by Rina Kent
She let out another groan and swatted the bottle out of my hand, her bitchy cheerleader glare training on me. “What part of ‘fuck off’ don’t you understand, Eden?”
This time the bite was full force. The way she said my name made it sound like an insult.
Fuck you too, Jade.
I glared back at her and stood. Her eyes were closed again by the time I had a chance to storm away. “You’re welcome,” I mumbled, passing the rest of the idiots in the kitchen. Idiots that certainly didn’t give a shit about her.
That’s one thing this crowd didn’t understand. They thought themselves superior to everyone else, would raise hell when one of their own was challenged, but when it came down to it, they were the last friends you’d want to have. None of them gave a shit about each individual within their group. They just cared about the group as a whole. Friends screwed each other’s boyfriends, gossip spread like wildfire, and not a single soul cared if you were dying of alcohol poisoning on a kitchen floor. It was pathetic, and this was the group Paige wanted to belong to? Really?
I made my way up the stairs, hating the thought that she would go to one of these bedrooms with Trey, but also realizing it was a possibility. I should leave her alone. The last time I saw her, she was having the time of her life watching Trey play beer pong with a few of his friends. Every time he’d get a ball into a plastic cup, she’d squeal and jump like he’d just rescued a kitten from a burning building. The sight made me queasy, so I’d opted to lean against a wall in another room instead, staring at the front door with the hope of leaving soon.
That hadn’t happened, but I was ready to go now. Paige had made me promise two hours, and that time was about up.
“Paige?” I called, knocking on the first door that came into my view. When I didn’t get an answer, I turned the knob and pushed it open a few inches, peeking through the crack.
Empty.
Great.
I pulled it shut and moved on to the next. Hunter was one of the rich kids, and his house reflected that. There were way too many damn bedrooms. Family pictures hung on the hallway walls, showing the fakest happy rich family I’d ever seen. Or maybe I was just in a bad mood.
My confidence grew as I made it down the hall, and when I came to a set of double doors, I didn’t even knock. I threw them open, ready to see yet another Paigeless room.
My stomach dropped and the blood drained from my face as soon as the sight before me registered. It was a couple having sex. Scratch that—it wasn’t a couple. It was Camden Knight—quarterback for the Lincoln High Panthers, king of the jerks, and secretly voted most eligible bachelor by every girl in school… almost. Point is, he didn’t have a girlfriend.
He was on his knees, fully naked, behind a girl on all fours on a king-sized bed. Guttural moans erupted from her in a perfect rhythm to match his jerking hips. If it weren’t for the tattoo on her lower back gaining my attention, I might’ve assumed she was another cheerleader I didn’t recognize and high-tailed it out of there.
Except she wasn’t a cheerleader. She wasn’t a student. She wasn’t even a girl, but a woman, at least twice our age. Recognition from the hallway pictures hit, and my jaw dropped, my feet gluing to the floor.
It was Hunter’s mom.
She gasped as she spotted me and scrambled out from beneath him, yanking the comforter and bunching it to cover herself.
That left Camden, all of Camden, exposed. My eyes involuntarily glimpsed his naked body, taking in tight muscles, tanned skin, and a dark patch of hair surrounding a massive hard-on.
My eyes snapped to his face when his head turned my way. Dark, angry eyes pierced into me and froze my blood until tiny ice crystals pricked my skin.
His hair was mussed, stopping just above his brows. He had a pronounced jawline, but it sharpened even more as he ground his teeth together.
“Get the fuck out,” he growled, pointing toward the door.
My mind and body unfroze at the same time. I gave a small shake of my head before breaking eye contact and jumping back into the hallway, slamming the door closed behind me.
Oh. My. God.
I scanned the hall for anyone who might have seen me coming from the room, as if I had done something wrong.
I needed to get out of there.
“Paige,” I called, banging on each door in the hallway. I didn’t dare open any more of them. My face still burned with embarrassment. That and my beating heart were sufficient reminders of why you shouldn’t go opening random doors.
Does Hunter know? Does Hunter’s dad know? Of course not. Right?
I took the steps two at a time until I hit the landing. Trey could give Paige a ride home, I just needed to go. But he’d been drinking. Shit.
“Damn, Thompson, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” I wasn’t even sure who the voice belonged to.
As I took my first step toward the front door, Paige entered my line of sight.
She charged up to me, eyes puffy from crying, and took hold of my arm. “Can we go?”
“Yeah, of course. What’s wrong?” I searched her face, but I already knew the answer. Football boy. That’s what was wrong.
“Later.” She tugged me along with her through the crowd, her gaze aimed at the ground to avoid prying eyes. A few people snickered and whispered in each other’s ears as we walked by, probably trying to spin whatever rumor they found the most humorous and would cause the most damage. Trey dumped Paige for so and so and blah blah blah. They’d believe whatever lie that sleezeball sold them, and Paige would be dragged through the mud. They’d probably never even hear the truth, nor would they care for it.
But I would.
When we made it outside, I pulled away from her grasp. “Did he hurt you?”
She spun to face me, her eyes wide with disbelief. “What? No, just come on.”
