“Why?”
He shook his head. “I don’t fucking know,” he bit out. “She just said she had a confession to make, and that’s when she told me what she’d done.” He sounded genuinely pissed. “I was so mad, I wanted to fucking strangle her.” He stared me straight in the eye when he added, “I was in love with Lake, and she ruined it.” Running his hands through his hair, he said, “Hell, I’m still in love with her. That’s…that’s why I…”
“Quit fucking with me, Metcalf!” I roared. “What happened that night?!”
“Erica told me she could help me get Lake back,” he cried out. “She told me that if I drugged her, and Lake knew what it felt like to be…be unable to function, she’d forgive me. She’d know that I never meant to cheat on her. She’d know that it was something beyond my control.” He looked so earnest, someone with a conscience might have felt sorry for him. “I...I tried talking to her, at first, but…but she kept telling me to leave her alone. She kept saying you were going to lose your shit if I didn’t leave her alone.”
“You should have listened to her,” I told him.
“The fourth time I approached her, she told me she was done with me, and when she turned her head to look for Eden, or you, I guess, I dropped some powder in her cup, and I guess…I might have use too much beca-”
My fist hit him just below the ribs, and choking sounds fill the silence. And, God, how I wanted to keep hitting him, but I needed the full story. “And?”
It took him a few seconds to collect himself, but when he finally did, he continued. “I…she started going under fast, so I held her as I took her to the bedroom. I didn’t want her passing out in the middle of the party.”
“And that picture you posted?”
“That was going to be my proof,” he said. “There’s no way Lake was going to remember it, so taking that picture was proof.”
“Except you captioned it that you got your girl back,” I reminded him.
He looked resigned when he admitted, “I was hoping it would break you guys up.”
“It did,” I confirmed for him, right before I unleashed holy hell on him.
Fury and adrenaline were the power behind each hit.
Rage and regret were behind each kick.
But it was pure heartbreak that was fueling the fury, adrenaline, rage, and regret.
There was no way I was going to lose Lake, but I couldn’t force her to forgive me. I couldn’t force her to love me. If she hated me, there was no way I’d ever be able to make her happy, and it was all my fault for not seeing this motherfucker for what he was.
As I rained down hell on him, I knew it still wouldn’t be enough. And while I had plans on going after Erica next, I knew it still wouldn’t be enough.
Nothing would be if Lake didn’t forgive me.
Still pumped with the need for revenge, I stopped before he lost consciousness. I had a lot more planned for Curt Metcalf.
Dropping down on my haunches, I had an amusing sense of déjà vu. It was Ashton Childress all over again, only I didn’t have Mad, Chance, and Dash with me. And while I had wanted to kill Childress, I wanted Curt to suffer for a lot longer than one night.
“So, soccer star,” I began, “here’s what’s going to happen. When you can function again and return to the land of the living, you’re going to go about your life as if Lake doesn’t exist. No talking to her. No looking at her. No thinking of her. No anything.” He gurgled a little, flecks of blood escaping, but there was nothing he could say to stave off the inevitable.
I stood back up, and looking down at him, I said, “You took something from me, so now I’m going to take something from you.” With that, I grabbed his left foot, raised his leg, and slammed my foot down on it, my weight cracking it in half.
“Aahgrgagr!”
I realized quickly that there was a strong possibility he might choke on his own blood, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. Maddox was on standby to tip the cops off once I was done with him.
Grabbing his other foot, I did the same thing, breaking both his legs, and his screaming was like music to my ears. I smirked down at him. “I guess soccer’s out of the question now.”
As Metcalf’s screams lost their steam, I reached in his pockets and pulled out his car keys. I got in the car and started it. Reversing, Curt probably thought I was going to run him over, but that wasn’t the plan. Even I wasn’t arrogant enough to not acknowledge that two ‘muggings’ within a month wouldn’t look suspicious. And since Curt was going to confess to the police, I knew there wouldn’t be too much looking into his ‘accident’.
