by Nora Cobb
“A walk in the woods with the big bad wolf?” I question him. “I’m not going there again.” I push his hand away, but he puts it back. Our gazes lock, and I wait.
“I’m a man, not some boy in the woods.” His fingers touch my chin, and I part my lips. I don’t care if people are watching; I’m about to jump up and pin his sexy ass to the ground.
“Chase!” Standing a few feet away is Silas, eyeing us. That hostile attitude is like cold water shooting us through a garden hose. We pull apart like a rubber band breaking.
“Excuse me.” Chase gets up quickly and strolls over to Silas.
Silas’s dirty look never leaves mine as they talk privately. Chase only glances at me once, then shakes his head. Dom’s name is mentioned, then, finally, Silas looks away. They pat each other’s shoulders, then Silas walks off. When Chase sits down again, he’s not as close.
“So, what was that about?” I ask.
Chase gives me a narrow look. “Not about you.”
“I want to know if it’s business,” I reply.
Chase smiles, but his jaw is tense, and he sits bolt upright, away from the table. “And do what, Vicki? You’re not there yet.”
“And fucking you would help get me there?” I shoot back.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” he replies coldly.
I drop the rest of the doughnut onto the table. “I gotta go,” I announce. “I got better things to do.”
Chase’s hand clamps down on my thigh under the table. “Like what?” he asks in a menacing tone.
My body feels cold in the warm air. I don’t like him holding my thigh like this. I try to wiggle away, but he tightens his grip. I place my hand on his.
“Don’t do that,” I rasp.
His look softens into a gaze as realization hits him. His hand slides off my thigh, but I feel no comfort from being released. I’ve given too much away. My breathing is ragged, as if I’ve been hunted down. Grabbing my purse, I get up and walk quickly away.
Chase follows in my footsteps. “Vicki, don’t leave.”
I whirl around. “Is that a command or suggestion?”
His soft expression hasn’t changed. He’s appraising me, taking in information, calculating how to dominate me more. My body shudders, and Chase smiles as he steps closer. I feel the heat from his body joining mine. His hands touch my face gently, pushing back my hair.
“Vicki, don’t leave. Let’s forget it and just have fun.”
Chase looks startled when I burst out laughing. Luna would be proud. I’ve completely disarmed him with silliness. I grab his hand and pull him back to the table. Sometimes, it can be fun to plot and scheme, but I’ll give it a rest for a while.
“Okay, I won’t ask you what Silas said,” I tell him. “But I’ll tell you what I’m thinking of doing.”
He screws up his face when he tastes the cider doughnut, and he hands it to me. I look at him, questioning.
“Too sweet,” he explains, and then he smiles. “I like more depth. So, what are you thinking about?”
I frown and concentrate on how to phrase it right. “I’m thinking of starting an alternative paper.”
He creases his brow. “Like music?”
I shake my head. “Like for the school. Nothing big. A newsletter or online message board to compete with the student paper. You know, useful shit, not filler and trashy gossip.”
I want Chase’s encouragement, but I had to be loopy to think I’d get it. His expression is stiff, but it’s not defiant or cold. Something flashes in his eyes. Am I seeing fear? No, it’s the same look I saw the day I was hurt. It’s concern.
“No, Vicki. Not a good idea. Don’t do anything like that.”
“I thought you’d be on board after what he wrote about you.” Like a moth that keeps singeing its wings on a flame, I refer to Marcy again.
Chase crosses his arms over his chest. “And what did he write about me?”
Dumbfounded, I stare at him. Is he challenging me to say it? I don’t dare this time. I gawk at his cruel expression. “You aren’t scared of him, are you?” I ask.
Chase laughs as if I’ve made a joke on purpose. He lifts his eyes and looks above my head in disbelief. His gaze returns to me. “Vicki, you haven’t picked up on it yet. And I’m not sure if you’ll understand, but Silas has no off switch.”
I narrow my eyes, confused, “Really?” I reply. “Because he’s an ass twenty-four seven.”
Chase’s smile disappears as he leans toward me. “Once he decides you’re an enemy,” he whispers, “you’re an enemy forever. He doesn’t turn it off.”
My voice is uncharacteristically timid, but I sense fear. “I thought I was his enemy.”
Chase shakes his head. “The truth. You haven’t beaten him yet. You’re just a pretty pain in his ass. But that’s it. He doesn’t like you, but he might see a use for you.”
I’m annoyed with his bluntness. “A use for me? What messed up, dysfunctional crap is that? He doesn’t like me, but I’m useful?”
Chase rubs his eyes and sighs. “That’s what I mean when I said you don’t understand. Talk to your dad. He gets it, or he wouldn’t be a success.”
I sit there quietly and take a sip of cider. I screw up my face and almost spit it out.
Chase smirks. “Too sweet?”
I nod my head.
“Yeah,” he replies, “there’s nothing sweet about you. That’s why I like you.”
