Page 72 of Whisper Pretty Lies (Lust & Liars #1)

Hawk

“Have you seen Damon?” I ask Cam after shedding the hangers-on from the pool. The girls are relentless tonight. Must be something in the water.

Cam smirks. “Went upstairs with Olivia.”

He sways a little and his smile is sloppy.

Fuck. “Are you drunk?”

He salutes me and chuckles.

“For fuck’s sake.” I glance around, but there are too many people here to talk openly about Annie. I haven’t seen her for a while and I’m starting to worry. Her I trust, but that fucker Chase... not even a little.

Damon might be pushing the Olivia thing too hard.

“You need to drink and relax, man. One more year.” Cam belches and cheers rise from the others sitting around. He raises his hands in the air like he won. “To the seniors!”

I snatch his keys out of his pocket while he’s not paying attention.

“You need to sober up.” I shake my head. Chase took Evan inside like twenty minutes ago. If she knows Damon is with Olivia, maybe she decided to have her own revenge. Those two know how to press each other’s buttons.

My phone rings. It’s Annie, but when I pick it up, I can’t hear anything over the music.

“Hold on a minute.” I walk away from the party and stop at the edge of the backyard where no one is around.

“Yeah?” I ask, running my hand through my hair.

“I didn’t know who to call. Mom’s not answering her phone.” Her voice is small and panic surges inside me. Where the fuck is she?

“What happened?”

She sniffles. “I wanted to leave, and Chase took me to a lookout spot, and things went wrong, and I hid—he left me here.”

My chest tightens. If she’s hurt, I’ll kill him.

“Do you know where you are?” I pocket Cam’s keys and pull mine out. I can’t head to my bike until I get off the phone with her. The party is too loud.

“No.” She sniffles again. “Outside town. Near woods.”

Fuck. I’m definitely going to kill him. “Okay, baby girl, I need you to send me your location. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay.”

I hang up, and it takes a minute, but her location pops up in my notifications. Anger rages through me. Fucking Chase. What the hell was he thinking? Leaving her all alone in the middle of nowhere. Anything could happen to Annie out there.

I glance over at Cam, but he can barely stand. He sways on his feet as he tells the guys a story. I’m not letting him ride. As I head into the house, I grab Fletcher by the shirt.

“What’s up?” He looks at me startled and a little drunk.

I pull Cam’s keys out and push them against Fletcher’s chest.

“Take Cam’s keys. He doesn’t leave tonight, do you understand me?” I narrow my eyes on him. I’m not losing Cam because he rides drunk and gets himself killed.

Fletcher’s head bobs up and down as he takes the keys. “Yeah, cool. Cam gets to sleep it off. Got it.”

“Good. I’m out.” I release him and head through the house. It’s fucking crowded and it takes longer than I want to work my way toward the front door.

In the living room, Damon stands against the wall with Olivia pressed into his side. Olivia has her fingers on Damon’s waist as he leans down to listen to what she says. Fuck, if Annie saw that, no wonder she wanted to go home.

If he’s fucked this up, I’ll kill him.

The rage that started with her call bubbles up and I zero in on my target. Because Chase isn’t here, I shove Damon.

“What the fuck?” Damon growls, ready to punch me.

I grab his collar and pull him in close so no one else will hear. “The fucker abandoned her out in the fucking woods. I’m going to go get her. You clean up here.”

Damon goes still. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t fucking know yet. She called me crying. I’m going to get her. Make sure Cam doesn’t ride.” I search his eyes, and he seems completely sober. “Stop fucking around with the whore.”

I push him away from me and his mouth tightens. He saw Annie and Chase kissing. We all did, but Chase kissed her. From the panicked look on her face afterwards, she didn’t want it.

But Damon’s a territorial bastard when it comes to her, even if he doesn’t realize it. I’m sure this is his way of getting her back, but fuck that shit.

I get to my bike, thankful it’s a good time of year to ride, because most cars are blocked in at this point. Usually Fletcher’s parties don’t get busted, but if it’s going to happen, it will be tonight. I can’t worry about that shit right now.

Annie is all alone in the fucking woods. I notice Chase’s truck pulling up to the party as I head out. I don’t have time to fuck him up, but I guarantee I’ll find him later. And destroy him.

Damon

“Ignore him and let me take care of you, baby.” Olivia has been glued to my side since I showed her a little attention.

The fire that burned in me when Chase kissed Evan had me wanting to annihilate everything. He gets to kiss her as much as he wants because she’s his girlfriend. Meanwhile, I signed up to be the side piece.

The way I wanted to claim Evan in that moment struck me hard. No girl has had that kind of power over me. Ever.

So when Olivia begged me to take her upstairs, I figured what the hell.

I needed to clear my fucking head, to prove to myself Evan doesn’t control me.

But the minute we were in that room, while Olivia went on about what she wanted to do with me, all I could think about was Evan’s wide stormy eyes.

The way her lips mold to mine. How she fits me perfectly when we sleep together.

So I left. But when I left the room, of course, I run into Chase fucking Chadwick dragging Evan down the hall, looking for a room to fuck her in. She looked sick, but she’s not mine to take care of. So she left with him.

Fucker.

He took her out and dumped her somewhere? What the fuck? I wouldn’t even pull that shit with Olivia, and I don’t like her. That’s what he does to his girlfriend?

Olivia touches my jaw and I jerk away from her.

Startled, she blinks up at me, but immediately adapts and gives me a seductive smile. “Let me make you feel good, baby. I promise you’ve never had someone like me before.”

I look away and see Chase fucking Chadwick walking back into the party without Evan. Fuck. I unlock my phone and pull up the app that tracks her phone. She’s in the middle of fucking nowhere, and he’s back here to party. Probably to fuck some random.

He touched what’s mine. My vision goes red. I shove away from the wall and spin him around.

“What—”

He doesn’t get another word out as my fist hits his jaw. The pain feels good. Girls scream and guys move people back as I swing again. Chase is ready and moves out of the way.

“What the fuck, man?” He holds his hands up, but I’m no longer thinking rationally. He dumped Evan out in the middle of nowhere like she’s fucking trash. My fist connects with his jaw again.

She’s not fucking trash.

“Fuck.” He comes at me low and hits me around my center, tackling me down to the ground. “Not my fucking face, asshole.”

I bury my fist in his stomach, and he collapses to the floor. I’m on my feet, ready to inflict more damage. This is the asshole that took away my future because he was fucking around on Evan.

She’s mine now, but I don’t throw that in his face. As much as I want to, it’s not the right time to blow this up.

There’s a whoop of a police siren outside, Chase must not have heard it as he crashes into me again.

“Police!” someone yells. People start to scatter, but I land another punch on Chase’s side and he gets me in the jaw.

I roll him onto his back and just as I’m about to hit him in his nose, I’m dragged off him.

“You’re both coming down to the station with us.”

Chase rubs his jaw as his eyes narrow on me. But he keeps his mouth shut. Yeah, this isn’t over. It’s just beginning.

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