Drown in You, page 19
Chapter 20
Sienna
In the library, Juliet hunches over her phone, bored with her assignment since we sat down. I can’t believe I’ve been managing to keep my secret relationship with Luke from her. I’ve been attending classes, cheering for the Devils at hockey games, and grabbing dinner with our friends like everything is normal. I guess this is our new normal. At least until a time comes that Luke and I can be public about our relationship. If that time ever comes.
Juliet’s screen displays an article featuring a photo of a devastatingly handsome man with brown hair and serious green eyes in a red-and-black Devils jersey.
I nudge her. “What are you doing?”
“Reading an article about Trey Lamont.”
“That guy who got kicked off campus for trying to kill Wes?”
She nods, her curtain of red-streaked black hair nearly covering her face. “That’s the one.”
“Tell me you’re not developing some morbid fascination with him. He hurt Violet, remember?” I cringe. I don’t even want to think about the hell Trey Lamont put our friend through. And Wes.
“I know that. What he did is awful. But . . . I don’t know. I think there’s more to the story.”
I roll my eyes. “What’s that paraphilia for people who are sexually attracted to criminals?”
“Hybristophilia. And yes, I know I have it.”
“At least you’re self-aware.”
While Juliet continues reading about the new object of her obsession, I check my phone.
No notifications. Guilt hits me like a wave as I realize I’ve forgotten to text Ten for a few days. Forgotten. I haven’t forgotten about him since I got here. Since we met online all those years ago.
Luke told me to forget about Ten, and I’m starting to.
Maybe he wants me to forget, to move on so he doesn’t have to come clean if he really is the man behind the mask. But I told Ten I wouldn’t give up on him. My dad didn’t give up on me when his texts went unanswered for months, and now our relationship is better than ever. I won’t give up on Ten.
Instead of scrolling to our texts, I open the email browser on my laptop. I haven’t sent Ten an email in forever. We reserved those for the lengthy messages we sent each other, the long-winded updates and incoherent two a.m. ramblings that were too much for a text. The emails were special. We texted everyone, but we only ever sent those letters to each other.
I chew on my lip, trying to figure out what the hell to say. If Luke and Ten are the same person, I need to convince him to finally open up to me.
Dear Ten,
Apparently, I attend hockey games now. Can you believe it? The girl who hates sports, sitting in a hockey jersey at a college game and cheering for the team. I can send you a picture if you need proof.
Did I ever tell you how I imagined cheering for you at your games? I’d be the loudest person in the bleachers. I hoped that even if your dad couldn’t cheer for you, it would help, knowing someone out there is cheering for you so loud, their throat is raw after. I probably wouldn’t even be able to talk, but it would be worth it if it helped you play. If it made you happy.
Even more news: my dad and I talked. About how he left after the divorce. I know. Shocker, right? I thought you’d want to know, since you helped me through all of that. I feel better about our relationship now. A lot better. He’s really trying, and he feels bad for what he put me and my mom through. I’m still trying to figure out how to fully forgive him and fix our relationship. Maybe it’ll always be a challenge, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying.
I told you about Luke, right? My new stepbrother. He actually helped me gain the courage to be honest. To confront people when I need to. I’m still learning, but I’m getting better. I think you two would really get along. You’re actually a lot alike. You both like hockey, you both lost your dads, and you have the same sense of humor. He’s kind of been my rock lately, like you always have been.
I hope you’re doing okay. Whatever you’re going through right now, I’m here for you when you’re ready.
Love,
Sienna
With a deep breath, I hit Send. Maybe this will be what finally gets a response from Ten. What finally gets Luke to confess to the truth, especially after I confided in him the other night. I don’t want there to be any more secrets between us, and I won’t be fully convinced he and Ten are the same person until I get confirmation. After Luke explains himself and I forgive him for ghosting me and opening up old wounds, we can be closer than ever. Closer than I ever thought possible before it occurred to me that he could be one of my favorite people in the world.
I snap my laptop shut. “I’m going to drop my stuff off at the dorm, and then I’ll meet you at the Village.”
Juliet nods, but her eyes are glued to the image of Trey Lamont on her phone screen. I swear she’s already infatuated.
Outside, spring is finally blooming. Tufts of grass pop up among the barren ground and small buds of leaves bloom on this quiet, abandoned side of campus.
As I pass the sparse end of the parking lot, a horn beeps. I jump, and I’m about to flip off the driver until I spot the lone car.
A red Cadillac.
The windows are too dark to see inside, but I don’t need to. The driver creaks the door open and emerges.
Marcus.
Chapter 21
Luke
The Devils dart across the ice, shouting to each other. They’re all brimming with energy, but I’m already drained, barely keeping myself upright in front of the net. I pushed too hard in the gym earlier. Should’ve known better than working myself to the bone before practice, but all I could think about as I curled weight after weight was how long Sienna and I will have to hide our relationship.
If I come clean to Ma about what’s going on between me and my stepsister, she’ll only drive us apart. She wouldn’t send Sienna back home like Sienna fears, but she’d separate us. Maybe send Sienna to some private university on the other side of the country. Maybe ship my ass off to Canada. Or maybe she’d play the money card again—either I stay away from my stepsister, or she’ll quit paying my tuition.