I flush, realizing that I’ve focused on Silas and not Chase. I’m spending the day talking about the boy I don’t like with the one I do. “I’m sorry,” I speak softly. “I do need to learn.”
“Don’t be coy,” he whispers. “Ask me what you want to know.”
He looks at me seductively. And I go tumbling down into his gaze. His gray eyes play with the sunlight like a kaleidoscope, revealing cool blues and sharp blacks that I hadn’t noticed before. His gaze softens as I lick my lips. Chase grins because he’s aware of his appeal. The way his good looks physically capture his target.
I shake myself out of it quickly. “Is business why you have a weird relationship with Dom and Silas?”
“Weird to whom? And in what way?” he asks casually, crossing his legs.
I clear my throat, wishing I had some water. “The three of you are rivals, and at the same time, coconspirators.”
“That’s exactly the kind of dynamic you’re going to face in Hollywood or any insular industry…once you get in.”
“Right now, I’m looking in.”
“Vicki, Silas can be a good ally.”
My eyes widen. I can’t believe he just said that. Silas toys with me like he owns me and I can be replaced. The only way he’ll help me is if I submit and join them.
Chase continues, “What do you want? Not what you think you can get. What do you really want?”
I swallow and don’t dare lie. “I want to work with JJ Abrams. I don’t care if I’m fetching the coffee or framing the shot.”
Chase nods. “I could get you that contact.”
“He’s on the list?” I ask.
He nods. “You’ll be on the list once you’re serious.”
“So, fighting back isn’t an option?” I ask, though I know the answer.
“It’s an option, but you might not like the results.” Chase has a glint in his eyes. “Try working with us,” he says.
“Quoth the devil,” I reply.
***
I walk back to the town house alone. Nothing went horribly wrong. Chase just wanted to hang out longer, and I was tired of discussing my grim future. For a moment, I’m glad I’m alone as I walk in silence. I have to process what I just heard from Chase. Join them? Could I join the boys? Using their connections, I’d enter at the top. But in the end, I would pay.
I sigh. Why am I being naïve? Everyone uses connections to get the cushy big-name jobs, but the connections I’m making here are treacherous. Confrontation in your face is my style, not Machiavellian moves in a dorm room on a shady laptop
. What else have the boys done? The only dirt I know of is what I saw and experienced firsthand, and that’s bad enough.
I stop in my tracks when I hear shouting as I approach the stairs into the town house. Before my foot rests on the step, Luna comes flying down them.
“Vicki, oh my God, there you are.” She looks over her shoulder, and before I can even ask, she says, “It’s bad. Really awful. It’s not good at all.”
I catch Luna’s flailing hands in mine and hold her steady. “Take a breath and then speak.”
She closes her large eyes and starts again. “It’s Theo. Someone posted sex videos of him on JustFriends.”
My mouth drops. “What? Where? Who?”
She doesn’t answer me, and loud banging starts somewhere above us in the building. We race up the stairs, and Theo is hammering on Silas’s door. I’ve never seen a person so angry, and I’ve seen some terrible shit. His hands are tightly clenched as he punches the door repeatedly. He only looks at us long enough to make sure we aren’t the person he wants, and then he starts banging on the door again.
I gasp. There’s a bloodied gash on his forehead, and a bloody mark on the door. Theo’s sweaty face is raging red and contorted in pain as he starts screaming again.
“Open up you, you fucking shit SOB! Face me! Tell me to my face what you did!”
“Theo?” I whisper.
He turns on me as if he doesn’t know I’m his friend. “Stay back, Vicki.” He kicks the door and shouts at it. “You suck! You never cared, you slut!”
“Theo?” I reach for him, but he turns away. He wails like an injured animal in pain, waiting for the last blow, and then his life will be over. Theo leans back and smashes his forehead against the door. The crack is sickening.
“Oh my God!” shouts Luna. “He won’t stop.”
This time, I don’t wait for permission to handle him. I grab Theo in my arms to stop him from hurting himself again. Luna runs to our door and opens it wide. He fights me like a motherfucker. A rage of fury gives him strength, but I’m determined. Plus I remember what I saw at rehab. I learned by watching how to wrestle someone down to the ground.
We wrestle Theo into the apartment, and I push him with all my strength onto the floor. He fights me, thrashing and kicking like a madman. He tries to slap my face. I yelp in surprise, and his eyes go wide in shock. A tear trails down the side of his face as he opens his mouth wide and squeezes his eyes shut. The howl he lets loose breaks my heart.
Chapter Thirteen
Theo comes so close to being expelled for attacking Silas’ door. Unbelievable.
The official charge was threatening behavior and endangerment. My dad got involved after I asked him. Obviously, Theo had been filmed having sex with an unidentified man using a hidden camera. I was the only one who had the tech resources to find it. And now they all know that I’ll use my connections to get what I want. A thorough search of Theo’s dorm room resulted in the discovery of several hidden cameras—smaller than a fingernail. Once again, Dad met with Jagan on-campus, and Theo was given a two-week suspension instead.