“Not until you tell me what happened. I’m not letting you run away from that asshole with tears in your eyes. We’re not giving them the satisfaction.”
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “God, why do you always have to make it an ‘us versus them’ thing? They aren’t bad people, Eden. They’re just people.”
A sharp sting pierced my chest from her words, but I shook it off. She was hurt. Her emotions were all over the place. She didn’t mean anything by it.
“Please, Paige.” I gave a small smile and placed my hand on her shoulder. “I’m your friend. I care about you.”
More tears filled her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. She came closer and wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her chin on my shoulder. “I know, I’m sorry.”
I smoothed my hand over her back. “It’s okay.”
She pulled back and fanned her face as if that would dry the tears. “I don’t know why I’m making a big deal about it, it’s not like we’re exclusive. He can do whatever he wants.”
“Trey cheated on you?” Anger and disbelief filtered in with my words. We were definitely not running away from this. Fuck that.
“Did you not hear a word I just said? He can’t cheat on me because we aren’t exclusive.” She gritted the words as if I was the enemy, but I couldn’t care about that then. I was in too much shock over what I was hearing.
“When did he not cheat on you, then? And with who?”
The last question blurted from my mouth before I had considered it. I don’t know why I felt the need to know. It wasn’t relevant to Paige’s feelings. Maybe I was as bad as them.
She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. “Last night with Jade Kinsley. And now she’s upstairs fucking Hunter. Can you believe that? What a slut.”
Paige rolled her eyes. So far, I was the enemy and Jade was the villain. Trey, though? Nah, they weren’t exclusive so she couldn’t be mad at him. I wanted to smack the girl on the forehead, but instead I sighed.
“Well, Jade was in the process of passing out on the kitchen floor last I saw her, so I think you’re wrong about that one.”
“Mmm, no. They
kicked us out of Hunter’s room. Trey and I were in there talking.”
“And she was coherent?”
“I don’t know. She looked tired. What difference does it make?”
“Then maybe he was just putting her to sleep?”
Paige narrowed her eyes. “Jade Kinsley is a slut, Eden. She fucked my boyfriend. Can we go now?”
She turned and made her way for my car, and this time, I didn’t stop her. I couldn’t form words let alone command my hand to reach out. I was frozen in place for the second time that evening.
What if he wasn’t putting her to bed?
“What’s wrong?” Paige asked, slowing to a stop as she realized I wasn’t following.
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and forced the words past my lips. “Are you sure it was Jade?”
“Yeah.” Paige’s eyes narrowed with thinly veiled suspicion. “Why?”
I turned toward the house and commanded my legs to move. It felt as if concrete had been packed into the soles of my shoes, but I managed to walk back up the steps and into the house, ignoring Paige’s protest behind me.
She was wrong. She had to be wrong. Jade was beyond drunk. She wasn’t capable of giving consent. Hunter was a meathead, but he wouldn’t go that far… right?
“Eden, what are you doing?” Paige managed to slow me down by jumping in front of me, but I had built up enough momentum to slide around her.
“I need to check on Jade.”
“No, you don’t. Please, let’s go,” Paige whined.
Her hands reached out to grab me, but I jerked her off and hauled myself up the stairs. She followed after me, tugging on my shirt and pleading with me to stop. That we should just go. We shouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
She didn’t get it, and I didn’t have time to explain it to her. If, after tonight, she still wanted to be with Trey, then I couldn’t stand behind her. He was a cheater, and his friend was a rapist… maybe.
“Jade?” I mimicked my earlier search for Paige, but this time I knew which room they’d be in—Hunter’s. His ‘Do Not Enter’ plaque hanging on the door stood out like a neon sign this time, and I barreled toward it with Paige at my ear, yapping like a clingy puppy. I couldn’t even distinguish her pleas by that point. The blood rushing in my ears drowned everything out.
I paused at the door and gripped the knob.
Please don’t be in here.
With a twist, I flung the door open. My heart stopped, and the air tore from my chest. If it hadn’t, maybe I would’ve managed to scream or yell or burst into the room and tackle Hunter to the floor.
They were both there, and neither were wearing clothes. Jade’s eyes were shut, and I waited to see if they’d startle open when she realized my presence. Maybe they’d been closed in ecstasy.
Nope.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and forced my eyes to Hunter.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I demanded, finally able to form words.
Hunter didn’t offer an explanation. He climbed off the bed and covered his junk with a pillow before stalking to the door. His glare moved from me to Paige, who, when I glanced her way, looked as mortified as I felt.
Now she understood.
“You’re both pathetic,” he murmured with a shake of his head. “Go home.” He slammed the door in our faces. I reached my hand out to stop it, but was too late.
No.
We caught him.
He couldn’t just ignore us.
I banged on the door, yelling Jade’s name. The knob would no longer turn. Either Hunter was holding it or he’d finally bothered to lock the door.
“Eden, what do we do?” The color had completely drained from Paige’s face. If there was any uncertainty that she didn’t grasp the severity of the situation, it was gone. I hated myself for doubting her, for almost leaving her alone with these monsters.
I searched my mind for the answer. We could ask for help… but we’d be asking his friends. If Hunter was capable of something like this, why should we trust the rest of them?