When Sienna showed up, I was convinced nothing would come between me and hockey. Between me and my future. Me and Pop’s dream.
But for Sienna, I’d give it all up. I’d pack up and move to Europe if it meant she was safe. If it meant I got to keep her. Pop would send me off with a smile.
She finally trusted me enough to tell me the truth about what happened back in Wakefield, but now my own secret claws at me. It’s too late to confess the truth. If she ever finds out I catfished her, if she ever learns Ten’s true identity, she’ll never forgive me. And I wouldn’t blame her.
In my peripheral vision, a flash of black and red darts toward me, but I don’t react in time.
Damien slams into me, knocking me off my feet and sending me onto the unforgiving ice, pain shooting through my limbs.
Beneath my helmet, my brain spins.
The other Devils are on him in seconds. Finn pummels Damien first, shortly followed by Knox who shouts, “Don’t fuck with my goalie!”
Back flat against the wall as the Devils pin him, Damien shouts, “He would’ve stayed on his feet if he’d been paying attention!”
“Off the ice, Valentine!” It takes a second to register that Coach’s order is directed at me.
I climb back to my feet, knees ready to give out, but my aching spine manages to keep me upright. “I’m good, Coach.”
He closes the distance between us in seconds, planting a hand on my back and guiding me off the ice. “Your sister said you’ve been overdoing it with your workouts. You need to chill out so you have enough strength for practice and games, got me?” He nudges me to the exit. “Break your body when you’re in the NHL, not now.”
“But Coach—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Valentine.” He’s already got his back to me. “You’re done for the night.”
Coach doesn’t budge when he’s made up his mind. I head for the bench, and even though I’m pissed at Coach for kicking me off the ice, a smile breaks across my face. Sienna told Coach about her concerns for me. She isn’t hiding how much she cares about me anymore.
In the locker room, I check my phone before hitting the showers. She sent Ten an email. My chest squeezes as I read it, hating myself more with every word.
She has no idea how long I’ve fantasized about seeing her in those bleachers cheering for me. How it makes me feel like the luckiest guy on the planet when I spot her in the crowd in my jersey with that gorgeous smile on her face.
She’s happy she confronted her dad, and she credited me with helping her. Finally mentioned my name to her friend of five years. She misses him. Misses our friendship just as much as I do.
I hope you’re doing okay. Whatever you’re going through right now, I’m here for you when you’re ready.
The guilt is eating me alive, and I’m not sure how much fucking longer I can take it.
But I might not need to come clean. She’s already getting suspicious.
I think you two would really get along. You’re actually a lot alike.
I’m doing a shit job of keeping my hidden identity a secret. I keep slipping. Knowing things only Ten would know. She said she wants me, but that would change the instant she found out the truth.
After I hit the showers and change, someone nudges me. Droplets from Finn’s jet-black hair drip down to his chin. He holds out his phone to me, brows drawn together.
“What?” I glance at his phone screen displaying a map. Takes a minute to process what I’m looking at until it dawns on me.
Finn managed to track the number of the asshole who’s been harassing Sienna.
But according to the map, he’s not in Wakefield.
I fumble with my phone and call Sienna’s number. Fuck, fuck, fuck. The phone rings. And rings.
“Shit. She’s not fucking answering.” I jam my phone in my pocket, snatch my bag, and race for the door. “We need to go.”
The bastard is in Diamond. He’s fucking on campus.
Chapter 22
Sienna
My heart plummets to my feet. Marcus isn’t in a mask to conceal his identity this time. The sun is still setting—he wouldn’t attack me in broad daylight in a deserted parking lot on campus. Would he?
How the hell did he find me? He’s been following me since I spotted his red Cadillac, waiting for his moment to pounce. Those hazel eyes beneath the mask at the Sigma Chi party really did belong to him.
What would’ve happened to me if Knox and Damien hadn’t appeared to lure me upstairs?
What will happen to me now?
With every step he takes toward me, the knot in my stomach twists tighter and tighter.
Marcus doesn’t have anything to lose. I’ve already taken away his shot at the NFL and his shot with Juliet. His spot on his college football team, his ability to walk without a limp. I ruined his life.
Just like that night in the treehouse, I don’t have a single weapon on me. Nothing I can use as self-defense beyond a backpack full of borrowed textbooks and an ancient laptop.
He let me get the upper hand then. He won’t let that happen again.
Flashes of that night in the park come racing back. Marcus landing a punch to my stomach, shoving me to the frozen ground and straddling me, yanking down the zipper on my jeans.
You think you can accuse me of some sick shit I didn’t do? You think you can get away with ruining my life? If you’re going to accuse me, I might as well be guilty.
“Get in the car.” The serpentine voice slithers down my spine. The voice I hear in my nightmares, as clear as if he’s whispering the words in my ear.
I retreat a step, heart jackhammering wildly against my ribcage. Even with a limp, he’ll catch me if I run. But I have to try. “No.”
A deep scowl transforms his face to the monster I remember. “You think you can just run away? Hide out like nothing happened? Nah, you don’t deserve to get away with what you did.”