Theo’s mother was grateful and presented Dad with a shitload of delicious food from her Mexican Caribbean restaurant. She owns a chain all along the coast. At Dad’s house, my friends and I stuffed our faces while Theo attended cyber-school, also courtesy of Dad. Jagan was on my side after Dad offered to set up the entire school with the right technology at Dad’s expense.
“Vicki, baby.” Jagan approaches me as I walk toward the humanities building. He has on the biggest smile. It blocks out the sun. “Your dad is not only a pioneer but a gentleman with a generous soul that could only do good for others in a way that uplifts everybody and shares the good fortune into every far corner.”
I hold Jagan’s hand and lean playfully into his side. “The check is in the mail,” I whisper, “and I’m expecting our name on a building in the near future.”
“You got it, kiddo.” Jagan winks and then floats away.
***
Theo is Silas’s forever enemy, and there’s no returning to being indifferent acquaintances. I understand Chase’s warning better now that I’ve witnessed the payback. Silas was a real shit to me, but that video is going to follow Theo for the rest of his life. In the suite, I sit at the kitchen table, my shoulders hunched as I stare at the catch-all box on the floor. While Chase was warning me not to cross Silas, was Rhys seducing Theo in his dorm room? That video was shot and uploaded the same day. Is that what Chase and Silas discussed while I sat there like a little dummy watching them?
I don’t want to think about what Chase knows, so I don’t. I focus my rage on Silas instead. He’s an easier target to grip onto. A little newsletter isn’t going to do shit to his ego or conscience. He’ll probably submit articles to it for laughs.
Someone has to do something. I should do something. I wasn’t like this before rehab. Second-guessing my actions while I sat around doing nothing. I’d tell anyone off faster than I could think it through and not give a fuck what they thought of me later. If I join the boys, I can do more from inside. But at what price? Will I have to stand there quietly while they pick off all my friends?
Fuck. I slam my fist on the table, making the thin legs wobble. I’m up and moving before I can think of the consequences. I knock on Silas’s door. The bloodstain has been scrubbed off. I knock louder, holding in my rage, holding it in so I can let it rip when the door opens.
Rhys opens the door. His bored expression shifts into wide-eyed panic as I push past him before he can shut me out.
“Silas isn’t here,” he says quickly, holding the door open wide for me to turn around and leave. “He’s in class.”
I nod, recalling that it’s Tuesday, and Silas will be away for most of the day. I memorized his schedule to avoid him as much as possible. Inviting myself into the living room, I plop down on the couch. “Good. Is Rosemonde here?” I ask him sweetly.
Rhys eyes me like a feisty kitten caught in a corner, unsure if it should fight or slink away. Sulking, he shakes his head and slams the door shut.
“Then we can talk in private,” I reply, but my arrogant tone falters when I look around me.
The interior of the suite is too pretentious to ignore. I have to look at the expensive black and white furnishings. What sane person has white carpeting in a dorm? Don’t they eat pizza or Doritos? And that black leather chair is in the MoMA Design Store, for fuck’s sake. This must have been decorated professionally. No hand-me-downs for these rich kids.
Rhys folds his arm but remains standing. He looks stylish in slimming tan trousers and a tailored shirt open to his chest. Rich piece of trash. “You need to leave right now, Victoria. He’ll be back soon.”
“Bullshit,” I glare at him. “Sit down, so I can tell you what I know about you.”
“What do you know?” He sits in the armchair farthest from me and crosses his legs as if he’s in control. I don’t think so, you slimy underling.
I speak in a cool tone even though I want to kick in his face.
“They found the cameras you placed in Theo’s room.” Smugly, I tap my finger on the arm of the couch.
Rhys scoffs. “You don’t know that. You don’t know anything. You’re just bluffing.”
“But I do know,” I purr. “My daddy’s in tech, and he taught me well. The 600 CMOS is no bigger than a fingernail but guarantees an HD-quality image even in low light.”
Rhys’s mouth drops open, and I continue.
“Did you know that cameras have serial numbers? I’m guessing that you didn’t, by the look on your simple face.” I laugh. “Theo’s on suspension, so he’ll be back at school in a week, but foreign students are automatically expelled. And there’s zero tolerance for bullying.”
Surprisingly, Rhys looks shaken. His trembling hand tugs at his light brown hair. “What do you want?” he asks in a raspy voice.
I look at him hard. “Did Chase know about it? Any of it?”
Questioning, Rhys f
urrows his brow. “Not that I can say. He never speaks to me. The other two don’t speak to me about anything.”
“Really?” I raise an eyebrow.
“They only talk when it’s something big,” he explains. “Silas set it up. He hates Theo. Theo doesn’t have the sense to take Silas seriously, so Silas used him as a warning shot.” Rhys glares at me just in case I missed the subtle message.
“So, you hooked up with Theo because of Silas?” I ask.
Rhys shrugs. “Silas promised me a lot.” He leans back, slowly losing interest in the conversation.