Parking the car where I needed to, I went and got Metcalf, ignored his pained screams as I drug him to his car, and placed him in the driver’s seat. Poor Metcalf was going to be so riddle with guilt, he couldn’t stand it anymore.
With Metcalf slumped in the front seat, I slid in next to him as best I could, and then turned on the car. I wasn’t worried about what might happen to me, I’ve had my share of bruised bones.
With my hand over his, I placed it on the gearshift, put it in Drive, and hit the gas pedal. It wasn’t five seconds later that I was jumping from the car right before it slammed into huge Cottonwood. The impact shook the silence, and I could hear animals fleeing the clearing in a bid for safety.
Standing, I shook off the debris of the forest floor and went to go check if Metcalf was alive or dead. I wanted him alive because I wanted him to suffer, but I wasn’t going to shed any tears if he was dead, that’s for sure.
Inspecting the damage, I saw he was pinned exactly as I needed him to be in order to explain the broken legs. And when I checked his pulse, it was thumping steadily.
I wasn’t sure if he could understand me or not through the pain, but I still leaned in and said, “Now, the police are on their way, Metcalf. You’re going to confess how sorry you are for what you did to Lake, and if you ever go near her again, I will fucking kill you.”
As I walked away from the wreckage, I realized I still wasn’t sated. I’d gotten my revenge on Metcalf, but I was nowhere near being pleased, and I knew I wouldn’t be until Lake forgave me.
But driving out of the clearing, I knew Erica Chambers was next.
Chapter 38
Lake~
It’s been four days since I’ve heard from Ramsey and if the fact that I was counting didn’t make me a full-blown idiot, I had no idea what would. Even Eden was at a loss on how to help me.
After I’d run from Ramsey Sunday, I’d been such a mess, I had gone straight over to Eden’s, where I told her everything. She hadn’t crucified him or defended him. She had simply held me as I cried my heart out. Four days later, she was still treating me like a wounded tiger, not sure if I was going to whimper away my pain or lash out in a rage. And to be fair, I wasn’t sure myself.
All I knew was that I was still pissed at that small part of me that wanted to forgive him. I had to continuously remind myself that he didn’t deserve my forgiveness. I had to keep reminding myself that Ramsey was evil, plain and simple. I had to remind myself that only someone extremely stupid would go back to that.
Sitting in Advanced Economics, my mind was still trying to remind me that Ramsey was bad for me when Mrs. Gardner’s gasp pierced my thoughts.
“Young man, what do you think you’re doing?”
My had snapped up, and walking towards me, looking determined as hell, was Maddox freakin’ Reed.
Ignoring the teacher, he weaved his way through the desks until he had my arm in his grip, and he was pulling me up from my desk. “We need to talk.”
“Are you insane?” I cried. “What are you doing?”
“Young man!” Mrs. Gardner snapped. “I don’t know-”
His head turned towards her, and he cut her off with one simple announcement. “I’m Maddox Reed.” I almost laughed at how the entire room froze, even Mrs. Gardner. “And I need to speak with Lake.”
“O…of course,” she stammered. “Uh, Ms. Warre
n, you’re free to…” Maddox didn’t wait for her full permission. The fucking guy literally drug me from the classroom and didn’t stop until we found ourselves behind the science building.
When I was finally able to yank my arm out of his hold, I let him have it. “Are you fucking crazy?” I hissed. “What is the matter with you?” He shot me a look that reminded me so much of his brother, my heart skipped in my chest. One thing that was undeniable was that Maddox Reed was every bit as stunning as his brother and father.
“I’m not here for my brother,” he stated, and I felt like the biggest fool on the planet. My feelings were actually hurt, and I felt disappointed that he wasn’t.
I needed to just fucking shoot myself.
“Then why are you here?” I asked, ignoring the hurt and disappointment.
“I’m here on behalf of the entire fucking town, Lake,” he bit out. “If not the goddamn state.”
My entire face scrunched up. “What are you talking about?”