I dug my phone from my pocket and tapped three buttons with a shaky finger—9, 1, 1.
Cam
“Just stop it, okay? We can’t do this anymore.”
“You’re overreacting.”
Sherry wiped at the mascara beneath her eyes before bending to pick up my shirt. She chucked it at me and stood up straight. She was already fully dressed… and panicked. As soon as the band geek left, she’d scrambled as if Hunter was on his way.
“Put your shirt on and get out.”
I scoffed. The shirt bunched as I made a fist around it and stepped toward her. “So that’s it then? What the fuck, Sherry?”
“Cam.” Her eyes darted around in a panic. “Please.”
Silent tears streamed down her face and cut me to my core. She didn’t deserve this.
I pulled my shirt on before resting my hands on her shoulders. “Listen to me,” I said, giving her a squeeze. “Hunter is not going to find out about this. That girl is a nobody. No one is going to believe her even if she does say something.”
“What if you’re wrong?” She shrugged me off and raked her hands through her hair. “This was a mistake.”
My jaw ticked and neck tensed so tightly, I thought it might snap. I rolled it to ease some of the discomfort.
“Fine. If you want this to be done, then it’s done. But I promise you, I’m going to take care of this.”
I turned and started walking toward the door. My anger was so strong it made my hands shake. It made it difficult to walk. Breathe. Fucking think straight.
“How?” Sherry asked, making me pause at the door.
I glanced over my shoulder and did my best to don a mask of calm. It worked for so many people, but never for her. She was my best friend’s mom, and she was right. What we were doing was wrong. It was over. But I didn’t have to be happy about it.
“Trust me.”
She nodded and sniffled, collapsing onto the bed and holding her head in her hands.
I turned and walked from the room before I had to see any more of it. Her pain. Her sadness. It fucking ripped me apart.
I softly clicked the door shut behind me and hurried after the girl—Eden Thompson. I barely knew her, but she was Trey’s new girl’s friend. We had Senior English together, and she was one of those ‘sit at the front, frantically taking notes’ kind of people. I remembered her name from when we had roll call at the beginning of the year.
Eden—a Hebrew word meaning ‘delight’.
What’s the Hebrew word for ‘about to be dead’?
A voice registered when I was about to round the corner, and I paused. It was her voice. Worried. Frantic. Like she was telling someone about something she’d just witnessed.
My eyes widened, and I swung around the corner, stopping dead in my tracks when her words registered.
“Someone’s being raped.”
Neither her nor Trey’s girlfriend noticed me. They were standing in front of Hunter’s bedroom, and Eden was whispering into a phone. She gave whoever was on the other line Hunter’s address and asked them to hurry, and only then did I register who it was.
The police.
My brow furrowed and head tilted as I tried to make sense of it. She hung up the phone and turned to Paige, who was in tears… again.
“They’re on their way,” she said.
Her eyes darted to me, finally noticing my presence, and she straightened.
I took a step closer and broke eye contact to stare at the door. Hunter’s door. Things began to click into place.
As it turns out, Eden was now a problem for both of us.
Somehow, that made me feel a hundred times better. Water splashed into my veins, easing the flames that had been threatening to overtake me. At least it was Hunter’s problem that needed to be fixed… for now.
“You should go,” I said, eyeing Eden with a calm I wasn’t sure how I managed. Paige would need to be taken care
of too, but it could wait. “I heard that someone called the cops. Wouldn’t want either of you to get busted for underage drinking.”
Paige turned to Eden and grabbed her wrist. Eden stared back at me, seemingly unable to pull her gaze away until Paige yanked and forced her to take a step down the hall.
“We have to go,” Paige urged.
Eden gave me one last glance before blinking and hurrying away.
As soon as they were gone, I banged on the door. “Hunter, open up. Cops got called.” A few seconds passed before the door swung open and Hunter appeared in front of me. He was naked, and Jade was passed out on the bed with her legs spread.
God dammit, Hunter.
“The cops? What the fuck?”
His eyes were wide and his mouth was open. I’m not sure he knew he’d fucked up, but I didn’t have time to care. I pushed past him and picked Jade’s clothes up off the floor, already yanking them on her by the time Hunter appeared at my back.
“Did she say yes to fucking you before she fell asleep?”
“Of course,” he said, as if it was obvious. It fucking needed to be. My earlier anger began to redirect to him. Not because I felt sorry for Jade, but because I couldn’t believe how stupid Hunter could be sometimes.
Of course, now, it worked in my favor. More water sloshed into my fiery veins. Eden had just put the first nick in her credibility.
“Put your clothes on and go get some water. We need to wake her up.”
Hunter hurried to do as I said. All the while, I stared into the hallway. Eden would’ve been gone by then. She could run now. She should run now. But she couldn’t run forever.
See you soon.
Chapter Two
Eden
When Monday morning came around, I didn’t know what to expect. Paige and I hadn’t stuck around after escaping the party on Friday. We’d bolted out of there and sped down the street just as the cop car rounded the corner with its lights on. I’m not even sure why we did that or what we were running from. Underage drinking had been the least depraved thing going on in that house. But we hadn’t been afraid of the police, had we?