I back up another step. Another. Panic bubbles up and stings my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Marcus. I didn’t—”
“You didn’t mean it,” he snarls. Even with his casual, staggering pace, he’s closing the distance between us too quickly. “But you did. You shoved me out of that fucking treehouse. You’re lucky you didn’t get an attempted murder charge.”
“If I could take it back . . .” Tears stream down my face, but I can’t finish the sentence.
You didn’t do anything wrong, Sienna. You did what any good person would’ve done in that situation. You thought you were witnessing a crime, and you stopped it. It’s not your fault.
Luke is right—what happened to Marcus wasn’t my fault. I acted how anyone would in that situation. And I wouldn’t take it back. In fact, if this is the kind of person Juliet was sleeping with, I’m glad I shoved him. I only wish he’d stopped breathing too.
“You can’t.” Marcus’s voice echoes off the library wall behind me. “So now I’ve got to do something about it. You ruined my life. Now I’m ruining yours.”
I’ve never been this afraid in my life. Not in the treehouse, and not even that night in the park. Now I know what Marcus is capable of. “Was it you? Sending me those messages?”
His laugh is mirthless. “You never responded. Not very nice of you.”
Running me out of town wasn’t enough for Marcus. Beating me in the dark with his friends wasn’t enough to satisfy him. I don’t know what will be, and I don’t want to find out.
I retreat another step only for my back to collide with the rough brick. Fuck. He has me cornered. “How did you find me?”
His grin is eerie. “So you haven’t found it yet.”
“Found what?” My heart thunders so hard I can barely hear the words leave my mouth.
“Give me your phone.” He holds out his hand. He’s mere feet away now. This is my last chance. I have to run—“Give me your fucking phone.”
I toss him my backpack, where it lands on the concrete with a thud. My phone isn’t in there, but his search might buy me some time. He upends the bag, spilling the contents onto the sidewalk. I cringe as my laptop hits the concrete with a clatter, along with my notebooks and pens and disposable camera.
Without a second thought, Marcus stomps on my laptop with a sickening crunch.
Then the camera.
My heart shatters with it. No. The camera Luke gave me the night we met. The camera with all the photos I’ve taken this semester.
“Where is it?” he barks, spreading the mess with his foot.
He wants my phone so he can stop me from calling for help. With his attention on my belongings at his feet, I spin and dart down the sidewalk.
My breath heaves out of my lungs as Marcus smacks me against the brick wall of the library, crushing me. My whole body aches, lungs desperate for air as his heavy weight pins me, unmoving. “You’re not running from me again.”
His hazel eyes don’t blaze—they’re lifeless. Vacant. He has only one objective, one final mission in life.
To destroy me.
A sick smile distorts his features. “How do you like getting railed by your stepbrother?”
My heart stops.
He knows. He knows about me and Luke. How the hell did he find out?
“I’m going to make sure everyone knows that you’re a little cum slut for your stepbrother.” He jerks me forward only to slam me back against the brick wall.
A pained cry bursts past my lips. “Marcus, please—”
Behind him, tires charge up the parking lot. Marcus turns as the high beams blind him and the horn blares, deafening us.
The first car skids to a stop, followed by another. Four Devils pop out. Knox, Damien, Finn, and Luke.
Marcus releases his hold on me to face the four giant hockey players.
Relief like I’ve never felt before nearly makes me collapse to my knees. I clutch at my heart in a weak attempt to stop it from exploding in my chest and scramble away from him, keeping a hand braced against the brick wall.
“Get the fuck away from her!” Luke puts himself between me and Marcus while Damien, Knox, and Finn surround him.
Miraculously, Marcus holds up his hands in surrender. Even he’s smart enough to know he wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
“Four-on-one doesn’t exactly seem fair, does it?” he drawls.
“He obviously doesn’t know us.” For the first time, Knox’s cocky smirk has a sinister edge.
“We don’t give a fuck about fair,” Damien snarls. “Get off our campus, poodle.”
Marcus’s cheeks flush a deep shade of red, rage darkening his eyes. “We’re the Bulldogs.”
“You’re nothing.” Luke’s protective arm wrapped around me tugs me close.
When Finn steps closer, arms folded, Marcus retreats. “Relax. I’m going.”
He heads for his car, flashing one final glare at me. A threat and a promise rolled into one.
Luke pushes me behind him, out of Marcus’s line of sight. “Don’t come back here again if you know what’s good for you. It’ll be the last thing you do.”
Marcus peels out of the parking lot, and my shoulders don’t relax until the bumper of his red Cadillac is out of sight.
I fling my arms around Luke, sniffling into his chest. “Thank you!” To the other Devils, I add, “All of you.”
They nod, looking more morose than victorious.
“How the hell did he know where to find you?” Luke’s brows rest low over his eyes.
“I don’t know. I asked him, and he said, So you haven’t found it yet. I don’t know what the hell that means. How did you know he was here?” It’s a miracle they showed up when they did. Marcus already thinks his life is over—what’s a little prison time?
“Finn.” Luke nods to his teammate. “He managed to track the asshole’s number.”
Thank god for Finn. Thank god for all of them. Especially Luke. “How did you get his number?”