“My brother is not the self-destructive type, Lake,” he drawled out sardonically. “He’s the kill-everyone-who-stands-in-my-way type.”
“And?”
“And you need to fucking forgive him before he ruins and destroys everyone in this fucking town,” he said, shocking me.
“What are you talking about?” I shook my head. “Ramsey-”
“I’m talking about the fact that R.J. is one minor inconvenience away from burning down everything around him, Lake,” he snapped, interrupting me. “My brother is losing his mind, and you need to find a way to get over what he did and pull him back from the fucking edge.”
“Get over it?” I hissed. “He humiliated me and fucked another girl!” My rant finished on a scream.
His hand batted away my anger, and he didn’t look the least bit concerned. “He didn’t fuck anyone,” he rushed out, sounding frustrated. “That was D.J.”
My brows shot up. “Who in the hell is D.J.?” I mean, I knew she was the girl whose party they’d all gone to, but I still didn’t know who she was to them.
“Delaney McIntire,” he answered, and mystery solved.
Delaney and Maggie McIntire were two other Sands Cove legends, like Dash Marlow. Their parents, Ace and Ava McIntire, were just as legendary as The Reeds, The McCellans, and The Marlows. Just because they lived an hour away didn’t mean their power, status, and wealth didn’t reach all the way back here to Sands Cove.
Thinking out loud, I whispered, “He made me think he was sleeping with her.”
“Of course, he did,” Maddox snapped. “He thought you cheated on him with Metcalf.”
I chose to let that go. Even without the Delaney McIntire situation, he’d been willing to pass me around to the students at Windsor. There was no forgiving that.
“It doesn’t matter,” I told him. “Even if he wasn’t screwing other girls, he offered me up to be shared by whoever was interested, and you want me to forgive that?”
He waved that concern away, too, and I wanted to slap his perfect face for it. “No, he didn’t,” he argued. “That guy who was fucking with you that night is Crew Marlow.” Jesus Christ. It was like Ramsey had recruited an entire cast of villains.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, Maddox,” I insisted. “There are hundreds of videos of that night floating around. That’s a humiliation I’ll never get away from, and fuck your brother for not trusting me, when I never gave him a reason not to.”
His head reared back, and those dark whiskey-colored eyes of his did not look friendly at all. After a few tense seconds, he leaned down until he was crowding me enough that I had to step back. When my body met the brick of the science building, Maddox’s voice hit me with a snarl. “Never gave him a reason not to,” he repeated. He cocked his head and his eyes narrowed threateningly. “Now, let’s examine that for a moment, shall we?” Blood started rushing through my ears, but I could still make out the menacing tone in his voice. “Can you tell me of one time-just one time-when you haven’t fought him on this thing between the two of you?” My mouth went dry. “Just one time when you were happy to see him and told him so? Can you?”
“Mad-”
“Tell me one thing you’ve done or said to my brother that would have given him the security of knowing you’d never go back to your ex-boyfriend,” he challenged. “Just one.”
“That’s not fair,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
Maddox didn’t comment for a bit, but when he finally did, it was clear he was done going easy on me. “Curt Metcalf is in the hospital with two broken legs, internal bleeding, and an unrecognizable face,” he whispered ominously. “He’s confessed to the police about drugging you, and you should be hearing from them probably later today.” My entire body started to tremble. “Erica Chambers is next.”
“Maddox, I-”
“And after she’s taken care of, you want to know who’s next?” I shook my head because I really didn’t want to know. “Anyone stupid enough to get in his way, Lake.”
“In his way of what?” I suspected what, but I wanted to hear Maddox say the words.
“Lake, I’m doing you a favor here, I swear to God,” he said, his voice softening. “Trust me when I tell you that you need to forgive R.J., because if you don’t, a whole lot of people are going to suffer for it.” He stepped back and let out a deep sigh. “He’ll never let you go, Lake. He’s not wired like that. R.J. loves you, and if you think he’s going to just let you walk away from him, you’re wrong.”
