him at the time?”

I shake my head. “I wasn’t there. His car is being repaired.

He said he ran into something at night. Maybe an animal.

There were scratches on the side. I asked because he was driving his truck instead of his car, which is unusual.

” I glance at Damon’s jaw that’s still healing.

It’s currently clenched and a muscle ticks in it.

What if it wasn’t an animal? Fuck, can I believe Chase would hit someone and leave them?

“It doesn’t change anything.” Damon’s eyes lock with mine, and the hate that underlies whatever else is between us rises to the surface, making my heart crash against my ribcage.

I don’t mind that he hates me. That he holds me down and forces me to take what he has to give.

That every moment in his arms wraps me in desire.

Maybe it’s wrong to want him like that. Maybe I don’t care anymore.

“You don’t think it’s weird Chase picks a wallflower to date his senior year?” Hawk stands and paces.

“Abby asked. He was saying something about his dad when Cam came in.” I’m embarrassed I fell for the actor, when I thought he was showing me who he really was.

Did I fall for him? I wasn’t in love with Chase, but I thought we had something.

He made me feel special. Like he picked me out of all the girls.

Now I feel stupid for even considering he wanted me. “He introduced me to his parents.”

“Maybe he was looking for an image upgrade.” Cam strokes his chin as he studies me. “Date the good, studious girl who’s top of the class and has a promising career ahead? Fuck, it’s not a bad idea. My dad would love it if I stopped partying and had someone who kept me on track.”

Still not feeling attractive over here. It was stupid to think Chase wanted me when he could have any other girl in school.

Damon looks me over. There’s still that edge to his eyes, a look that says I don’t belong here with them.

“Evan has appeal,” he admits, begrudgingly. “He could have just wanted to fuck her.”

I almost laugh. “Thanks. I’ll make sure to put that on my resume. Appealing enough to fuck. It kind of has a ring to it.”

He smirks. “Tell me, Evan. Was it the live porn or my presence that turned you on more?”

My breath catches. With Chase, I was gearing myself up to have sex. With Damon, I would have let him fuck me in that closet and had no regrets.

“The porn,” I lie. The live sex show definitely didn’t hurt my arousal, but the minute he touched me, I wanted more from him. I wanted it all. He’s dangerous. I shouldn’t even be left in the same room with him, let alone practically share rooms separated by a bathroom.

The idea that he wouldn’t have even needed to be my boyfriend to take me should be appalling. But the attraction, on my side, at least, is overwhelming. I’m confident he knows that and will use it. I just have to be aware when I’m being used.

He chuckles darkly. “You suck at lying.”

“Okay, fuck.” Cam runs his hand through his hair. “You two need to fuck and get it out of your systems.”

My mouth opens to deny it.

“What do you say, Evan, want to reenact your favorite show?” Damon strokes his hand over his cock that strains against his jeans. He didn’t come in that closet. But the memory of him pressed tight against me makes me burn. “Where do you want me? Your pussy or your ass?”

I snap my mouth shut. The nerve of this guy. Though my body is definitely listening and interested.

Fuck him, and not literally. I narrow my eyes.

“What do you need me to do?” I ask.

“We need Chase to think you two are still a thing.” Hawk draws my attention from Damon, interrupting our stare down.

I meet his green eyes. “Why?”

“Don’t you want to know what he’s up to?” Hawk asks. “Why he’s dating you and still fucking around?”

I narrow my eyes on him. Is this another Evan’s attractive enough speech? It sounds like they only want me to get to Chase. So, the only reason to stay with Chase would be to help them.

Hawk blows out a breath. “That night he didn’t hit some animal. He ran Damon off the road while Chase was getting road head from some blond.”

Fuck, that hurts more than it should. My gaze flicks to Damon and the scrape on his jaw.

My heart aches, but I resist the urge to rub it. I know Chase was cheating on me, but we were good back in June. We spent a few days together between his camps, but he withdrew toward the end of the month.

“She doesn’t need to know the whole story. She needs to tell us whether she’s in or not.” Damon catches my eyes. “I could always upload those videos to some sites. You’re eighteen.”

Fuck. Even if I got them taken down, once something’s on the internet, it’s never really gone. But I’m not the only one in the most damning video.

“Wouldn’t that ruin your NHL dreams?” That’s a thing, right? They need to be somewhat free of scandals when they’re signed.

“I’m not ashamed of my body, little devil.” He leans forward and wets his lips. “I may not be an ant, but I can edit a video to not show my face. And I’m not ashamed of your body, either.”

Heat floods me. Yeah, he’s dangerous to my sanity. I want to hate him and get him to make me come in the same breath. So fucking dangerous.

But am I just a warm body to them? Do I need to be more? What if I use them the way they want to use me? I’ve always been curious about sex, but too controlled to let it happen with someone else.

With these three, they pluck my control from me like taking a toy from a kitten. I don’t need to impress them or make them like me. But what exactly are they offering?

“Here’s the deal, Annie.” Hawk drags my attention back to him.

“We can’t come at Chase directly. Taking you from him would have been our play, but we want it to hurt.

For him to know we didn’t just take you from him, but you came willingly.

Together we can find ways to make him hurt even more, with you on the inside. ”

“So, you didn’t really want me?” I keep my voice steady, because with every word he said, it crushed something inside me.

I don’t know why I thought some part of them was attracted to me.

Somehow, being a game to them hurts worse than knowing Chase cheated and used me the whole time. “It was all a game, then?”