CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sabrina
I leaned against the outside of the campus gym, impatience overwhelming me. The door opened and closed, people in workout clothes coming and going all day.
After what felt like hours, the door opened and one of Crosby’s teammates came out. He was a tall guy with long strides, so I hurried to catch up as he walked away. “Mathews, right?”
He looked to me, his dark eyes widening like he knew me. “Yeah?”
“Question for you. What’d Jeremy Potter do to get you to tie Crosby to that tree?”
Guilt crossed his face. “Who said I did that?”
“You want the list?”
His pace quickened and I struggled to keep up with him. “So, what if I did?”
“Just wondering what he had on you to make you do it?”
“Who said I didn’t want to help?”
I grasped hold of his arm and stopped him. “Come on. The guy’s an asshole.”
He looked away from me, somewhere over my shoulder. “What’s it matter to you?” he asked.
“I dated Jeremy,” I explained, though his eyes hadn’t returned to me yet. “Not one of my proudest moments.”
“Hey, Mathews” a stocky guy I also recognized from the hockey team said, stepping up beside us. He looked at me, unapologetically assessing me, particularly my boobs. “The video definitely didn’t do you justice.”
Mathews, looking guilty as ever, shoved him. “Shut up.”
Fear spread over me. “What video?”
“See ya,” the guy said, taking off before I could stop him.
I grabbed Mathews’ arm again. “Talk.”
“You’re not gonna like this.”
“Talk!”
People around us paused, watching what appeared to be a lovers’ quarrel.
“There’s a video of you and Parks.”
My heart ricocheted off the wall of my chest. “What kind of video?”
He nodded, the only explanation necessary.
“Who?” I demanded as a cold sweat began to spread over me.
“Who do you think?”
“Say it!”
“Jeremy.”
“Show it to me,” I demanded.
My heart sank as he slipped out his phone. I wanted him to say he didn’t have it, but he pulled it up on his screen as if he had it saved to his favorites. And just like that Crosby and I were going at it in the library one of the nights I kept him company at work. My shirt was off and little remained to the imagination. As soon as I heard myself moan, I stopped the video and forwarded it to myself. “Is this online?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I think only the hockey team’s seen it.”
Images of the party and the strange looks they gave me came rushing back at me. “Has Crosby?”
He paused.
A million thoughts whirled through my mind while I watched him contemplate his response.
He nodded slowly.
Crosby’s words played in my head. You deserve better than me…Everything I touch goes to hell. He knew. And he was trying to tell me—or at least trying to push me away. Was he trying to protect me?
I shoved the phone back at Mathews. “You need to delete that or I’ll go to the dean. Nonconsensual recordings are illegal. And as far as the dean knows, the one who has it is the one who recorded it.”
I spun away from him and sped across campus with a knot swelling in my throat making it difficult to swallow.
What I’d seen on that video.
What I’d heard.
God.
If it was released, how could I stay on campus? How could I get into law school? A sex tape would follow me for the rest of my life.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, jolting my already jumpy body. I slipped it out and a text from Finlay sat on my screen. He’s in the dining hall.
I quickened my pace, trudging across campus. My scalp felt as though it was about to split in two as the cool breeze whipped my hair around my face. But it didn’t stop me—or ease the heat pulsing in my cheeks.
I entered the crowded dining hall, stopping at Finlay and Caden’s table.
“How’d it go?” Finlay asked as I dropped into the seat beside her, needing a moment to process everything I’d seen.
I didn’t look at her or Caden, too numb to speak. I looked around the busy room. My eyes stopped, zoning in on Jeremy seated across the way with some of his teammates. My heartbeat thumped in my temples, cloaking all the sounds in that noisy room.
I sprang to my feet.
“Whoa.” Finlay grasped my wrist. “What are you gonna do?”
“Take down the asshole.”
She dropped my wrist, knowing enough to let me do what I needed to do.
The sight of Jeremy laughing with his friends had pushed me over the edge. I strode across the room, weaving around crowded tables as my heartbeat pulsed in tandem with my steps. I stopped at Jeremy’s table.
Sensing me hovering over him, he looked up.
“Can I talk to you, Jeremy?” I asked, fighting the urge to jump across the table and claw out his eyeballs.
“You’re talking,” he said, all snide and pompous.
Some of his friends snickered.
“I guess I am,” I said, feigning ignorance while wanting nothing more than to hurt him the way he’d hurt Crosby and me.
He looked purposefully around the room. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Jeremy snorted. “A girl like you gets around then, huh?”
Again, his friends snickered.
I looked each of them dead in the eyes and smiled. “Laugh again and I’ll kick you so hard in the balls you’ll be limping for the foreseeable future.”
Their faces sobered.
My focus retuned to Jeremy. “I think you misunderstood me, so I’ll say it again. I need to talk to you.”
He huffed in annoyance. “You’ve got three minutes.” He pushed back his chair and stood.
“It’ll only take two.” Asshole.
We weaved our way around the tables until we stepped outside. Jeremy stopped by the short brick wall in front of the building and sat on it, his arms crossed as if already bored with our conversation. “Speak.”
“I know I was a pawn in this vendetta you’ve got against Crosby.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t have to. It was clear when you asked me out. Then again when you grilled me about my meeting with the dean. Then again when you sent me to Crosby’s room instead of yours. Should I keep going because the list seems to be growing by the hour?”
His eyes drifted to the students moving around campus. “Did he send you here?”
“Why would he send me here?”
“To get me to back off.”
“Back off?” I cocked my head. “You admitting to something?”
He scoffed as his eyes followed a pretty girl who passed by us.
“Your bracelet said, ‘Potters never give up.’ Is this what it looks like? Is this what your parents would want?”
His eyes flew back to mine, darkness flashing in his expression. “What did you say?”
“I know Crosby’s parents hurt your family.”
His stare narrowed coldly. “So, he does know?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think he does. But it’s online for anyone who bothers to look. I didn’t catch it at first. Your last name isn’t the same as your father’s.”
“What do you want?”
“The better question is what do you want? It wasn’t Crosby who hurt you. You get that, right? It was his parents and they’re both in jail.”
“They took everything from us.”
“So, you’re gonna destroy Crosby’s future?”
“Why not?”
“What about mine?”
His brows climbed. “Yours?”
“I know about the video.”
He said nothing, but the vindictiveness in his eyes and the subtle grin tugging up the sides of his mouth said it all. He had no remorse.
I glared back at him, disgusted by the mere sight. “Did you get off watching us together, you sick bastard?”
He rolled his eyes.
“You jealous he got what you didn’t?” I kept pushing, hoping he’d snap and reveal what he’d done.
He scoffed.
“You act like you don’t care, but it’s one more thing he took from you. And we both know he’s better than you at hockey.”
“He’s not better than me,” he said.
“I’ve seen him play. He’s headed for the pros. You know it and I know it.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” he murmured.
“You’ve already had something to do with it. You wrecked his chances with the scout,” I said.
“You’ve got no proof of that.”
“You’re right. But I do have proof you tied him to that tree.”
“Sure you do.”
“Your teammates aren’t as loyal as you think. How do you think I know about the video?”
Anger brewed in his eyes.
“Karma’s a bitch, Potter. And so am I.” With that I spun away and took off, knowing he was shooting daggers at me with his eyes. I lifted my hand into the air and flipped him off.