The class bell rang, startling me, and snapping me back to what I could control. “You need to leave, Maddox,” I told him. “I need to get to class, and…I just can’t do this with you.”
He gave me a sharp nod. “Okay,” he relented. “But when he comes after you, don’t say I didn’t warn you, Lake.”
I didn’t comment as Maddox Reed turned and walked away from me, leaving me a confused mess. Because, you know, I wasn’t already a goddamn mess.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way to my locker, contemplating just going home for the rest of the day. It wasn’t like I’d be learning anything anyway, with everything Maddox had just put in my head.
When I reached my locker, ignoring the stares, Eden was already waiting for me. “Holy shit, Lake,” she rushed out in a whisper. “Is it true? Did Maddox Reed drag you out of class?”
I nodded, leaning up against the row of lockers. “Yeah,” I exhaled slowly.
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you the details later,” I promised, “but he basically told me that I needed to forgive Ramsey before he murdered the entire town of Sands Cove.”
Eden blanched. “Was he serious?”
I thought about that and weighed it against everything I knew about Ramsey and these past few weeks, and my answer wasn’t a positive one. “I think he was, Eden.”
“Holy shit,” she muttered, her body slumping next to the lockers next to me.
“I know,” I helplessly muttered back.
Chapter 39
Ramsey~
I was parked in SC High’s parking lot, waiting for Lake to come out. When Maddox had called me earlier, telling me he’d had a little chat with her, I saw no reason to put of the inevitable any longer.
I came for Lake, and I wasn’t leaving without her.
It didn’t matter that there was going to be a fight. It didn’t matter how much she despised me right now. It didn’t matter if she didn’t love me back.
None of that mattered.
All I needed was the rest of our lives for me to make it up to her. That’s all I needed, and I wasn’t leaving here until I got it.
Because Maddox was worried about me, he made sure to let me know that Eden had theater after school on Thursdays, and that Lake would most likely be heading towards the buses alone. So, I waited as patiently as I could in the parking lot for her to come my way.
However, I knew surprise was going to be futile since some people have already noticed me and knew who I wa
s. With those videos of my party out there, I had no doubt these assholes were already primed for some more entertainment.
My suspicions were confirmed when Lake walked out of the school’s entrance, her backpack slung over one shoulder, her chin up, and back straight as a rod. And she wasn’t heading towards the buses either.
She was heading straight for me.
Everyone around us stopped as soon as she was standing in front of me. “Are you lost?” she asked, and the fact that she did, told me she wasn’t completely lost to me yet.
I shook my head. “No,” I answered. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
“Doubtful,” she replied dutiful. “Or else you’d be with your friends and Erica, offering to pass me around again.”
Regret hit me square in the chest, and the pain of it was very real. “I deserve that,” I conceded. And just when I thought Lake was going to go for my balls, she broke my heart in a way I never thought anyone could.
Her fists hit me square in the chest, and she started screaming at me, heedless of all the people around us, watching. “You bastard!” Her hits were coming hard, but she wasn’t doing much damage, so I let her. “You fucking bastard!” she screamed. “I trusted you! I believed you!” Tears started streaming down her face, and I hated that I’d done this to her. It wasn’t until she slapped me that I finally went for her hands. “Don’t touch me!”
She pulled away from me, and staring down at her tear-stained face, her heaving rage, the hate in her eyes, and the heartbreak all over her face, there was no way I was ever going to leave this girl alone. Lake was it for me, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make this happen.
“Lake-”
“Stay away from me, Ramsey!” she cried out, loud enough for me and everyone around us to hear. “Go back to your castles and your finery and your kind of people. Go back to your friends and your…your money, and…your perfect Windsor girlfriends, and just leave me the hell alone!”
I’d humiliated her in one of the worst way possible, so the only thing I could do was give her the same opportunity to humiliate me. Unfortunately, whatever she did or said wouldn’t change anything. I was Ramsey Reed Jr., and my power, status, money, and reputation were enough to combat whatever she could throw at me.
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